[opendtv] Re: Mobile Services and Cable TV Are Unexpected Allies
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:25:16 -0500
Monty Solomon posted:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/business/media/verizon-airwave-purchase-unites-mobile-and-cable-companies.html
I actually find this sort of collusion annoying and unnecessary, and consumers
should wise up and think on their own, for a change.
There was a similar piece on the WSJ (IIRC) some weeks ago, that my wife
pointed out to me. The issue is simply that Verizon has no easy way to provide
anything better than ADSL to the majority of its customers, in terms of cabled
broadband. I didn't know, but they never intended for FiOS to be country-wide.
And at the same time, the cable companies don't have the wireless spectrum.
So Verizon is thinking, let's leverage off cable companies' faster broadband
service (faster than ADSL), and we'll offer them the wireless connectivity in
return.
So, why do consumers need for these services to collude? Why make it easy for
them to collude? There's no excuse, from the consumer's point of view.
Don't the cable companies ALREADY offer their different tiers online, to those
with the MVPD username/password? Yes. And the customers can get to this content
from any broadband link they choose. Even today.
If consumers can already access this MVPD content, over whatever cabled or
wireless broadband service they choose, then why imply that there are some
extra benefits that would accrue with this collusion? There aren't. Device
makers can easily provide the sort of photos-from-cell-phone-to-TV-screen
service that they can dream up already, without needing the service providers
to stick their fingers in the pie. Just build a credible "connected TV," for
heaven's sake, or build an easy HDMI or other device to plug into the TV, to
give it Internet access. Or, use a PC.
I still have a tough time understanding what the deal is about. But it seems
obvious to me that this "great deal" can only work with more collusion between
service providers and CE vendors. Cripple the TVs enough, or wall in the MVPD
content enough, and that's about the only way these "great deals" can make any
sense.
Bert
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts: