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Thursday, April 2, 2009

Will Comcast buy Sprint?

"As telco giants AT&T and Verizon move deeper into the TV business, cable giants like Comcast  may have to get into the wireless business to compete. That could eventually involve Comcast buying Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier," writes Silicon Alley Insider here.

Comcast and Sprint are backing the Clearwire 4G wireless network, and its WiMax system. If Clearwire doesn't connect, and cash-rich Comcast decides it's easier to buy than build, "the most logical deal could be for Sprint, which currently has a $12 billion market cap," Insider says. "It's not a new idea. But it could make sense in the next few years."

Citing a report from Pali Research, the article quotes Comcast CEO Brian Roberts at the annual cable show in Washington yesterday: “Wireless is a conundrum for the cable industry... AT&T and Verizon... are the super elephants. They’ve got all the market share..." He "avoided a clear answer to the question as to whether Clearwire was Comcast’s sole wireless strategy."
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 12:09 PM  Permalink | 15 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:19 PM, 04/02/2009
    this is a great move as comcast can impart their strong vision of customer service into this failing company. i'm going out to buy some verizon stock.
    — natedog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:28 PM, 04/02/2009
    I will be dropping Sprint if Comcast buys them.
    — jlcharles
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:47 PM, 04/02/2009
    Sprint sucks, comcast can only improve them. they're the odd man out in a forest with bigger trees (verizon and ATT). Even T-mobile has the backing of a giant (Deutsch Telecom)
    — dreinterests
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:49 PM, 04/02/2009
    Natedog, clearly you have no idea what you're talking about regarding your aforementioned comments. Last time I checked, Comcast is the single largest cable company in the country with a current market cap of around $54 billion. To say the company is failing is vastly overstated. Go out and buy some Verizon stock there fella, if you can afford it.
    — DirtyBirds
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:51 PM, 04/02/2009
    By the way, I recently paid almost $300 to drop Sprint due to terrible service. Dreinterests is correct, they can only get better!
    — DirtyBirds
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:53 PM, 04/02/2009
    Time to buy some more shares of T.
    — EastChestnut
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:08 PM, 04/02/2009
    DirtyBirds, Natedog's comment was clearly that Sprint was the failing company, not Comcast. We all know Comcast isn't failing as a business, just when it comes to customer service.
    — veritas1325
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:17 PM, 04/02/2009
    Dirtybird, you are wrong. First, Comcast is ranked last in customer service when stacked up against other cables providers and now ATT and VZ in realm of tv service. Second, ATT and VZ are making headway into the comcast market share. Remember comcast is big because they bought out other compannies, not becasue they did a built out. ATT and VZ will take a bit longer as they build their networks. Comcast is down over 30% in last 2 years. Comcast is scared of VZ and ATT. Real competition is here, and taking market share. Side note is that comcast use to own a cell phone network but sold it off as they did not expect it to make much money for them.
    — thebaron
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  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:46 PM, 04/02/2009
    Sprint Sucks. Comcast Sucks. Both put many incorrect and misleading statements into their advertisements. Their customer service departments are horrible. I say merge, maybe we can get two birds with one stone.
    — truthfirst
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:06 PM, 04/02/2009
    Ah, heavy handed Comcast, lousy service and all, should really be able to butcher Sprint. They have a lot of practise at messing anything they touch and then extracting more money for it. At least it would not be a monopoly on sports - ala Philadelphia (recall that when they bought a Chicago system they had to promise City Council that they would not "Philadelphia" the sports). That would be boost for VZ stock.
    — Burdee1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:04 PM, 04/02/2009
    Dirty Birds my feelings are hurt. when you get done dusting the desks and running the vacuum at comcast central take a second to review the comments from the philly faithful. fios is taking a chunk out of the monopolized hide of comcast and the floodgates are just starting to open. people have long memories and they're lining up to jump off the egotistical politically connected comcast.
    — natedog
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:57 AM, 04/04/2009
    What will this mean for the life saving terrestrial loop hole they so desperately hold on to.
    — JFM557


15 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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