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Comcast and Charter In Talks With Sprint To Offer Wireless Service (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the art-of-the-deal dept.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint's merger talks with T-Mobile are temporarily on hold while the carrier mulls over a number of potential deals with the United States' two biggest cable companies, Comcast and Charter. While Comcast is already using Verizon's wireless service under their own name, the company may want to use Sprint's network as well. Charter doesn't have a wireless phone offering yet, but the company's CEO indicated last year that it has every intention of launching one. The Verge reports: Such a deal would likely involve the two cable companies making an investment in Sprint, which the carrier would then use to build out its network, generally known to be the worst of the four major phone service providers. The Journal also reports that Comcast and Charter could make a bid to acquire Sprint outright, but it said the outcome was seen as less likely. Though they're usually an unlikely pairing, Comcast and Charter agreed in May to team up when making deals around wireless coverage for a full year. For the most part, both companies have been slowly losing TV subscribers year after year as customers shift over to online services. They see phone service as a new offering that could help to restore growth and lock in subscribers.

5 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. You must rent your cell phone and it's an mixed ba by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    You must rent your cell phone and it's an mixed bag if you will get an iphone 5 or 6 or 7 all at the same price.

  2. Comcast wireless by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Now you can have the same level of suck, but on the go!

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  3. merge merge merge by markdavis · · Score: 2

    What is with this near-obsessive "need" for all these TV, cable, ISP, phone, cell, and production companies to merge? We want choice, not "bundling." My wireless phone company has nothing to do with cable TV or my ISP. I really think the anti-trust authorities should step in and break up all these completed and prospective mergers. They are bad for consumers, bad for the economy, and bad for the country. It is not a free market when consumers are not free to make choices. I can see where it might be OK for T-Mobile and Sprint to join forces to compete with Verizon and AT&T, but that is as far as I would go.

    1. Re:merge merge merge by nasch · · Score: 2

      Choice is exactly what they don't want you to have.

  4. Re:You must rent your cell phone and it's an mixed by sconeu · · Score: 2

    So they offer "Up to iPhone 7"?

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.