Wireless Stocks: The Next Generation
At the CTIA Wireless Show in Las Vegas, telecom, cable and Web media companies are hyping their plans to master 3G ("third-generation") info technology like WiMax -- and some are already jumping ahead to 4G.
Todd Rosenbluth, Standard & Poor's telecom analyst, told investors who he believes will win the wireless wars.
Outlook
Rosenbluth addressed a report by CNBC's Jim Goldman, who said there is "massive speculation" that Google , Comcast and Time Warner will collectively "pump $2.5 billion into Sprint to build out" a high-speed wireless WiMax network.
- Video: Watch the entire Rosenbluth interview (4 mins, 23 secs)
But Rosenbluth thinks that funding won't guarantee a victory for Sprint Nextel .
"Sprint is really looking toward WiMax as an alternative technology. But Sprint is really going to be struggling versus the companies we like at S&P," he said.
And which firms are those?
Recommendations
"We like AT&T and Verizon Communications . They've committed to a fourth-generation technology, [called] LTE."
The analyst believes LTE is going to prove more efficient than WiMax -- and render the latter obsolete.
Disclosures
As of publication, information was not immediately available as to whether Rosenbluth or his firm have holdings in any of the stocks mentioned above.