Time Warner Cable, the second-largest US cable television operator, is mulling an entrance into the US wireless market, but is unlikely to do so through an acquisition, according to its chief executive.
The cable unit of Time Warner Inc already sells high-speed Internet, telephone and video services, but is not sure whether consumers are keen to buy mobile services as part of a package from cable companies, CEO Glenn Britt said.
"It turns out a lot of people already have cellphones," Britt said at the Reuters Telecommunications, Cable and Satellite Summit on Monday.
Britt said Time Warner Cable is talking about its wireless options with mobile companies that are unaffiliated with regional US telephone operators, which are bitter rivals to cable providers.
Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, the two biggest US mobile services, are owned by dominant local telephone companies. That leaves the No 3 US mobile service, Sprint Corp and T-Mobile USA as possible partners.
Britt said Time Warner's mobile options could range from renting space on an established wireless network to sell its own service or reselling existing services through a joint venture. He also said Time Warner could make an investment in a wireless company, either alone or as part of a consortium of cable companies.
He all but ruled out buying a mobile service outright, because their geographic reach extends far beyond the reach of cable networks.
"I should never say we'd never buy something or we would buy somebody, but it seems unlikely," said Britt.
Time Warner is testing a wireless service in Kansas City with Sprint, which has been openly courting cable providers as potential users of its wireless network. Sprint already supplies it with wholesale landline telephone services.
Sprint, which currently has a market capitalization of about $37 billion, is poised to double in size with its $38 billion purchase of Nextel Communications Inc.
Deutsche Telekom has told investment managers it would decide by year-end whether to sell T-Mobile USA or invest heavily to improve its network, according to recent reports.
If it goes on sale, some analysts value T-Mobile USA at about $20 billion to $30 billion but others questioned whether it would make sense for a cable company to buy into wireless. Cable companies have talked openly in the last year about the possibility of selling wireless services, and talks about a cable consortium for wireless were first reported in November.
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