It's not a sexy topic, but wholesale revenues are becoming a key component of cable MSOs' businesses. They keep expanding in the wholesale arena, and provide a wide array of services, including fiber and wireless backhaul for mobile operators. Cox and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), in particular, have been dominant players in the wholesale market. Having offered wholesale services since the early 1990s to a host of ILECs and IXCs, Cox serves 100 different carriers including the major U.S. wireless service providers, while Time Warner Cable has 31 fiber networks densely deployed in metro markets across 29 U.S. states. Besides offering fiber to wireless operators, cable operators can use their existing hybrid fiber coaxial networks to get a larger take of the $14 billion special access market. For more on how cable companies are working with wireless carriers and others in the wholesale market, check out this FierceTelecom special report.
