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