2017.06.2700:41:00UTC+00Sprint in Talks with Charter, Comcast to Explore Partnership - Sources

U.S. telecommunications holding firm Sprint Corp is in talks with Charter Communications Inc and Comcast Corp regarding a partnership to raise both companies' wireless offerings, according to sources with knowledge of the topic.

Sprint entered into a two-month period of exclusive agreement with Charter and Comcast which placed its merger talks with T-mobile US Inc on hold until the end of July, the sources disclosed.

The negotiations might include the possibility of the cable firms jointly buying Sprint, some sources said, according to the report.

Comcast and Charter are in talks with Sprint to guarantee a network-resale agreement on better terms, the sources added. An initial nine-year old network-resale agreement between Comcast and Sprint was never activated, according to a source.

Sprint, Comcast and Charter declined to comment on the report.

Cable operators Comcast and Charter have both agreed to not do deals in the wireless industry for a year without the consent of each other.