TWC to fight FiOS in NYC with 100 HDTV channels
Time Warner Cable now plans to boost its high-def TV line-up to 100 channels by the end of 2008 in New York City, its COO said. Yet elsewhere -- including Los Angeles, where it's currently being sued -- it has no similar plans.
Speaking at the Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications conference this week, Time Warner Cable COO Landel Hobbs said that, by the end of this year, his company will almost double its current HDTV capacity in New York, in addition to launching two other services in that city by then: Start Over and "price-lock guarantee."
The new Start Over service will let TV viewers go back to the beginning of a show in progress. The price-lock guarantee package will allow customers agreeing to a two-year contract to lock in an established price for video, voice, and data service.
"HD in vast numbers. Start Over will be launched in Manhattan before year end. Price-lock guarantee throughout the entire market, scouring the market ahead of anybody before the competition moves in," Hobbs told the conference attendees.
By "competition," Hobbs unmistakably meant Verizon, a rival that recently cleared the first regulatory hurdle it needs to pass before beginning to install FiOS TV throughout New York City.
However, Hobbs made no mention of expanded HD rollouts for any TWC city other than New York City. That doesn't mean similar rollouts won't happen elsewhere, though it's noteworthy that the COO's focus was limited to just that one area.
Meanwhile, the City of Los Angeles -- where Verizon's FiOS is not a competitive threat -- last week launched a lawsuit against TWC, accusing the cable provider of spurring "major havoc and distress" due to poor service and billing problems.
Now, the city of Costa Mesa, California is reportedly pondering its own lawsuit against TWC.
"In response to [the Los Angeles] suit and a history of complaints from local residents dissatisfied with the cable provider, Costa Mesa City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow wants to find out whether similar actions might be in Costa Mesa's best interest," according to an article in the online edition of Costa Mesa's local newspaper, the Daily Pilot.