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Time Warner Cable's Plan To Fend Off Verizon: Less-Crappy Service, Long-Term Contracts

newyorkskyline.jpgHow will Time Warner Cable (TWC) protect its near-monopoly in New York City now that Verizon has a license to sell cable TV here? TWC chief operating officer Landel Hobbs tells the WSJ:

  • Less-crappy customer service. In Staten Island, where Verizon has been most aggressive, "Time Warner Cable has narrowed the window within which one of its representatives will visit a customer's house to two hours from four. The company will similarly narrow the window in other New York City boroughs in the coming months."
  • Long-term contracts, like the cellphone industry. "The company will also start offering discounted prices to customers who commit to longer-term contracts on video, data or phone services."
  • More footsoldiers. "The company is also sending out a growing number of door-to-door sales representatives to reach customers before Verizon does."

The good news for Time Warner Cable: It will take a long time -- years -- before Verizon (VZ) can build out its fiber-optic ("FiOS") network into all/most of New York City's thousands of apartment buildings. The less-good news: By then, it will have to deal with a host of new rivals angling for attention in the living room, like Internet movie/TV services from Apple (AAPL), Hulu, Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Netflix (NFLX), which should only get easier to hook up to TVs.

See Also:
Hulu Household: Why I Got Rid Of Cable
Time Warner Cable Not 'Well-Prepared' For Verizon Threat In NYC, Pali Cuts To 'Sell'
Verizon Gets NYC Cable License For FiOS: Look Out, Time Warner, Cablevision
Are Internet Providers Making Broadband More Expensive To Protect Their TV Businesses?

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