OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-John Garcia, senior vice president of strategic partners for Sprint Consumer Solutions, will head up the joint venture between Sprint Nextel Corp. and cable companies Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications.
The joint venture will focus on quadruple-play services and will be mutually exclusive for three years, with a full term of 20 years. It calls for a combined initial commitment of $200 million, half of which will come from Sprint.
Garcia, who joined Sprint’s wireless group in 1995, will take the new position immediately. He will report to a six-member governance council comprised of three members from Sprint and one each from Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox. He is expected to focus on delivering the convergence of video entertainment, wireline and wireless communications and data products and services to about 41 million cable customers and Sprint’s nearly 46 million wireless users.
The companies expect to begin offering combined bundles of high-speed Internet, wireless voice and data, video and cable phone services this year. The companies also plan to develop new co-branded wireless devices that integrate cable and wireless services.
