Sprint Rings Up More Than 250,000 Voice Customers Through Cable Partnerships

Sprint ( NYSE: FON ) today announced that it now delivers voice services to more than 250,000 residential customers through its range of relationships with cable companies. In addition to a series of previously announced relationships with national cable providers, Sprint today also announced new contracts to deliver local and long-distance voice services with three regional cable companies: Massillon Cable TV, Inc.; Wave Broadband; and Blue Ridge Communications.

These agreements represent the continued expansion of Sprint's presence in the cable space as it helps cable companies deliver the "triple play" of video, data and voice services to customers.

Sprint is also exploring, through market trial and discussion with cable providers, adding wireless service to the bundle, creating a "quadruple play." Sprint and Time Warner Cable have stated that they are currently conducting a market trial for wireless services, delivered on a single bill along with wireline voice, video and data, in Kansas City. Sprint also has announced an agreement with Sunflower Cable of Lawrence, Kan., to market and sell Sprint-branded wireless services to cable customers.

"Sprint has established itself as the partner of choice for cable companies of all sizes that want to deliver a compelling new bundle of services to their consumers," said Jim Patterson, vice president - Wholesale, Carrier Markets and Cable, Sprint. "Our progress - surpassing 250,000 customers and demonstrating steady quarterly acceleration in our growth - clearly illustrates the appetite in the market for these services and the unique position Sprint has established as the leader in working with cable companies to deliver the bundled services customers want."

In its 2004 annual earnings announcement, Sprint reported that the number of orders received per day for voice services through its cable relationships had increased 50 percent over the previous quarter.

New Agreements with Regional Providers
Under the three new five-year agreements, Massillon Cable TV, Inc.; Wave Broadband; and Blue Ridge Communications will soon be able to offer voice-over-IP ( VoIP )-based telephone services in addition to the existing product portfolio of digital cable and high-speed Internet services. Massillon Cable TV, Inc. launched its voice service in January, and Wave Broadband and Blue Ridge Communications plan to begin launching markets in the second half of 2005.

Under the agreements, Sprint will assist these companies with provisioning capabilities, switching and termination of traffic to the public switched telephone network, delivery of enhanced 911 emergency service, local number portability, and operator and directory services. Among other features, the new VoIP telephone services will include caller ID with name, call waiting, call forwarding and voicemail. Consumers switching to the Blue Ridge; Wave Broadband; or Massillon Cable TV, Inc. telephone service will be able to keep their existing phone numbers and directory listings and utilize the telephone equipment and wiring already in their homes.

Massillon Cable TV, Inc. serves Massillon and Wooster, Ohio, representing more than 70,000 homes passed. Blue Ridge Communications operates in multiple markets in eastern and central Pennsylvania, passing more than 196,000 households. Wave Broadband serves several markets in California and Washington, passing 110,000 homes. Sprint is also in discussions with these companies about creating bundled communications services for business customers in their respective territories.

Sprint also provides Internet data services to Massillon Cable TV, Inc. as part of the agreement.

Balancing National, Regional Cable Providers
Sprint's network, scale and expertise allow cable companies to get to market quickly and avoid the expense of building a stand-alone infrastructure. "Companies like Massillon Cable TV, Wave Broadband and Blue Ridge can offer the same world-class telecommunications services as the largest national cable companies," Patterson said.

Sprint has announced relationships with a number of cable companies, from large national providers to smaller regional companies. These agreements largely focus on Sprint's role in enabling the delivery of wireline local and long-distance voice services. More information on all of Sprint's announced cable relationships is available at http://www2.sprint.com/mr/cda_pkDetail.do?id=120.

Sprint offers a complete portfolio of telecom services to domestic cable operators making it possible for them to broaden their bundled consumer offerings to include voice telephony solutions, data services over Sprint's Tier 1 Internet backbone and advanced wireless services. Partnering with Sprint enables cable operators to leverage Sprint's local, long-distance, wireless and IP networks, while taking advantage of Sprint's broad telecom expertise and management capabilities. It also frees up capital a cable operator would have invested in building a telecom infrastructure from the ground up. The addition of local telecom services represents a highly attractive opportunity to address competition, retain customers and capture new revenues with bundled services.

About Sprint
Sprint offers an extensive range of innovative communication products and solutions, including global IP, wireless, local and multiproduct bundles. A Fortune 100 company with more than $27 billion in annual revenues in 2004, Sprint is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network; an award-winning Tier 1 Internet backbone; and one of the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide wireless networks in the United States. For more information, visit www.sprint.com/mr.

Media Contact:
Amy Schiska-Lombard, 913-794-2947
amy.k.schiska@mail.sprint.com

Published on:

2005-04-05

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