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from: Palm Beach Post

Six plan to enter cable fray

By KRISTI E. SWARTZ

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Cable television choice is coming to a South Florida town near you.

Telecom giant AT&T said Tuesday it would announce at the end of the year where it would start offering its video services, marketed under the name U Verse. Meanwhile, Wynnewood, Pa.-based Hotwire Communications LLC also has received state approval to offer cable services in Palm Beach County as well as parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. It already is doing so in some neighborhoods.

What are these?

Hotwire, which started in 2000, sells cable, telephone and high-speed Internet services along the East Coast from New York to Florida.

AT&T and Hotwire are two of six companies that have taken advantage of a new state law that lets companies get one statewide license to sell cable instead of having to strike agreements with individual cities and towns to do so. AT&T and Verizon pounded on the door of the Florida Legislature for two years in an attempt to get into the cable business more easily so they can compete head-to-head with Comcast Corp., the area's dominant cable provider, and others.

"Obviously there will be robust competition; there already is," said Steve Wilkerson, president of the Tallahassee-based Florida Cable and Telecommunications Association. "I think there's a huge difference between filing for an application to provide competitive service and being able to compete."

By the end of the year, AT&T will start telling consumers when and where U Verse will be offered, spokesman Don Sadler said.

"We have not finalized our build-and-deployment plan," Sadler said Tuesday.

Jonathan Gottlieb of Boca Raton welcomes the competition. "I think they can only make service better," said Gottlieb, 53, a customer of Comcast's cable and high-speed Internet service. "Reliability and speed, to me, are more important than the cost."

But West Palm Beach resident Scott Cohen said he's fine with using Comcast for cable TV and Vonage, an Internet telephony provider, to make phone calls.

"I can't think of any reason why I would want to switch to AT&T," said Cohen, 40.

When it comes to cable, Comcast carries most of the South Florida market, though Bright House Networks LLC sells video services in Wellington. Philadelphia-based Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCS/A, $27.60) has filed for a statewide franchise to continue selling cable where its local agreement has expired, spokeswoman Marta Casas-Celaya said.

"We feel very confident in our Comcast cable infrastructure in South Florida compared to AT&T's new video system," she said.

Allowing the phone companies to sell cable statewide heats up the fight between phone and the cable companies. Both compete head-to-head with high-speed Internet service. Comcast also plans to start selling digital phone service to customers in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast this fall, Casas-Celaya said.

"If AT&T can offer me the Internet with the cable service, with the cellphone service, I would definitely be interested in looking into it, if it's going to save me a couple of dollars," said Matt Horan, 24, a West Palm Beach resident and Comcast customer who has flip-flopped between cable and satellite TV. "If there's another option, it creates competition."

AT&T prices

AT&T has not set prices or decided how it would bundle its video services with other services in Florida. But here is a look at U Verse's prices in San Antonio, where AT&T is based:

Build-your-own: Starts at $59 a month; up to 300 channels; choose from three types of high-speed Internet

U200 and high-speed Internet: Starts at $74 a month; 190 channels; 3HD receivers; DVR

U300 and high-speed Internet Express: Starts at $94 a month; 240 channels; movie package; 3HD receivers; DVR

U400 and high-speed Internet Pro: Starts at $119 a month; 300 channels; HBO; Cinemax; sports package; 3HD receivers; DVR

Source: AT&T

Cable competition

Six companies have been granted a statewide video franchise in Florida:

1. Smart City Television LLC

Based: Lake Buena Vista

To serve: areas in Osceloa County that fall under the telephone exchange for Celebration

2. Baldwin County Internet/DSSI Service LLC

Based in: Orange Beach, Ala.

To serve: unincorporated areas of Hernando County, in whole or in part

3. KG Communications LLC

Based in: Miami

To serve: Homestead

4. Bright House Networks LLC

Based in: Orlando

To serve: Escambia, Flagler, Hardee, Jackson, Manatee, Santa Rosa, Washington, Volusia counties;Bristol, Bowling Green, Dade City, DeFuniak Springs, Grant-Valkaria, Lake Helen, Lakeland, Longwood, Maitland, Melbourne, San Antonio, South Daytona, Wellington, Zephyrhills

5. Hotwire Communications LLC

Based in: Wynnewood, Pa.

To serve: Hillsborough County; Aventura, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Coral Gables, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Holly Hill, Greenacres, Lauderdale Lakes, Miami, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Orlando, Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, South Miami, Sunny Isles Beach, Tampa, West Miami, West Palm Beach

6. BellSouth Telecommunications, doing business as AT&T Florida

Based in: Atlanta

To serve: AT&T Florida's service territory

Source: Florida Department of State