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Comcast and Time Warner to invest in 4G…
US to get nationwide WiMax?

By Marguerite Reardon

Published: Wednesday 26 March 2008

Comcast and Time Warner Cable are looking to help bankroll a new joint venture between Sprint Nextel and Clearwire to deliver 4G wireless services, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Wireless from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more…

A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee

According to unnamed sources, the companies are discussing a plan to provide funding for a new wireless company that would be operated by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. The new company would use network spectrum and assets from both companies to form a US wireless network using WiMax.

Last summer, Sprint and Clearwire announced they'd be working together to build a nationwide network across the US. In November, they terminated their agreement, but each company has said separately it is talking to the other about ways to work together. For months, rumours have floated around that Sprint would spin off its WiMax network, known as Xohm, and combine it with Clearwire's network.

The Journal said the companies are now trying to raise $3bn to create the joint venture. Comcast, the largest cable operator in the US, would put in about $1bn, while Time Warner, the second largest cable operator in the country, is willing to pay $500m, the Journal said.

Bright House Networks, a smaller cable operator, is also supposedly in the talks and could contribute around $100m to $200m. Intel might be contributing $1bn, and Google could contribute too, the article said. For years now, the cable companies have been competing vigorously with traditional phone companies AT&T and Verizon Communications for customers. Cable operators have been eating away at phone companies' traditional phone businesses, and phone companies are starting to make inroads in certain markets with their TV services. The two groups have competed for high-speed broadband customers, too.

Wireless is the one place where cable hasn't been able to compete so far but the cable industry has been trying to plug that hole. In late 2005, Advance/Newhouse Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner announced a joint venture with Sprint Nextel to offer wireless service as part of their bundle of services.

The cable companies had hoped they could integrate mobility into their offering to add more value to existing services like telephony, TV and broadband.

Meanwhile, the wireless industry is gearing up to build the next generation of networks. These so-called 4G networks will allow people to connect a wide array of consumer electronic devices to the internet.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless, which is owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone, have already said they plan to use technology known as LTE (Long Term Evolution) for their 4G network. LTE has been positioned as an alternative to WiMax, but so far the technology is at least a couple of years behind WiMax in terms of development.