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Cable Giants Not Bidding In 700Mhz Auction
Time Warner, Comcast aren't interested...

With today being the deadline to announce your intent, both Time Warner Cable and Comcast have confirmed that neither one of them will bid in next year's 700Mhz auction. Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt told attendees of the UBS Global Media Week and Communications Conference in New York this morning that "We are not going to be in this particular auction." At the moment it doesn't look like any of the major cable operators will be participating.

Time Warner Cable's partnership with Sprint to offer co-branded cellphone service is on shaky ground, and the company doesn't seem particularly sure about their wireless ambitions:
quote:
Britt says that consumers really don't want a quadruple-play bundle. "I don't think the quadruple play is a big deal," he said. "So far we've not seen a great demand for that." Time Warner hasn't completely thrown in the towel when it comes to wireless. "What we're doing is trying to understand that space..we do own some spectrum. We haven't completely decided yet how to use it."
Meanwhile, Comcast has issued a statement indicating they won't be bidding at auction, either:
quote:
"Comcast Corporation has decided not to bid in the 700 MHz wireless auction. The 20 MHz of spectrum acquired in the wireless auction last year with our cable partners in SpectrumCo provides us with significant long-term flexibility and many strategic options. We will continue to explore how wireless can complement our services through various partnerships and consumer trials."
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needforspeed59
Cruise Ship Just Passing Through
join:2001-05-02
La Place, LA

needforspeed59

Member

Cox?

No word from Cox on this subject?

Jigsaw
Stardust We Are
Premium Member
join:2000-10-21
Cleveland, OH

Jigsaw

Premium Member

Re: Cox?

said by needforspeed59:

No word from Cox on this subject?
There private not that it matters i don't think they have the cash do go it alone but who knows they may hook up with someone else and bid.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to needforspeed59

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to needforspeed59
I doubt they have the means to participate.
jtel
join:2005-06-28
Bristol, RI

jtel to needforspeed59

Member

to needforspeed59
said by needforspeed59:

No word from Cox on this subject?
Cox is bidding.

»money.cnn.com/news/newsf ··· UNE5.htm
amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America

amungus

Premium Member

huh?

Ok, maybe I'm lost here, but why would a cable co. need much, if any, wireless spectrum?

They get signals from geostationary satellites in space from huge dishes. Those get piped through many many wires and eventually end up going through coax into your house...
What am I missing??? What good would any of this 'spectrum' do for them???

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

1 recommendation

Robert

Premium Member

Re: huh?

said by amungus:

Ok, maybe I'm lost here, but why would a cable co. need much, if any, wireless spectrum?

They get signals from geostationary satellites in space from huge dishes. Those get piped through many many wires and eventually end up going through coax into your house...
What am I missing??? What good would any of this 'spectrum' do for them???
Start their own wireless company.

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins to amungus

MVM

to amungus
said by amungus:

Ok, maybe I'm lost here, but why would a cable co. need much, if any, wireless spectrum?

They get signals from geostationary satellites in space from huge dishes. Those get piped through many many wires and eventually end up going through coax into your house...
What am I missing??? What good would any of this 'spectrum' do for them???
Branching out into the wireless service field maybe?
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to amungus

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to amungus
For the hardly sought after "quadruple play". Cablecos not bidding on spectrum isn't a huge surprise. It's outside of their market focus and would cost them significantly to even be able to exploit the spectrum if they somehow miraculously won the auction.

charterengr
Premium Member
join:2002-03-09
Newnan, GA

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to amungus
This isn't new turf for the cable co's. We spent $2.4 billion on spectrum just last year...... »www.dailywireless.org/20 ··· ts-done/

graycorgi
Premium Member
join:2004-02-23

graycorgi

Premium Member

Quad-play

I would get cell phone from my cable company if I wasn't already in a contract with Verizon...

That's probably why they don't see a lot of demand- people are locked into their current providers so they can't just "make the switch".

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

woody7

Premium Member

Re: Quad-play

I'm waiting to see what happens with google before I renew my current contract with ATT......

wifi4milez
Big Russ, 1918 to 2008. Rest in Peace
join:2004-08-07
New York, NY

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to graycorgi
said by graycorgi:

I would get cell phone from my cable company if I wasn't already in a contract with Verizon...

That's probably why they don't see a lot of demand- people are locked into their current providers so they can't just "make the switch".
I would certainly consider it if the service was actually cheaper when purchased from the cable company. The moronic Sprint/TWC offering is approximately $15 to $20 MORE per month than just getting it directly from Sprint. Yet somehow the marketing people are still scratching their heads wondering why nobody is buying it.........
wifi4milez

wifi4milez

Member

Somewhat suprising in my opinion

While I didnt expect the cable co's to rush to be first in line, I did expect a larger showing. I guess they are simply happy with their (very) competitive place in the market, and dont want to spend the money on wireless expansion as of now. However, with the growth and market share the cable co's are acheiving, they could always potentially purchase or partner with those who end up buying this spectrum anway.
kelso2
join:2007-04-06
Ashburn, VA

kelso2

Member

Quad-Play not sexy

The problem here is that they call this the Quad-Play.

A sexier name would be Four-Play, 4-Play, or Forplay.

That would get some good attention.

-kelso

face dancer
@embarqhsd.net

face dancer

Anon

Re: Quad-Play not sexy

it's a quad play once the first year's rate runs out and you realize the self-KY injecting protoscope would have been cheaper

JasonD
@comcast.net

JasonD

Anon

Cable is playing it smart....

With google's half-baked idea of opening up the spectrum deflating any business sense, it's risky investment. Plus I have a feeling Cable knows this is truly telco turf, and that wireless requires a level of expertise far beyond delivering POTS integrated voip.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

cable doesn't do wireless

Aside from satellite, clear-wire, or limited wifi.. cable doesn't do wireless. Expect google to acquire something soon.