Sprint Nextel Corp. is considering spinning off or selling its Nextel unit, according to a report.

Sprint has held discussions with Nextel Co-founder Morgan O'Brian about selling Nextel to a consortium of investors, people familiar with the matter say, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The consortium is being assembled by Cyren Call, a McLean-Virginia-based company planning to create a nationwide broadband network for public safety. Cyren call would not be buying Nextel itself.

Other options Sprint is considering is to spin off Nextel into a separate company and sell it to private equity groups, the people said.

The people said no deal is imminent, however, since Sprint was preoccupied with other matters.

In a separate deal, Sprint is close to finalizing a partnership to create a joint venture broad band company with Clearwire Corp. valued at more than $12 billion, people familiar with the situation told the Journal.

Meanwhile, according to other reports over the weekend, Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG is also considering making a bid for Sprint.

Sprint Sale