Qwest has been the least aggressive of the three baby bells in upgrading their broadband network, partially because they lack a cash cow wireless division (charging a million dollars per SMS really helps your bottom line), but also because they were trying to remain lean for a potential sale. Qwest is spending $300 million (Verizon's spending $23 billion on FioS and AT&T's spending $6 billion U-Verse) to run copper-based ADSL2+ service to two million customers by the end of this year. While they've been brimming with skepticism over investing in FTTH, Qwest's CEO Ed Mueller is finding that
speed really does sell:
"We are actually seeing that speed matters, technology matters, but we really believe in the promotional activity," Mueller said. "Up until the second quarter, we were head-on-head with the cable guys on net adds." That is, winning about 50 percent of quarterly net broadband additions in its markets.
By promotional activity, perhaps he means
pretending that ADSL2+ is "fiber optic Internet"? Qwest gets some flack for being the only baby bell that isn't offering their own video service, but if alternative broadband video delivery continues to blossom, that may be the one decision that makes sense five years from now. Sticking with ADSL2+ (896kbps upstream) and hoping they'll be able to compete with DOCSIS 3.0 cable speeds? Less so.
Ed Gubbins of Telephony Magazine e-mails me to note that AT&T's VDSL and IPTV service U-Verse
has arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas. Flyers saying "U-Verse is now available in your neighborhood," are being hung on doorknobs in the heart of the city, according to area-resident Gubbins. AT&T had apparently been targeting the market for a September 2 launch, and an official press release should be forthcoming shortly. Also of note: it looks like AT&T is
offering $125 cash back to users in some markets who are willing to switch from cable.
A few years ago, cable operators were very eager to eliminate the DVR, replacing it with a DVR-esque system that would store content at the ISP network head end. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry, fearing a loss of control as usual, took them to court. This resulted in several popular network DVR trials at both Cablevision and Time Warner Cable getting scrapped. But with Cablevision's
recent court win on this front it appears the network DVR lives on.
In reaction to FiOS competition, most of the major cable operators have been running
misleading ads that confuse customers into thinking core network fiber is the same thing as fiber to the home. Time Warner Cable is
running advertising saying they offer "fiber optics without the hassle," while Charter is running ads that a spokesman says "reassure current Charter customers that they too have fiber optic technology bringing their homes to life."
App Rising notes that this is now a preferred marketing tactic of Cox as well, who is running ads in FiOS markets dubbing themselves the "new face of fiber." Writes Geoff Daily:
"Basically anywhere someone else is deploying a full fiber infrastructure the cablecos suddenly become 'fiber-powered' despite the fact they've argued the point of 'Why would anyone ever need fiber?' This disturbingly deceiving practice gets my goat on multiple levels."
Of course Qwest
plays this game as well, by dubbing their slower ADSL2+ service "Qwest fiber optic Internet." While not technically lying because these networks do have fiber in them -- can this be considered false advertising?
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