Cablevision, the 8th largest cable provider in the United States has come out in opposition of the T-Mobile/AT&T takeover talks with the hope it would be able to partner with T-Mobile as a cellular network partner. Cablevision declared their standing in a filing with the FCC arguing against the AT&T deal noting that Cablevision would be deprived of it’s best potential partner.

“Cablevision has been actively exploring expanding its mobile Wi-Fi service to incorporate traditional cellular broadband service as a canopy to complement its existing Wi-Fi service,” Cablevision wrote in a recent FCC filing. “Cablevision envisions offering a complete package of mobility services that would employ Wi-Fi and cellular broadband interchangeably and seamlessly.”

Cablevision expressed an interest in partnering up with T-Mobile over Sprint due to the GSM-based network and its larger international reach. Cablevision spokeswoman Kim Kerns told FierceWireless that any AT&T deal would “eliminate T-Mobile as the key wholesale provider needed to enable new companies to enter the wireless telephony market.” Kerns declined to comment on whether or not Cablevision and T-Mobile were in talks. T-Mobile declined to comment for the FierceWireless report. 

Cablevision currently has more than 500,000 customers using its Wi-Fi network with more than 60% of those customers using it more than 10 times a month. Cablevision recently boosted their peak speeds to 15Mbps on the network. Cablevision, I’ve honestly never heard of you but I like you!

FierceWireless