NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp. (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is not open to helping EchoStar Communications (DISH.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and DirecTV Group Inc DTV.N set up a wireless service, Sprint Nextel's Chief Financial Officer said on Wednesday.
Satellite television provider DirecTV said last month it was in talks with rival EchoStar to create a U.S. wireless high-speed Internet service. Unless they already own wireless airwaves, companies entering the U.S. wireless market tend to lease space from existing operators' networks.
But Sprint, the main provider of wholesale network services in the United States, is precluded from such a deal because it has set up a joint venture with the top U.S. cable companies, the arch rivals of DirecTV and EchoStar.
"We have our hands full. We're with the cable folks," Sprint Nextel's CFO Paul Saleh said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York.
Sprint announced a $200 million mobile phone service joint venture with four U.S. cable operators in November, including the biggest players Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Time Warner Inc (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Cox Communications Inc.
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