Another big cable company plans to get into cellphone business
Comcast said Tuesday that it would launch a wireless service by the middle of 2017.
New York: A day after cable giant Comcast said it planned to start selling cellphone service, rival Charter says it wants to have a wireless business too. That could mean more competition in the cellphone business, where Verizon and AT&T dominate.
Charter Communications, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, became a huge cable operator with the purchase of Time Warner Cable in May. It has about 25.6 million customers; Comcast has more than 28 million. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said at an investment conference in New York Wednesday that Charter has told Verizon it's interested in activating a deal with the phone company to resell its cellular network.
Comcast said Tuesday that it would launch a wireless service by the middle of 2017 that runs on its own Wi-Fi as well as Verizon's network. Rutledge did not say when Charter's service would be available. Charter spokesman Justin Venech declined to comment on when the service would launch.