Bschneider
11-19-2005, 05:22 PM
Bout begins to bundle services; [SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]
LOUIS HAU. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Nov 3, 2005. pg. 1.A
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Nov 3, 2005
The battle to offer one-stop shopping for all of your telecommunications and home entertainment needs took two big steps forward Wednesday.
Wireless carrier Sprint Nextel unveiled a joint venture with some of the nation's largest cable companies, including the corporate parents of Bright House Networks, that will enable Tampa Bay area customers to purchase four-way bundles of cable TV, phone, high- speed Internet and wireless services. All four services would appear on one bill.
Meanwhile, Verizon Communications said it hopes to begin selling pay-TV service by early December in Temple Terrace. The Hillsborough County municipality would become the first city in Florida to be eligible for a TV service called FiOS that Verizon plans to deliver via a costly new fiber-optic network. Verizon has spent billions trying to branch into TV, the missing link in its offerings, other than a partnership with satellite carrier DirecTV.
In the deal announced Wednesday, Sprint Nextel and cable giants Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications said they will offer a "quadruple play" of phone, TV, broadband and wireless services throughout much of the country beginning next year.
The newfound partners also said they are developing next- generation services, such as the ability to use a cell phone to watch certain cable TV programming and to program a TV set's digital video recorder from afar. The companies didn't specify the four- service package's planned launch date or its price. Under the joint venture, Sprint will invest $100-million for the development of integrated services and marketing initiatives. The cable companies will collectively invest the same amount.
Time Warner and Advance/Newhouse are the corporate parents of Bright House Networks, the Tampa Bay area's dominant cable company.
"The next step is to take the vision and move it to reality," Bright House Tampa Bay president Kevin Hyman said.
Sprint Nextel's cable deal didn't surprise market observers, who believed that cable companies were seeking just such an arrangement for years to counter the competitive threat posed by regional Bell companies such as Verizon and SBC Communications.
Cable TV and phone companies, long accustomed to virtual monopolies in their respective areas, have been increasingly encroaching on one another's turf in a bid to capture a larger slice of a customer's monthly bill for telecom services.
Until now, the main objective in this battle was to provide a discounted "triple play" package of cable TV, phone and high-speed Internet access service. To that end, Bright House launched phone service last year and Verizon has invested heavily in new fiber- optic lines to ready its network for TV service.
But for cable companies, even this three-part package wasn't quite enough because it lacked cell phone service. That represented a big vulnerability because voice services are increasingly going wireless and because the big phone companies already serve cell phone customers via Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless (Cingular is a joint venture between SBC and BellSouth.)
The Sprint Nextel deal plugs the hole in a big way. And Sprint Nextel's status as the largest U.S. wireless carrier not affiliated with a regional Bell company made it a natural partner for the cable companies, observers said.
"It really kind of completes the picture in terms of convergence and the future of competition in the (telecom) industry," said Charles White, vice president of marketing and client services for TNS Telecoms, a Jenkintown, Pa., market information company.
The coming conveniences of the Sprint-cable partnership, however, won't be cheap. White and other observers predicted premium services will likely come at a premium price to cover the costs of more advanced handsets and high-speed data subscriptions.
"Is it going to change the world of telecom immediately or over the next three years? No," said Michael Paxton, senior analyst for In-Stat, a Scottsdale, Ariz., technology research firm. "But it is an indication that the cable operators will be serious competitors in the telecom market."
As for Verizon, the phone company began testing its TV service in Temple Terrace last week at the homes of some company employees in preparation for a launch early next month, according to Alan Ciamporcero, southeast regional president for Verizon.
Ciamporcero said the company hopes to conclude franchise agreements with Tampa and Hillsborough County by the end of the year. Once such pacts are approved by local governmental authorities, it would be "a matter of weeks" before TV service is launched, he said.
Verizon is already selling premium broadband service over its new fiber-optic network in parts of Hillsborough County and recently launched the service in Oldsmar.
Louis Hau can be reached at (813) 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com.
THE RACE TO WIRE YOUR HOME
Starting next year, Bright House networks and Verizon Communications hope to offer you the option of paying one bill for your cable TV, cell phone, Internet access and phone service.
CABLE TV: Now offered by Bright House. Verizon hopes to start offering pay TV via fiber optic-network in parts of Hillsborough next month.
CELL PHONE: Now offered by Verizon. Bright House will offer cell phone service via Spring Nextel next year.
INTERNET: Bright House now offers high speed access on its cable network. Verizon offers high-speed DSL access.
PHONE SERVICE: Offered now by both Bright House and Verizon.
LOUIS HAU. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: Nov 3, 2005. pg. 1.A
Copyright Times Publishing Co. Nov 3, 2005
The battle to offer one-stop shopping for all of your telecommunications and home entertainment needs took two big steps forward Wednesday.
Wireless carrier Sprint Nextel unveiled a joint venture with some of the nation's largest cable companies, including the corporate parents of Bright House Networks, that will enable Tampa Bay area customers to purchase four-way bundles of cable TV, phone, high- speed Internet and wireless services. All four services would appear on one bill.
Meanwhile, Verizon Communications said it hopes to begin selling pay-TV service by early December in Temple Terrace. The Hillsborough County municipality would become the first city in Florida to be eligible for a TV service called FiOS that Verizon plans to deliver via a costly new fiber-optic network. Verizon has spent billions trying to branch into TV, the missing link in its offerings, other than a partnership with satellite carrier DirecTV.
In the deal announced Wednesday, Sprint Nextel and cable giants Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications said they will offer a "quadruple play" of phone, TV, broadband and wireless services throughout much of the country beginning next year.
The newfound partners also said they are developing next- generation services, such as the ability to use a cell phone to watch certain cable TV programming and to program a TV set's digital video recorder from afar. The companies didn't specify the four- service package's planned launch date or its price. Under the joint venture, Sprint will invest $100-million for the development of integrated services and marketing initiatives. The cable companies will collectively invest the same amount.
Time Warner and Advance/Newhouse are the corporate parents of Bright House Networks, the Tampa Bay area's dominant cable company.
"The next step is to take the vision and move it to reality," Bright House Tampa Bay president Kevin Hyman said.
Sprint Nextel's cable deal didn't surprise market observers, who believed that cable companies were seeking just such an arrangement for years to counter the competitive threat posed by regional Bell companies such as Verizon and SBC Communications.
Cable TV and phone companies, long accustomed to virtual monopolies in their respective areas, have been increasingly encroaching on one another's turf in a bid to capture a larger slice of a customer's monthly bill for telecom services.
Until now, the main objective in this battle was to provide a discounted "triple play" package of cable TV, phone and high-speed Internet access service. To that end, Bright House launched phone service last year and Verizon has invested heavily in new fiber- optic lines to ready its network for TV service.
But for cable companies, even this three-part package wasn't quite enough because it lacked cell phone service. That represented a big vulnerability because voice services are increasingly going wireless and because the big phone companies already serve cell phone customers via Verizon Wireless and Cingular Wireless (Cingular is a joint venture between SBC and BellSouth.)
The Sprint Nextel deal plugs the hole in a big way. And Sprint Nextel's status as the largest U.S. wireless carrier not affiliated with a regional Bell company made it a natural partner for the cable companies, observers said.
"It really kind of completes the picture in terms of convergence and the future of competition in the (telecom) industry," said Charles White, vice president of marketing and client services for TNS Telecoms, a Jenkintown, Pa., market information company.
The coming conveniences of the Sprint-cable partnership, however, won't be cheap. White and other observers predicted premium services will likely come at a premium price to cover the costs of more advanced handsets and high-speed data subscriptions.
"Is it going to change the world of telecom immediately or over the next three years? No," said Michael Paxton, senior analyst for In-Stat, a Scottsdale, Ariz., technology research firm. "But it is an indication that the cable operators will be serious competitors in the telecom market."
As for Verizon, the phone company began testing its TV service in Temple Terrace last week at the homes of some company employees in preparation for a launch early next month, according to Alan Ciamporcero, southeast regional president for Verizon.
Ciamporcero said the company hopes to conclude franchise agreements with Tampa and Hillsborough County by the end of the year. Once such pacts are approved by local governmental authorities, it would be "a matter of weeks" before TV service is launched, he said.
Verizon is already selling premium broadband service over its new fiber-optic network in parts of Hillsborough County and recently launched the service in Oldsmar.
Louis Hau can be reached at (813) 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com.
THE RACE TO WIRE YOUR HOME
Starting next year, Bright House networks and Verizon Communications hope to offer you the option of paying one bill for your cable TV, cell phone, Internet access and phone service.
CABLE TV: Now offered by Bright House. Verizon hopes to start offering pay TV via fiber optic-network in parts of Hillsborough next month.
CELL PHONE: Now offered by Verizon. Bright House will offer cell phone service via Spring Nextel next year.
INTERNET: Bright House now offers high speed access on its cable network. Verizon offers high-speed DSL access.
PHONE SERVICE: Offered now by both Bright House and Verizon.