Verizon Dismisses Cable's Wi-Fi Voice Agenda

Coming on the heels of Cablevision's announcement that it will launch Freewheel Wi-Fi calling, plus indications that Comcast and others are developing similar mobile ventures, it was hardly surprising that a top Verizon executive brushed off cable operators' plans.

"The cable companies will probably execute on some type of a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) for Wi-Fi, but we don't believe that it's going to be a replacement for LTE," said Verizon Communications' CFO Frank Shammo. "We will see how this plays out, but it's not something that we are overly concerned about," Shammo said during remarks about the competitive mobile landscape and the applications of technology. "It is not a seamless flow of going between Wi-Fi and LTE," he added. Yet, the intensity of Shammo's dismissal of such competition -- and the timing amidst a flurry of new wireless initiatives -- sounded as defensive as it was feisty. "Yes, technologically it can be done ...but it is not ...the quality of service that most of our wireless customers would like," Shammo said.