NEW YORK (AP) ? Cable companies Comcast, Time Warner Cable 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 also said Friday that they will be selling their wireless licenses ? which they haven’t been using ? mto 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.
The link-up with No. 1 carrier Verizon Wireless and the sale of the spectrum appears to preclude that kind of deal.