Even though the groundbreaking Verizon Wireless – Cable MSO marketing partnership is under increasing regulatory scrutiny, these ‘coopetitors’ are moving forward with their vision. Verizon Wireless and TW Cable announced several new markets that can now receive bundled offers of TW Cable broadband and video services with Verizon Wireless products.
The markets announced yesterday include Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Dayton, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio; Kansas City, Kan.; and Raleigh, N.C. Both companies have more information on their respective websites – TW Cable and Verizon Wireless – regarding these bundled offers.
“The joining together of the best products and services from Time Warner Cable and Verizon Wireless into a single package is a big win for customers in Southeast Ohio,” said Jeffery Hirsch, chief marketing officer, Time Warner Cable in a Verizon Wireless press release. “These new packages provide more choice, convenience, greater value and bring customers a more complete entertainment and communications experience inside their home and wherever they go.”
The growing cozy relationship between Verizon Wireless and their cable MSO partners has caught the attention of the entire broadband ecosystem and the institutions that regulate them. Predictions of implications of this partnership include a dramatic rebalance of the competitive landscape.
Some think Verizon is ceding wireline broadband and video services to their cable partners in markets where they don’t operate FiOS, content with an attempt to dominate mobile broadband in those markets. Consumers will suffer from a lack of a wireline competitor, consumer advocates argue.
What’s most interesting is these coopetitors haven’t even revealed what they’re cooking up in terms of integrating cable broadband and video services with Verizon’s 4G LTE capabilities. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam recently hinted that mobile TV is one such product that will emerge if regulators approve the spectrum and co-marketing deal currently under review. But I’m sure many more interesting products will emerge as well – some of which will provide these partners with significant competitive advantage.
Stay tuned …
