January 3, 2007

Cox's Smithpeters on Sprint JV

By Mike Robuck

Last month, we profiled Cox's Craig Smithpeters, manager, advanced technology and standards, in CT's Pipeline, but ran out of room to include his thoughts on the cable operators' joint venture with Sprint Nextel. Here's what Smithpeters had to say:

Is the Sprint JV looking more like a business partnership with arrangements to use and sell existing Sprint wireless services and products, or a new venture to build a joint converged network?

The Sprint JV is about providing an integrated quad-play solution for consumers that is enabled by the cable operators' and Sprint's networks. The MSOs will resell Sprint wireless services, and Sprint will resell MSO products and services, but these marketing endeavors are just one piece of the project. The first phase is focused on developing wireless applications for the Sprint mobile phones that will tie the MSO video, data and wireline telephony products to the mobile phone. Cox will be launching a mobile TV application when we launch the new mobile phone service. This application will enable access to several channels of live video from the local Cox market and selected short VOD clips from major programmers.

We have many plans for expansion of the Cox wireless video platform focused on our goals for taking the bundle to the next level - fully integrated services anywhere, anytime.

Where is the JV and its companies in terms of actual implementation of an infrastructure to take advantage of the new spectrum?

Utilizing the new spectrum is not in the immediate plans for the JV. The spectrum purchase was a longer-term investment by Cox and the JV.

How does this infrastructure relate to existing cable HFC plant and PacketCable network elements?

We are not yet in development of an infrastructure to take advantage of the new spectrum. We do see the integration of existing services onto the JV wireless platform as a driver to move towards an IMS-based infrastructure in the medium to long term. The unifying thread on all projects these days is IP.

For the full Pipeline profile, click here.

- Mike Robuck