So, the rules have changed. They've added another base, and it's going to take four cable companies to cover them. Sprint Nextel's deal with Time Warner, Comcast, Cox and Advance/Newhouse ushers in the era of the quadruple play: bundled bills and mobility coupled with cable's unique content. But the time is not yet ripe for the offerings, as fixed-mobile convergence is still in its infancy and cable companies have long been the biggest threat to carriers. Things don't change overnight, folks. The word is that the cable-Sprint deal will not create another Sprint MVNO, but rather an integration of the cable companies' home-based triple play with Sprint's service. It's a triple play on wheels. The cable operators have much to do: analog TVs to convert, muni-WiFi plans to fight and VoIP services to launch. But the wheels are in motion. - Brian
