Two of the USA''s largest cable television networks are reported to be planning to join in the WiMAX venture being set up by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire. The two cable firms, Comcast and Time Warner Cable are belived to be putting up to US$1.7 billion into the wireless network - which will go a long way towards funding the initial US$3 billion rollout costs. The total cost of a national network has been put at over US$5 billion.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Comcast would put as much as $1 billion into the venture, with Time Warner Cable adding $500 million. The sixth-biggest cable operator, Bright House Networks, is also involved in the talks and would contribute between $100 million and $200 million, people familiar with the matter said.

The newspaper said that Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts has played a prominent role in the talks.

Intel, which is a heavy backer of WiMAX technologies has previously been rumoured to be about to stump upwards of US$1 billion towards the cost of building the network.

Plans by Sprint Nextel and Clearwire to build a nationwide WiMAX network have been troubled ever since their ground breaking deal to work together early last year. Since then, the partnership has been dissolved, the Sprint CEO resigned - and the partnership renewed again.



Source: Wall Street Journal

Tags:Cable | WIMAX | Sprint