We all know that cable operators are winning at the triple-play game — that’s because it’s far easier for cable operators to offer phone service than it is for phone companies to offer video service. AT&T and Verizon are both pursuing fiber-based upgrade strategies to remedy their narrowband technological inferiorities and it’s slow-going given the cost and complexity of the rebuilds/upgrades.
But, often overlooked is the fact that the phone companies are already offering triple-play packages pretty much everywhere. The video components of those packages, however, come from DBS partners EchoStar and DirecTV. And, surprisingly, the phone companies continue to gain video customers from those partnerships at a healthy clip.
According to the tally we’ve produced over at Emerging Media Dynamics (and published today in IP Media Monitor), the four phone companies topped the two million video customer count by the end of Q3 06, serving a collective 2.2 million subscribers via its DBS partnerships. The net gains during the quarter were the highest of all but one of the past seven quarters – the companies added 229,000 net new DBS-related customers, 38% more than the 166 net adds during Q3 05 and up 4% sequentially.
Qwest, the lone telco with no clear-cut video-over-IP strategy, was the biggest gainer, tacking on 100,000, or 44%, of the collective gain. Verizon, the telco with the most active video-over-IP plans, added the least number of DBS-related video customers, adding only 11,000 net new customers during the quarter. (On the other hand, Verizon added 63,000 net new customers with its FiOS TV fiber-to-the-premises service.)
AT&T, busy trying to get its U-Verse fiber-to-the-curb video service off the ground, added 53,000 net new DBS customers, the second lowest number of gains during the quarter. BellSouth, slated to merge with AT&T, added 65,000 net new DBS partnership customers.
Clearly it’s better for the phone companies to offer truly integrated voice, video and data services and not rely on third parties, who also have a pesky way of wanting to share the profits. But, for the time being, 2.2 million video subs. isn’t bad — collectively the four incumbent phone companies encompass as many video subscribers as the 6th largest cable operator in the U.S., Newhouse-owned Brighthouse Networks.
| Incumbent Telco Video Subscribers via DBS Partnerships (000s) | |||||
| Telco | 3Q05 | 4Q05 | 1Q06 | 2Q06 | 3Q06 |
| AT&T | 419 | 457 | 491 | 533 | 586 |
| BellSouth | 460 | 523 | 628 | 691 | 756 |
| Qwest | 151 | 183 | 228 | 273 | 373 |
| Verizon | 305 | 349 | 415 | 485 | 496 |
| Total | 1,335 | 1,512 | 1,762 | 1,982 | 2,211 |
| Net Change | 166 | 178 | 249 | 220 | 229 |
Cynthia Brumfield at 2:07 PM|Comments(0)
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