Bschneider
02-02-2006, 09:58 PM
[Hillsborough] County OKs Verizon Cable TV
By RICHARD MULLINS rmullins@tampatrib.com (rmullins@tampatrib.com)
Published: Feb 2, 2006
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBDYT0L6JE.html
TAMPA - Cable television prices could start falling and cable companies could start sounding a lot friendlier now that Verizon Communications Inc. has won approval to begin selling cable TV service in most of Hillsborough County.
The deal struck Wednesday triggers the first significant competition for cable TV service in the county in decades and allows Verizon to start sending TV signals through a fiber-optic network that is being dug through thousands of front lawns across the Bay area.
The 15-year deal, approved 6-1 by Hillsborough County commissioners, could be a template for hundreds of other communities across the country where Verizon hopes to sign up customers for combined telephone, Internet and cable TV service.
"This is a very big deal for us because this is a big county in an important state that's often a leader across the nation," said Alan Ciamporcero, president of Verizon's Southeastern region. "This not just changes the game for cable, it changes the entire field."
By March 1, Verizon expects to start taking orders for cable TV service. Residents in parts of Westchase and Carrollwood will see some of the first offers. Other populated areas such as Lutz and Sun City may have to wait two or more years while Verizon completes network construction that is costing several hundred million dollars.
Anticipation of Wednesday's deal has triggered a local marketing blitz.
Bright House Networks, the dominant cable TV company in the county, has started testing new package prices, offering deep discounts to customers in certain neighborhoods and to those who threaten to switch to Verizon.
"Competition is great, and it's a long time coming," said Kenneth DeGraff, a policy analyst with Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. "Less than 2 percent of people in the country have that choice, so Tampa is pretty lucky."
The city of Tampa is negotiating with Verizon for a similar deal. Ciamporcero said he hopes that deal could be completed in a month.
Targeted Marketing
Neither company plans an all-out price war, continually undercutting each other's advertised prices. Rather, they plan more subtle and targeted tactics, focusing on better customer service and individually tailored discounts.
Both companies plan personal marketing, going door to door, offering package deals. Verizon is already advertising locally on pizza boxes, dry-cleaner bags and stickers on the tables of mall food courts.
Verizon's initial pricing is lower than Bright House's by about $14 a month, depending on which TV package customers choose.
Bright House this week started special deals in the Temple Terrace area, where Verizon started selling cable TV last year, offering discounts if customers sign up for a package of phone, Internet and cable.
"That has been highly successful, and we expect in the next 10 days to offer that much more broadly," said Kevin Hyman, president of Bright House Networks Tampa Bay division.
Customers can find deeper discounts for staying with Bright House, if they know the right way to ask.
Verizon's entry into markets in Keller, Texas, near Dallas; Herndon, Va., outside Washington; and Temple Terrace triggered longtime cable providers in those areas to offer discounts to customers who simply called up and threatened to switch to Verizon's "FiOS" brand TV service.
Those discounts cut prices to 15 percent below publicly advertised rates, according to a study last year by Bank of America.
"We find it noteworthy that such pricing is not actively advertised," the Bank of America study states. "Without specifically calling and mentioning [Verizon's] FiOS, a consumer would be unaware this pricing existed."
Federal studies have found cable prices typically drop 15 percent or more when a second cable provider such as Verizon entered a community that previously had one provider.
Not everyone in Hillsborough County will have access to the service at once.
The deal applies to areas of the county not represented by a city municipality, such as Tampa or Plant City. Even without those cities, Verizon won access to a potential market of about 700,000 people.
Verizon will deploy the service in phases over the next several years because the company's network operates through hubs that often cross neighborhood borders.
Within the first two years, Verizon's county contract requires residents have access in areas such as Carrollwood and Keystone.
Within five years, Verizon must offer service in areas such as Brandon, Lutz and Oldsmar. Within seven years areas such as Wimauma and south-central Hillsborough County areas such as Sun City should see service.
Those are all long-term deadlines, and those areas likely will have access much sooner, Verizon's Ciamporcero said.
Implications For Bright House
Verizon's contract will have other effects on Bright House.
Hillsborough County is negotiating a new franchise agreement with Bright House, and Bright House likely will ask that any perks given to Verizon be given to it as well.
For example, the county deal with Verizon eliminates payments that cable companies typically make to county "public benefit funds," which pay for public, education and government channels. Verizon had anticipated those charges would have added 47 cents each month on subscribers' bills.
SIZING UP PLANS
Packages of cable service are not directly comparable between cable providers. Each offers different channels in different combinations, plus discounts for adding telephone and Internet service. Here are the primary cable packages offered by Verizon Communications and Bright House Networks:
•Verizon's main package of digital cable service will include 180 channels of television and music for $39.95 per month, plus $3.95 per month per cable box rental ($43.90 total).
•A similar Bright House Network digital cable package of 175 television and music channels costs $58.45 per month.
VERIZON'S ROLLOUT PLAN
Deployment areas within first two years: Carrollwood, Westchase, Keystone and some areas surrounding Temple Terrace
Within five years: Riverview area, Brandon, Lutz, Ruskin, parts of Ybor City, Thonotosassa, Lutz, Oldsmar and Town 'N Country
Within seven years: Wimauma and south-central Hillsborough County, including Sun City
By RICHARD MULLINS rmullins@tampatrib.com (rmullins@tampatrib.com)
Published: Feb 2, 2006
http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBDYT0L6JE.html
TAMPA - Cable television prices could start falling and cable companies could start sounding a lot friendlier now that Verizon Communications Inc. has won approval to begin selling cable TV service in most of Hillsborough County.
The deal struck Wednesday triggers the first significant competition for cable TV service in the county in decades and allows Verizon to start sending TV signals through a fiber-optic network that is being dug through thousands of front lawns across the Bay area.
The 15-year deal, approved 6-1 by Hillsborough County commissioners, could be a template for hundreds of other communities across the country where Verizon hopes to sign up customers for combined telephone, Internet and cable TV service.
"This is a very big deal for us because this is a big county in an important state that's often a leader across the nation," said Alan Ciamporcero, president of Verizon's Southeastern region. "This not just changes the game for cable, it changes the entire field."
By March 1, Verizon expects to start taking orders for cable TV service. Residents in parts of Westchase and Carrollwood will see some of the first offers. Other populated areas such as Lutz and Sun City may have to wait two or more years while Verizon completes network construction that is costing several hundred million dollars.
Anticipation of Wednesday's deal has triggered a local marketing blitz.
Bright House Networks, the dominant cable TV company in the county, has started testing new package prices, offering deep discounts to customers in certain neighborhoods and to those who threaten to switch to Verizon.
"Competition is great, and it's a long time coming," said Kenneth DeGraff, a policy analyst with Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. "Less than 2 percent of people in the country have that choice, so Tampa is pretty lucky."
The city of Tampa is negotiating with Verizon for a similar deal. Ciamporcero said he hopes that deal could be completed in a month.
Targeted Marketing
Neither company plans an all-out price war, continually undercutting each other's advertised prices. Rather, they plan more subtle and targeted tactics, focusing on better customer service and individually tailored discounts.
Both companies plan personal marketing, going door to door, offering package deals. Verizon is already advertising locally on pizza boxes, dry-cleaner bags and stickers on the tables of mall food courts.
Verizon's initial pricing is lower than Bright House's by about $14 a month, depending on which TV package customers choose.
Bright House this week started special deals in the Temple Terrace area, where Verizon started selling cable TV last year, offering discounts if customers sign up for a package of phone, Internet and cable.
"That has been highly successful, and we expect in the next 10 days to offer that much more broadly," said Kevin Hyman, president of Bright House Networks Tampa Bay division.
Customers can find deeper discounts for staying with Bright House, if they know the right way to ask.
Verizon's entry into markets in Keller, Texas, near Dallas; Herndon, Va., outside Washington; and Temple Terrace triggered longtime cable providers in those areas to offer discounts to customers who simply called up and threatened to switch to Verizon's "FiOS" brand TV service.
Those discounts cut prices to 15 percent below publicly advertised rates, according to a study last year by Bank of America.
"We find it noteworthy that such pricing is not actively advertised," the Bank of America study states. "Without specifically calling and mentioning [Verizon's] FiOS, a consumer would be unaware this pricing existed."
Federal studies have found cable prices typically drop 15 percent or more when a second cable provider such as Verizon entered a community that previously had one provider.
Not everyone in Hillsborough County will have access to the service at once.
The deal applies to areas of the county not represented by a city municipality, such as Tampa or Plant City. Even without those cities, Verizon won access to a potential market of about 700,000 people.
Verizon will deploy the service in phases over the next several years because the company's network operates through hubs that often cross neighborhood borders.
Within the first two years, Verizon's county contract requires residents have access in areas such as Carrollwood and Keystone.
Within five years, Verizon must offer service in areas such as Brandon, Lutz and Oldsmar. Within seven years areas such as Wimauma and south-central Hillsborough County areas such as Sun City should see service.
Those are all long-term deadlines, and those areas likely will have access much sooner, Verizon's Ciamporcero said.
Implications For Bright House
Verizon's contract will have other effects on Bright House.
Hillsborough County is negotiating a new franchise agreement with Bright House, and Bright House likely will ask that any perks given to Verizon be given to it as well.
For example, the county deal with Verizon eliminates payments that cable companies typically make to county "public benefit funds," which pay for public, education and government channels. Verizon had anticipated those charges would have added 47 cents each month on subscribers' bills.
SIZING UP PLANS
Packages of cable service are not directly comparable between cable providers. Each offers different channels in different combinations, plus discounts for adding telephone and Internet service. Here are the primary cable packages offered by Verizon Communications and Bright House Networks:
•Verizon's main package of digital cable service will include 180 channels of television and music for $39.95 per month, plus $3.95 per month per cable box rental ($43.90 total).
•A similar Bright House Network digital cable package of 175 television and music channels costs $58.45 per month.
VERIZON'S ROLLOUT PLAN
Deployment areas within first two years: Carrollwood, Westchase, Keystone and some areas surrounding Temple Terrace
Within five years: Riverview area, Brandon, Lutz, Ruskin, parts of Ybor City, Thonotosassa, Lutz, Oldsmar and Town 'N Country
Within seven years: Wimauma and south-central Hillsborough County, including Sun City