Cable and Satellite TV Set Their Sights on Airwaves

CABLE AND SATELLITE TV SET THEIR SIGHTS ON AIRWAVES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Matt Richtel & Ken Belson]
The biggest names in cable and satellite television are poised to get into mobile phone and wireless data services. On Wednesday, Time Warner, Comcast, Cox Communications, EchoStar Communications and DirecTV, a unit of the News Corporation, will be among the 168 qualified bidders in the government’s multibillion-dollar auction of radio spectrum, that precious commodity that allows voice calls and data to be sent over the airwaves. But these companies are not necessarily planning to use those frequencies for TV signals. Rather, they appear to be preparing to battle AT&T, Verizon Communications and other companies that sell traditional phone lines, broadband connections and wireless services — and are now diving into television. Though the cable and satellite providers declined to discuss their strategies, many analysts expect them to buy at least enough spectrum to build networks that will allow them to sell wireless Internet connections and mobile phone services. That would let the cable companies and, to a lesser degree, the satellite companies, complete a decade-long transformation: instead of just selling packages of TV channels, they are becoming one-stop shops with a full line of communications products.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/07/technology/07spectrum.html
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