In addition to being a testament to technological convergence, quadruple play also involves a diverse group of stakeholders, from large Internet backbone providers to smaller startups.
Advances in LTE and other technologies are rapidly improving the ability to transfer information over a wireless link at various combinations of speeds, distances, and non-line-of-sight conditions.
It also reflects the ambition to gain wireless access on the go to voice, internet, and content/video without tethering to a network via cables.
In the UK, the merging of NTL and Telewest with Virgin Mobile resulted in Virgin Media offering a "quadruple play" of cable television, broadband Internet, landline phones, and mobile, with prices for some contracts as low as £30 a month.
In the United States, many telephone companies like AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom, Consolidated Communications (formerly SureWest), and formerly, BellSouth, Embarq, Qwest, and Cox (in some markets), have quad-play bundling.