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Sprint Nextel and Three Large Cable Companies Are Close to a Deal

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By David Hayes, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Oct. 26--Sprint Nextel and three large cable companies are close to a deal that could provide the foundation for a new type of wireless service, according to news reports.

Sprint, which has been negotiating with a cable consortium formed by Comcast Corp., Cox Communications and Time Warner Inc., could sign a deal as early as next month. The deal reportedly would be an evolution of Sprint's agreement with Time Warner, which resells Sprint PCS service in the Kansas City area.

Under the new agreement, the cable companies would resell Sprint service.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the resale agreement calls for the companies to resell the service under the Sprint brands. MultiChannel News, a trade publication for the cable industry, reported Monday that the deal calls for the companies to sell Sprint service under each cable company's brand.

As the deal evolves, soon, perhaps late next year, Sprint would launch a new generation of wireless phone that would operate both on Sprint's network and on Wi-Fi networks. That would allow consumers to use the phone over a Wi-Fi network at home, and over the Sprint network at other times.

Sprint executives have said in the past that the company is interested in going beyond its current VoIP agreements with cable companies. Sprint currently has business relationships with five of the nine largest cable companies.

As the deal evolves further, the cable companies would share a new network now being studied and tested by Sprint. That high-speed wireless broadband network, which could use a long-range wireless technology called WiMax, would allow the cable companies to offer high-speed wireless Internet service for subscribers even when they're away from home, The Journal reported.

Following its merger with Nextel, Sprint has the spectrum necessary to develop a WiMax network across much of the U.S.

The emerging cable-wireless deal is developing across a competitive backdrop, with Web giant Google studying the feasibility of developing a nationwide, free Wi-Fi network.

Such a network would allow the search company to offer high-speed wireless access, at least in major cities, that could compete with broadband services offered by the wire services.

While conceding that there's a lot of buzz going on around the prospect of a Sprint-cable consortium deal, a Sprint spokesman said the company doesn't comment on rumored deals.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Kansas City Star, Mo.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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S, CMCSK, COX, TWX, DJ,

Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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