The major cable TV companies who had joined with Sprint Nextel to create the Pivot wireless venture are pulling out of the deal, news first reported by BroadbandReports. Their withdrawal does not come as a big surprise, as both Sprint and the cable TV firms-Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance Newhouse-had stopped marketing Pivot. Also, there have been reports that some cable players were considering investing in a new Sprint-Clearwire WiMAX joint venture, which put future development of the Pivot offering in doubt.
Pivot reportedly had not had much impact with consumers. This also looks like a case of a new technology and the pace of the mobile broadband evolution altering what should constitute a cable player wireless offering. Though, WiMAX is no sure thing either, if the new joint venture happens, it presumably would allow the cable guys to offer a 4G as cutting-edge as Sprint's eventual offering. And speaking of "eventual," Sprint also has delayed its Xohm WiMAX service roll out because of backhaul capacity and billing system issues.
For more:
- read this Dow Jones wire story at CNN Money
- here's the original story at BroadbandReports
- TelephonyOnline reports of the Xohm delay