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Please contact:
Jeff Claudino
Director of Sales, Insider Research Services
619-229-9940
or via email at:
claudino@lightreading.com |
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| Cable's Wireless Strategy: More Than Just Talk |
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For the North American cable industry, the wireless space is truly the final frontier. Eager to enter the booming mobile communications market, numerous cable operators have been gearing up to launch mobile phone service, either on their own or with a seasoned partner such as Sprint. Many, if not all, of these cable operators are seeking to offer wireless voice service as the fourth leg of a quadruple play bundle of video, data, and voice services that could match or surpass the similarly packaged offerings of telco competitors such as AT&T and Verizon Communications.
But cable multiple system operators (MSOs) don't want to stop with just wireless voice service. With the new mobile capabilities they are adding, as well as with spectrum they've been stockpiling, they plan to introduce a panoply of other wireless products, including high-speed data and mobile video. A bit further down the line, they also hope to roll out integrated home voice over IP (VOIP)/mobile phone service in their regions so that a subscriber can switch seamlessly from one network to the other with one dual-mode handset.
Large MSOs are also pursuing fresh batches of wireless spectrum, mostly in conjunction with Sprint, though it's still not clear how they plan to use it. They could conceivably use the frequencies to beam video programming to mobile devices or deliver faster wireless broadband data, but they have yet to show signs of moving aggressively to do so. Nor do they show any desire to collectively become the nation's fifth major wireless voice provider.
It's far from certain that cable operators know how to deliver and market wireless service, or that consumers want to buy mobile access products from their cable providers. Furthermore, cable operators must overcome numerous technical challenges to make full mobile access a reality, especially the meshing of cable, WiFi, and other wireless networks. Despite a technical boost from the adoption of the PacketCable 2.0 specification last year, cable and cellular engineers are still grappling with the thorny cable-mobile integration issues raised by multi-mode phone handsets, cellular roaming, conflicting signaling protocols, voice quality, quality-of-service guarantees, and back-office synchronization.
This report explores efforts by North American cable MSOs to enter and compete in the wireless market, dissecting the industry's various attempts. Specifically, it considers the moves of the Sprint-Cable Joint Venture, as well as the go-it-alone strategies of such other major MSOs as Rogers Communications and Cablevision Systems. The report examines the wireless spectrum auction bidding wars of 2006 and the early positioning for another round of bidding wars expected later this year or in early 2008. Finally, it assesses how the cable industry may fare in the wireless market against such well-heeled incumbents as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and potentially even MSO partner Sprint.
Cable's Wireless Strategy: More Than Just Talk provides critical insight and analysis for a range of industry participants, including:
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Cable operators who need a deeper understanding of how wireless services can enable them to compete with telecom operators in the next-gen services arena |
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Telecom operators needing to assess the full potential competitive threat posed by cable MSOs in the wireless sector |
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Technology suppliers assessing the market opportunity for cable MSO wireless initiatives |
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Investors needing a better understanding of the scale of investment that will be required for cable service providers to deploy wireless networks and services, the probable timing of that investment, and the technology suppliers that are best positioned to capitalize on projected wireless spending by the cable sector |
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| Sample research data from the report is shown in the excerpts below: |
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 Table of Contents (cii0707_toc.pdf) |
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| To date, the most ambitious rollout of wireless services by North American cable MSOs is Pivot, the initiative put forth by the joint venture of four major cable operators and Sprint. Despite several months of delays that led to speculation about the initiative's future, Pivot service was launched in about a half-dozen markets early this year and has now expanded into more metro regions. The following figures detail aspects of Pivot service and provide a list of markets where the service has been introduced so far this year. |
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| [click on the image above for the full excerpt] |
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| [click on the image above for the full excerpt] |
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 The service providers mentioned in this report are: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T); Bright House Networks LLC., a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX); Cable One Inc., a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO); Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC); Charter Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CHTR); Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA); Cox Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc.; The DIRECTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV); EchoStar Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: DISH); Insight Communications Company, Inc.; Mediacom Communications Corp. (Nasdaq: MCCC); Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE: RCI); Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S): Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC); T-Mobile USA Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT; Frankfurt: DTE)’s T-Mobile International AG; and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ). |
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| The equipment vendors mentioned in and/or interviewed for this report are: Camiant, Inc.; Cedar Point Communications Inc.; Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO); Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC);, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC); MobiTV Inc.; Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT); Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Korea: SEC); Scientific-Atlanta Inc., a subsidiary of Cisco Systems; and Synchronoss Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: SNCR). |
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| Total pages: 19 |
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| To view reports you will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it, it can be obtained for free at the Adobe web site. |
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