Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The Big Challenge Facing Cable Firms

[C]able operators are virtually barricading themselves in the home and seemingly ignoring the importance of participating in the wireless explosion.

-Diane Mermigas, Media Daily News columnist

She points out that the "telecoms"--Verizon and ATT--recognize that mobile is the growth area and so are selling a "quadruple play": home-based television, in-home internet service, in-home phone service (via the internet) and outdoor mobile capability. Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and other cable firms at present sell a "triple play," which means that they have not yet positioned themselves to benefit from the advertising money that will stream to the mobile phone. The cable firms are only now realizing that they must act in this direction, Mermigas notes. Even if they get their act together, the competition among these firms around the home and outside it (including in stores) will be intense.

In Diane Mermigas, "Tech Slowdown: Cable Giants Still Wireless," Mediapost's Media Daily News, May 2, 2008.

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