Cable provider Cox has agreed to sell off its advanced wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $315 million, and in doing so offer Cox cable customers access to Verizon Wireless devices and services.

Other cable companies have also recently sold spectrum to Verizon and then made deals to offer cobranded services to their customers. The Cox sale follows a recent deal by Verizon Wireless with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks to buy wireless spectrum collectively held by those companies and known as SpectrumCo. Like the Cox sale, as part of the SpectrumCo deal, those companies can also offer Verizon Wireless services to their subscribers.

As our sister site The Consumerist points out, "These sales from cable providers to Verizon are not expected to hit too many speed bumps in the regulatory review process, as cable carriers have never been viewed as competitors to the cell phone industry." Unlike AT&T's proposed bid for T-Mobile, which would remove a major competitor from the marketplace, cable companies are not seen as huge competitors in the wireless market.

Cox Communications Announces Agreement to Sell Advanced Wireless Spectrum to Verizon Wireless [Cox.com via Consumerist]