Sprint exploring Charter-Comcast collaboration

SAN FRANCISCO: US telecommunications firm Sprint is exploring a possible alliance with cable companies Comcast and Charter Communications that could boost their wireless plans, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

An agreement for exclusive talks between the companies in the coming weeks has put merger talks between Sprint and T-Mobile on pause, according to the report, which cited people with knowledge of the discussions.

Under the potential arrangements, Charter and Comcast could get advantageous terms for using Sprint’s wireless network. A source close to the matter said it was a matter of negotiating a “network use agreement.” Merger talks between T-Mobile and Sprint, a subsidiary of Japanbased SoftBank, were expected to pick up after the brief break. Sprint and Charter declined to comment on the report.

In April, Comcast announced it had made an initial foray in the wireless market with an Xfinity Mobile service aimed at customers using its home Internet service.

With lifestyles shifting increasingly to accessing the Internet from mobile devices, Comcast and Charter would be working to stay in tune with users and taking on telecommunication titans such as AT&T in the process.

Streaming television, films or other video online from Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime or other services has also grown increasingly popular, as consumers shun traditional packages sold by cable companies.