Clearwire Corp. is expanding its high-speed wireless Internet service to Europe, announcing that it will begin selling the so-called 4G service in Malaga, Spain.

 The company (Nasdaq: CLWR), of which Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is majority owner, said in a release Friday that the service would be sold under the brand name of Instanet and start around 30 euros ($44 U.S.) a month. It’s sold under the brand name Clear in the United States.

 

Malaga has a population of about 600,000.

The service uses WiMAX technology, which is similar to the WiFi service found in airports and coffee shops but can cover several miles and deliver download speeds similar to wired connections.

Clearwire, based in Kirkland, Wash., hopes to reach 80 U.S. markets with WiMAX by the end of 2010.

Companies such as Overland Park-based Sprint can resell the service under their brands, though Sprint is not planning to expand its WiMAX service to Europe. Sprint joined other big-name investors to boost Clearwire’s WiMAX effort a year ago. Sprint’s investment at the time was valued at $7.4 billion, in the form of spectrum and WiMAX-related assets. The company since has pledged an additional $1.2 billion to Clearwire.

Sprint is the nation’s No. 3 wireless carrier, with about 48 million customers. It ranks first on the Kansas City Business Journal’s list of top area public companies, based on annual revenue.