(Bloomberg) -- After months of speculation, Verizon Communications Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam confirmed what many had suspected: a potential tie-up with Comcast Corp. or Charter Communications Inc. isn't in the cards.
The wireless operator has “moved on” from looking at cable companies, McAdam said at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York on Thursday.
M&A activity and speculation has picked up in recent years among wireless and cable-TV providers. The two industries have collided amid changing viewing habits, made-for-streaming content and ever-improving mobile devices. Consumer demand for cable-TV packages is on a steady decline and faces a further threat as companies like Verizon and AT&T Inc. build fifth-generation wireless services, known as 5G, that could offer blazing-fast internet speeds on smartphones.
Last month, Comcast and Charter poured some cold water on the telecommunications industry's merger mania with an unusual new arrangement to collaborate on their entry into the mobile market, pledging to work together on any transaction with a wireless company in the next year. That means if Comcast decides to acquire, say, Sprint Corp., it'll need Charter's consent. Or if Verizon were to try to buy Charter, Comcast could block the transaction.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Brice in Sao Paulo at jbrice1@bloomberg.net, Scott Moritz in New York at smoritz6@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Jessica Brice, Jonathan Roeder
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