One year and a big spectrum auction later, the Sprint-Nextel joint venture with cable companies Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Advanced/Newhouse is set to add wireless services to the cable MSO's triple play offerings. Sprint CEO Gary Forsee says Comcast will launch its wireless services later this month in Boston and Portland, while Time Warner will roll them out at the same time in Austin and Raleigh, North Carolina. Time Warner expects a full roll out during the next few months. Subscribers to the cell phone service must subscribe to at least one other service in the quadruple play, too; however the companies have yet to announce pricing for the wireless service. "Unique" features include: recording cable programming directly to cell phones, easier to use mobile email, one voicemail box for both mobile and fixed, and more.
The cable companies hope to do to wireless what they did to fixed-telephony--namely, steal more telco marketshare. While it's difficult to call anything a defensive move anymore, it's worth noting that the big telcos, AT&T and Verizon are in the process of launching their IPTV services in various markets right now, too.
For more details on the cable companies' planned wireless offerings:
- read this article from USA Today