Time Warner, Sprint in Talks ; Deal Would Allow Cable Company to Offer Package With Cell-Phone Service
Sprint Corp. and Time Warner Cable are discussing a deal that would allow the cable provider to offer cell-phone service, the companies said yesterday.
Such a deal would make the unit of Time Warner Inc. the only major cable company to offer the so-called “quadruple play” — television, high-speed Internet access and wired and wireless phone service.
None of the five largest cable companies offers mobile calling, according to Bloomberg News.
It also would be the latest in a series of partnerships for Sprint in which other companies introduce their own brand of cell service using Sprint’s network. These include deals with AT&T Corp., the ESPN unit of The Walt Disney Co., Virgin Mobile USA LLC and Qwest Communications International Inc.
While representatives of Time Warner and Spring confirmed that talks are under way, they would not say whether a deal was imminent, as was reported yesterday by The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper said the service would be limited to the Kansas City market and become available in the first quarter of 2005.
Sprint and Time Warner, the nation’s second-largest cable company with 11 million subscribers, announced a partnership a year ago that allowed Time Warner to offer standard phone service over Sprint’s landline network using Internet technology. Time Warner also is working with Virginia-based MCI Corp. on Internet telephone service and has signed up 200,000 voice customers in its 31 markets, said Time Warner spokesman Keith Cocozza.
Since then, Sprint has announced a number of similar deals with other cable companies, such as Mediacom Communications Inc. and USA Cos.
Sprint spokesman Jeff Shafer said the Overland Park, Kan.-based company is in talks with all of its cable partners to eventually resell Sprint wireless service as part of a package deal to subscribers.
“Our relationship with the cable companies is as much about offering the quadruple play as it is offering [Internet phone service],” Shafer said. “This is all about offering a compelling bundle to the consumer.”
Cable companies are in a bitter fight with traditional phone carriers, such as Verizon Communications Inc., as both are trying to offer the full range of television programming, high-speed Internet, standard voice services and wireless.
The strategy is based on the assumption that a customer receiving a wide range of services from a single company is less likely to jump ship to another provider.
A consortium of cable companies, including Time Warner, is studying how to break into the wireless business, either by building their own network, buying a wireless provider or teaming with a company such as Sprint to resell the service.
Sprint is the nation’s third-largest cellular provider with about 23 million subscribers. This month, Sprint and Virginia-based Nextel Communications Inc. said they will combine in a $35 billion deal that would create a company with 38 million wireless subscribers.