Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam (pictured) reportedly revealed the operator is mulling the acquisition of a cable company in response to rival AT&T’s recent moves in the segment.

The New York Post (NYP) reported McAdam told friends at the recent CES event in Las Vegas he was looking at buying into cable, with the most likely targets being US players Charter Communications or Comcast.

A source told NYP Altice, the Dutch-based cable company which bought Cablevision in 2016, is too small to be of interest.

However, any deal is far from imminent. The publication noted Verizon is not in talks with any cable company, and may not “ever” make such a move.

The speculation follow similar hints at the end of 2016 when McAdam told Wall Street analysts the combination of telecoms and cable “makes industrial sense”.

With its biggest rival AT&T plunging billions into cable and its convergence strategy, a similar move by Verizon is feasible.

AT&T is looking to secure regulatory approval for its $85 billion deal for Time Warner, and started offering joint services with DirecTV. Verizon operates its own pay TV service Fios, but it is small in comparison with the major cable companies.

Adding fuel to the fire, John Legere, T-Mobile US’ outspoken CEO predicted earlier this month Verizon and Comcast, which he described as “the two most hated brands in America”, would enter into consolidation talks in 2017.