Sprint Nextel Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG  are again discussing options for combining Sprint with the German company’s U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, though a deal is unlikely in the near term, people familiar with the matter said.

A deal would combine the third and fourth largest wireless carriers in the U.S. and create a substantial counterweight to industry leaders AT&T Inc.  and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc.  and Vodafone Group.

But the people characterized the talks as preliminary and said there are a number of hurdles, including  valuing T-Mobile USA, determining ownership and leadership of a combined company and figuring out financing, the people said.

“I don’t get the sense that there’s anything near term at all,” one person familiar with the matter said.

Deutsche Telekom wouldn’t say whether talks are going on but said all options are open for its U.S. unit, including a sale.

Sprint has put conditions “on the table in front of Deutsche Telekom that are difficult,” the person familiar with the matter said.

Among other things, Sprint wants to own more than half of a combined Sprint/T-Mobile so the current Sprint board gets to decide who will run the expanded business, according to this person. Directors likely would favor Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse.

Deutsche Telekom has yet to agree about accepting a minority stake, the person said. “That’s one of the conditions that’s a big issue,” the person said.

Sprint late last year put an end to revenue declines and subscriber losses in the wake of the company’s disastrous 2005 acquisition of Nextel Communications. Some at the company see no need for Sprint to take on the risk of a T-Mobile acquisition.

“You have a fair number of board members who don’t support this right now unless the financial conditions are improved,” the person said, referring to how a combined company would be divided up.

The market reacted positively to a Bloomberg News report that the two carriers are in talks. Sprint’s stock was up nearly 5 percent, and Deutsche Telekom’s stock was up more than 3 percent.

Any combination could involve Clearwire Corp., two people familiar with the matter said. Sprint owns 54 percent of the company and relies on it to provide fast, 4G wireless service. T-Mobile USA, meanwhile, needs a strategy for upgrading to next-generation technology.