Technology Cable companies to resell Verizon Wireless service

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cable companies Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Bright House Networks are giving up on their dreams of creating their own wireless network, opting instead to resell Verizon Wireless service. The companies said Friday that they have agreed to sell their wireless licenses -- which they haven't been using -- to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion. Cable companies have long had ambitions to get into wireless, and some of them have linked up with Sprint Nextel Corp. and Clearwire Corp. to offer service. Lately, there has been speculation that the cable companies would invest in ailing No. 3 and 4 carriers Sprint or T-Mobile USA to gain access to the wireless market, particularly since AT&T Inc.'s deal to buy T-Mobile USA is firmly opposed by regulators. The link-up with No. 1 carrier Verizon Wireless and the sale of the spectrum appears to preclude a deal between a cable consortium and one of the weaker players in wireless. Instead, the biggest cellphone company will strengthen its hand, if the spectrum sale is approved by regulators. The cable companies paid $2.2 billion for the spectrum in 2006, so they're getting a 64 percent gain on a five-year investment. The spectrum covers about 85 percent of the country's population, and would have been sufficient to start up an independent wireless network. Comcast, the country's largest cable company, owned the majority of the spectrum holding company, and will get $2.3 billion from the sale. Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable company, will get $1.1 billion. Bright House, the sixth-largest, will get $189 million. The three companies and Verizon Wireless will resell each other's services, so it will be possible to sign up for cable service in a Verizon Wireless stores. Published: Mon, Dec 5, 2011