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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
The two largest U.S. cable
operators, Comcast Corp and Time Warner Cable Inc, are
discussing a plan to fund a new wireless company that would be
run by Sprint Nextel Corp and Clearwire Corp, a person familiar
with the discussions said on Tuesday.
Comcastis expected to contribute as much as $1 billion for
the wireless venture, which would use emerging WiMax
technology, the source said. WiMax is a largely unproven
technology that promises to support Internet access at speeds
up to five times faster than traditional wireless networks, and
can support a range of mobile and video applications.
WiMax is a potential substitute for fixed-wire high-speed
Internet that, for instance, could be offered across an entire
metropolitan region.
Time Warner Cable is expected to put in about $500 million,
the source said.
These parties are trying to raise $3 billion for the joint
venture, and Intel Corp and Google Inc may be potential funding
partners, the person said.
But the talks are still in "very early stages," the source
said.
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that Bright
House Networks, the sixth-largest U.S. cable provider, is also
involved in the discussions and would provide between $100
million and $200 million for the venture.
The Journal also reported that Intel has also signaled
willingness to put in $1 billion or more, and Google Inc could
provide hundreds of millions of dollars.
Intel, Sprint, Google and Clearwire officials declined to
comment. Officials from Comcast and Time Warner Cable were not
immediately available.
Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile service, has said it aims to
use WiMax technology to provide wireless connections to
consumer electronic devices such as music players and cameras
as well as cell phones and laptops.
Sprint, which has been bleeding subscribers amid customer
service problems, said recently that it was reviewing its WiMax
plans after it was widely criticized by shareholders for a
commitment to spend $5 billion to build the high-speed wireless
network based on WiMax.
Both Sprint and Clearwire have said they were looking for
outside funding for their WiMax networks.
Sprint and Clearwire also said last month they were
continuing to talk even after they announced late last year
that they ditched an agreement to let customers roam between
both companies' WiMax networks.
Meanwhile, cable companies like Comcast are making a push
to enter the wireless business to fend off competition from
telecom giants such as Verizon Communications. These companies
have been snatching traditional cable customers by offering
bundled services including high-speed Internet, cell-phone,
land-line and video.
(Reporting by Anupreeta Das and Duncan Martell in San
Francisco and Yinka Adegoke and Sinead Carew in New York;
Editing by Gary Hill)
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