Cablevision Systems Corporation said on Tuesday it plans tomake its digital home phone network compatible with any U.S. wirelessnetwork, allowing subscribers to transfer calls between the two.
PatriciaGottesman, Cablevision"s executive vice-president of product managementand marketing, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference thecompany had "aggressive" plans to deliver such a service but gave notime frame.
Cable companies and telephone companies have talkedabout converging wireline and wireless services for years, but no majoroperator has yet to launch such a product.
Asource close to the company said its digital phone network, whichdelivers calls over the Internet, is compatible with wireless networks,allowing one phone to be used as both a cellphone and a home phone. Cablevision,which has 3 million subscribers predominantly in the Long Island, NewYork area, says 20 percent of its cable television subscribers alsotake its digital phone service.
The company was the only majorcable operator not to join Sprint-Nextel Corp. in forming a jointventure, first announced in November 2005, that aimed to explorecombining mobile phone services with television, home phone andInternet services.
Operators including Comcast Corp., Time Warner Inc."s cable unit and Cox Communications joined the venture.