Time Warner Cable May Add Cellphone Service to Bundle

[Gregg Lengling]

http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/040310/1251000775_2.html

Dow Jones Business News
Time Warner Cable May Add Cellphone Service to Bundle
Wednesday March 10, 12:51 pm ET
By Janet Whitman

NEW YORK -- Time Warner Cable will consider including wireless phone service as part of the bundle of services it offers to consumers, said Glenn Britt, chairman and chief executive of the Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX - News) unit.  

Time Warner Cable, which is in the midst of rolling out local-telephone service in all of its markets, "needs to look" at offering wireless-phone service as well, Mr. Britt told investors and analysts at a Bear Stearns conference.  

He acknowledged SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - News)'s recent launch of such a bundle. The Baby Bell last year signed a pact with satellite-television broadcaster EchoStar Communications Corp. (NasdaqNM:DISH

- News) , enabling SBC to offer a " quadruple play" bundle of services. The bundle, launched early this month, includes DISH Network satellite programming, local and long-distance telephone service, high-speed Internet access and cellphone service through Cingular Wireless, which SBC owns in a joint venture with BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS - News) .  

At this stage, exactly how Time Warner Cable, the nation's No. 2 cable provider behind Comcast Corp. (NasdaqNM:CMCSK

- News; CMCSA, CMCSK), would offer wireless telephone is unclear, said Mr. Britt. "My inclination is to say we should do it. I don't anticipate making a big investment in the business."  

He acknowledged cellphone service is a threat to wireline service, with people in college, for instance, often opting for wireless service over a so-called land line. Nevertheless, he said plenty of consumers still want wireline phone service. "I think we're going to have a good run in that business," he added.  

Mr. Britt went on to say phone service offered over voice-over Internet protocol -- the technology Time Warner Cable employs -- should be "lightly regulated." But he did say it would be appropriate for consumers using VoIP to pay for 911 and universal service.  

Separately, Mr. Britt said Time Warner Cable has been "working aggressively" with movie studios, including those owned by its parent, regarding movie- and video-on-demand services. But he noted the company has to be careful not to cannibalize revenue from Time Warner's movie studios, as half of a movie's revenue comes from home video, with the lion's share coming from digital videodiscs.