Sprint Nextel announced an expansion of its relationship with Time Warner Cable, the second-largest cable operator in the United States. They have been selected to help provision Time Warner Cable's digital phone service in an additional 14 service areas. Time Warner Cable will utilize Sprint Nextel's IP network to offer VoIP-based telephone service across most the 28 million homes it currently services.
Sprint Nextel currently serves cable companies with a total of more than 1.2 million VoIP subscribers across more than 1,100 rate centers. Over a one-year period, Sprint Nextel is expected to provide cable telephony wireline services to cable companies serving over 2.5 million subscribers. The new five year agreement marks Sprint Nextel's continued expansion into the cable market.
"Sprint Nextel has proven to be an excellent partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them," said Glenn Britt, president and chief executive officer of Time Warner Cable. "Time Warner Cable now serves 1.6 million Digital Phone customers, and telephone has become one of the fastest growing segments of our video, high-speed data and voice bundle."
As part of the agreement, Sprint Nextel will carry long-distance traffic for Time Warner Cable residential customers and provide 911 services, relay systems and operator services. Digital phone calls begin on the Time Warner Cable network and travel to its regional data centers. Calls are completed over the Sprint Nextel nationwide network. From the customer's perspective, their inbound and outbound calls will continue to be seamless.
Read more about this new agreement in Sprint Nextel's press release.
