RESTON (WiMAX Day). The WiMAX deal-making machine at Sprint Nextel seems unstoppable. One week following the announcement an historic agreement with Clearwire Corp, Sprint said yesterday that it will collaborate with Google to bring a suite of internet communications services to it’s nascent WiMAX service.

Google will provide its Internet search services for the main portal of Sprint’s WiMAX network. Google also will provide a number of its tools customised for the Sprint WiMAX experience, including Gmail, social networking tools, location-based services and multi-media services.

The partnership with Sprint also permits Google to provide mobile advertisements as part of its search platform, and any revenue resulting therein would be shared with Sprint.

“Google and Sprint will optimise the Internet experience for the digital lifestyle,” said Barry West, president of 4G Mobile Broadband for Sprint.

The key enabler for the Sprint and Google partnership is the open architecture of Sprint’s WiMAX network. This will allow users and developers to experience the mobile Internet in the same way in which they do on PCs at their home or office.

This is important for Google, which dominates the Internet because of the breadth of its search and multi-media facilities. In a report yesterday in Reuters, Barry West said “If you think of the Internet you automatically think of Google…. Obviously having a powerful partner on the Internet helps us become synonymous with the mobile Internet.”

Sprint’s strategy becomes ever more clear with each building block of its network. Working with Google underscores the “Anywhere, Anytime” mantra of mobile WiMAX that Sprint has wholeheartedly embraced, and provides greater clarity on the potential of mobile Internet.

This point is not lost on the financial markets, as the Google news supported Sprint shares through a turbulent market on Thursday to open with a positive uptick on Friday. JP Morgan analyst Thomas Lee said in the same Reuters report yesterday that the deal with Google “really strengthens the legitimacy” of the mobile WiMAX business.

Working with Sprint is also a major deal for Google. While some Google services are available from mobile operators such as Vodafone in Europe and China Mobile, in America it represents their largest partnership with a mobile operator, and their first for WiMAX.

This is key as the company has stated that wireless is a top priority for growth, yet breaking into the mobile game has not been easy. Many of Google’s search services are blocked by mobile operators, simply because the Internet browsing capabilities of most GSM networks are not strong enough to support Google search.

In partnership with Sprint, Google will advance to the forefront of true mobile Internet, and will no doubt drive the development of other compelling applications and services for mobile WiMAX.