NCTA: Clearwire Best Route to Fastest Wireless Network, Cable Show Panelists Say

For perhaps the first time in 57 years, the focus of the kickoff session Sunday at The Cable Show was opportunities in wireless, specifically those generating from the announcement earlier this month on the multibillion WiMAX venture called Clearwire.

The ambitious effort is driven by Clearwire Corp. and Sprint Nextel Corp. and funded by Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable and Intel Corp., among others, and promises cablecos their strongest wireless play yet for both residential and business customers. CEOs from backers Comcast and Intel, along with execs from News Corp. and Viacom Inc. also commented on the broadband wireless effort in the roundtable at the cable industry event hosted by the NCTA.

“Clearwire is definitely our preferred course,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “This really feels right,” he said, drawing a contrast to past wireless ventures, such as the PIVOT cableco venture with Sprint. “A number of companies want to see the fastest data network ever built get built. For Comcast’s part, we’re going to make sure it happens.”

Citing the benefits Comcast anticipates from the Clearwire venture, Roberts noted: “The big problem starting from scratch is that you’re not national on day one. Sprint has contributed access to all their 2G and 3G areas, so that we are national on day one. It’s a great way to get to market.”

Intel CEO Paul Otellini said the national WiMAX network effort applies some pressure on incumbent wireless giants such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless. “We’ll probably have the fastest wireless network first, which provides a natural first mover advantage. As WiMAX gets built out, they’ll be pressure on AT&T and Verizon to go to LTE.”

Philippe Dauman, president and CEO of content behemoth Viacom Inc., said he’s very excited about the Clearwire endeavor. “We look at it as an opportunity [because we] think we have all the assets needed to become successful in wireless,” he said, referring to content properties, such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, among others.

Peter Chernin, president and COO of News Corp., shares Dauman’s enthusiasm. “We’re not skeptical. The challenge is how do we protect our margins and those of our distribution partners. We’ll figure out ways to distribute profitably.”

Asked if the venture, and wireless distribution of content in general, threatened to fragment existing content business and security schemes, Chernin took a contrarian stance. “Fragmentation is a fact of life, and it‘s going to increase exponentially. We need to build new business and business models faster than the old ones erode. Otherwise, we’re sentencing ourselves to extinction.”

While content owners, in general, typically are in favor of more and better distribution options for their digital assets, companies, such as Intel, which power mobile devices, see great promise in wireless efforts as long as they don’t complicate their business and operations significantly. “New networks let us have the same goal of providing (content) anywhere on any device,” said Intel’s Otellini.

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