Time Warner

Pivot joint venture - Wireless Turkeys 2008

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:37:54 -0500

Why is it a turkey?

Pivot, the long-beleaguered joint venture between several cable companies and Sprint Nextel met its demise in late April, but the troubles started long before. In late 2005 Comcast, Cox, Time Warner and Advance/Newhouse formed a joint venture with Sprint Nextel to provide a quad-play cable TV, high-speed data, landline telephony and wireless services to their customers.

The quad-pay idea never panned out, and Pivot never grew beyond the initial 33 markets Sprint announced in November 2007. That month Sprint CFO Paul Saleh quietly noted that Pivot was being hurt by provisioning issues and the company decided to not expand the service into other markets or offer it in more retail stores. A few days later, Time Warner said that demand for Pivot services was "tepid."

After the deal fell apart in April, Pivot customers were given the option of switching over to Sprint's regular services with comparable minutes and pricing.

See FierceWireless' timeline of the ill-fated JV.

Clearwire's stock in the pits

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:57:34 -0400

Clearwire's stock hit a 52-week low on the Nasdaq Tuesday, dropping as low as $8.98 a share. The operator, which is planning to merge with Sprint Nextel's WiMAX business with the help of billions from investment partners Intel, Google and cable operators Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House, has seen its shares fall steadily since early June. But the stock fell below $10 at the end of last week. The shares remain in the pits despite recent upgrades from the likes of RBC Capital markets, which initiated coverage with an "outperform" rating and a target price of $17. Citigroup also recently upgraded the operator's target price to $13 a share.

For more:
- see Unstrung

Related stories:
Introducing the "new" Clearwire. Clearwire story
New Sprint-Clearwire deal a shot in the arm for mobile WiMAX. Sprint-Clearwire editorial

Time Warner's Glenn Britt talks about the company's wireless strategy

Sue Marek — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:24:34 -0400

Time Warner's Glenn Britt talked to the Wall Street Journal about the firm's vision for wireless broadband, the strategy behind its Clearwire investment and his skepticism when it comes to mobile video. See video interview here.

FEATURE: Sound off - Industry players discuss the Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX deal

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:59:53 -0400

On May 7 Sprint and Clearwire announced plans to combine their WiMax businesses and create a new company (called Clearwire) with a $3.2 billion investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and others. Here's what members of the wireless industry are saying about the deal. If you would like to weigh in on this deal, answer our poll question here.

"The biggest challenge is getting all these companies that are important participants to agree on the essential value proposition, both from a marketing and distribution standpoint. How will this relate to Sprint, if Sprint remains a standalone wireless company? If Sprint continues to be standalone wireless company as it is today, how do they promote the value proposition of the new WiMAX entity vis-a-vis their own cellular network? What is the value proposition for Sprint if there is Clearwire? That's a key issue..." --Mark Lowenstein, managing director, Mobile Ecosystem.

Click here to see more of Mark Lowenstein's thoughts as well as what Atish Gude, Dan Hesse, Ben Wolff, Adlane Fellah and Kate Price have to say about the deal...

ALSO NOTED: Apple brings DVD releases to the iPhone; Prada takes aim at Japan; and much more...

Fri, 02 May 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Apple brings new DVD releases to mobile

> Time Warner CEO says wireless broadband 'interesting'

> Nielsen: Mobile extends website reach by 13%

And Finally... Prada looks to crack the Japanese market with its new phone. Article

DEALS: Cable MSOs to fund WiMAX?

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:59:52 -0400

DEALS
WHO	WITH	WHAT	SCOOP
Nortel	U.S. Cellular	Nortel inked a five year deal with U.S. Cellular.	The network expansion deal builds on an existing deal between the vendor and the CDMA carrier.
Comcast, Google, Time Warner	Sprint, Clearwire	Reports indicate that cable companies and Google are teaming up to fund a WiMAX JV with Sprint and Clearwire.	Many observers believe WiMAX can save Sprint if the required investment doesn't kill it first.

Report:Cable MSOs to invest in Sprint-Clearwire

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Several publications are reporting today that cable TV players Comcast and Time Warner Cable may invest in a WiMAX network joint venture being discussed by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. That joint venture, of course, would represent the resurrection of a previous Sprint-Clearwire joint venture that went south along with Sprint's general corporate health. This might just be the missing piece for an effort to build a national WiMAX network that could challenge the likes of AT&T and Verizon Communications in the market for triple play and quadruple play services. Sprint's cable TV partners were strangely absent from the first WiMAX joint venture idea, and it will be interesting to see if other cable TV players are invited to join the effort. The price could be high, as Comcast reportedly could invest $1 billion and Time Warner $500 million under current discussions, but those companies could gain a mobile broadband dimension they don't have now. And for Sprint? Many observers believe WiMAX can save Sprint if the required investment doesn't kill it first. With that in mind, the more investors, the merrier. -Dan

For more:
- see this story at The Washington Post

Korean cable companies following Pivot's lead?

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

According to a report in the Korea Times, the Korean Cable TV Association said some of its members are planning on adding wireless services to their bundles by reselling handsets and services from existing carriers. The cable companies are looking to partner with SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom for the joint venture. The move should be a familiar one to the U.S. wireless and cable industries--Sprint inked deals with Comcast, Cox, Advance/Newhouse and Time Warner in a joint venture later marketed under the brand Pivot. The JV never really took off, however, and Sprint has slowly ramped down its involvement with the cable firms.

For more on Korea's Pivot:
- read this article from the Korea Times

Related Articles:
Pivot's cable companies to go it alone Article
Time Warner: Pivot demand "tepid" Article
Sprint's about face on Pivot Article

700 MHz auction: Clearwire won't bid; VZW will

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:59:56 -0500

Clearwire filed a document with the SEC stating that it will not bid in the upcoming 700 MHz auction in January, but the company did not give a reason for the decision to abstain. Potential bidders in the auction had until Monday to file their petition to bid, however, FCC rules prohibit potential bidders from discussing their plans for the auction. Before filing, Google announced it's intent to bid in the auction. Verizon Wireless and AT&T executives have also noted that their companies plan on bidding, too. Cox announced its intent to bid yesterday, while Comcast and Time Warner both made it clear that they would not participate in the spectrum auction.

For more on the auction in January:
- read this article from the AP

Related Articles:
Apple interested in 700 MHz auction? Article

Cox, Google to bid; Time Warner, Comcast won't

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:59:54 -0500

The applications for potential bidders in the upcoming 700 MHz auction this January came to pass at 6 p.m. EST yesterday and at least two bidders announced their intent before applying: Google and Cox. AT&T and Frontline Wireless have also more or less confirmed their status as bidders and we can only assume that Verizon Wireless is going to participate given the fight they put up over the open access rules a few months ago.

Two cable companies, however, have come out and said they will not participate in the auction: Time Warner and Comcast. Sprint has also indicated it has no plans to participate. Now that the application deadline has come to pass, however, none of the assumed bidders can say whether or not they will be participating in the auction until the FCC announces the bidders just before the auction.

"Comcast Corporation has decided not to bid in the 700 MHz wireless auction," said Comcast SVP D'Arcy Rudnay. "The 20 MHz of spectrum acquired in the wireless auction last year with our cable partners in SpectrumCo provides us with significant long-term flexibility and many strategic options. We will continue to explore how wireless can complement our services through various partnerships and consumer trials."

For more on the 700 MHz auction:
- read this article from CNET
- read this press release from Comcast
- keep up-to-date with the latest 700 Mhz Auction news here

Time Warner says Pivot demand "tepid"

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

During Time Warner's third quarter analyst briefing CEO Glenn Britt said interest in their Pivot wireless joint-venture with Sprint was "tepid." Sprint recently announced plans to halt expansion of the "quadruple play" JV with cable service providers.

"The broader point is whether people will really have a great desire to buy cell phone service from the people they buy wireline triple-play services from," Britt said. "There's nothing in our market research or experience to indicate demand for that is overwhelming."

While Britt noted the lack of interest, he also assured analysts that the cable company had no plans to cut wireless out of the picture entirely. Britt also noted that Time Warner's relationship with Sprint remains strong.

For more on Time Warner's Pivot offering:
- read this article from BroadbandReports

Cable cooperative considering wireless

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:59:54 -0400

It sounds as if more cable companies may be contemplating a wireless offering from Sprint. The National Cable Television Cooperative said it held "exploratory discussions" with the Sprint Nextel and is trying to find a way to help small and midsized cable operators offer mobile-phone service to their customers.

According to Scott Abbott, executive vice president of the programming at NCTC, if a resale deal were to be reached with Sprint, the two sides would likely focus on markets where members had better footholds with households for their services than Sprint currently does. But Abbott cautioned that a deal "is not imminently forthcoming."

Sprint, of course, already has a relationship with four big cable providers. In 2005 Sprint partnered with Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Advance/Newhouse to offer wireless services along with the cable firm's cable TV, high-speed data service and landline telephony services.

For more on the potential deal:
- see this BroadcastNewsRoom article