OT More to come
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three top U.S. cable operators on Monday reached a deal to resell wireless phone services with Sprint Nextel (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to compete against telephone operators entering the video market, sources familiar with the situation said.
Sprint Nextel's deal to co-brand wireless phone services with Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) cable division and Cox Communications, is expected to be announced as early as Wednesday.
Financial terms of the deal were not available.
Sprint Nextel, Comcast and Time Warner Cable declined to comment. Cox was not immediately reachable for comment.
The deal could help speed the next generation of media and communications services. It also gives cable companies a so-called "quadruple-play" portfolio of products--cable TV, digital phone, high-speed Internet and wireless phone services--to compete against deep pocketed regional telephone companies such as Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and SBC Communications Inc. (SBC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) intent on offering video services.
Over time Sprint's agreement with the cable companies is expected to involve handing off of telephone calls between wide area cellular networks and short-range wireless networks such as Wi-Fi, which is built into many laptop computers.
Sprint has also long said that it aims to one day offer its customers dual-mode phones that can work on cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
Sprint, which launched a wireless music store this week, has been working to reposition itself as a mobile media and communications company rather than just a cellphone provider.
The companies are also expected to begin working together on the distribution of video services for mobile phones, according to the sources, who also said it was not immediately clear that this aspect would be part of the announcement on Wednesday. |
