[opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks
- From: Craig Birkmaier <brewmastercraig@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 07:46:02 -0400
On Apr 17, 2016, at 8:58 PM, Manfredi, Albert E
<albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Because hopefully the press should be about explaining things to the
clueless, instead of confusing them even more. If what you say is true, and
it well could be, then use THAT angle in the article. Explain the mechanisms
and the motivations. The emphasis on supposed "middle class jobs" is, you
know, annoyingly platidudinous.
I thought the article did a decent job explaining the dilemma Verizon is
facing. Even in New York, $130,000/year is considered upper middle class.
That's equivalent to four full time $15/hr jobs. Verizon is trying to outsource
some work in an attempt to be competitive. Markets - including the labor market
- have a way of dealing with imbalance...
But Verizon and AT&T are not capturing significant market share.
Which is entirely their own fault. Verizon may be adding Boston, but it
stopped way prematurely with FiOS.
Perhaps. Do you know what the Return On Investment is for the FIOS systems they
built? The fact that they did not keep building FIOS systems, and that AT&T did
not as well, should tell you something. Perhaps they have seen revenues
increase as broadband demand has increased, but they still face increased
programming costs on the MVPD side, as well as cord cutting.
It gave up, in spite of the good reviews, in spite of the "common wisdom"
(note the quotes) that FTTH is futureproof, the only way to go, and on and
on. Cable companies had the coax to homes, which made broadband simpler to
install (i.e. cheaper). Perhaps Verizon jumped the gun, and discovered this
too late. But why?
The high cost of building and operating these systems relative to deploying
their investment capital into wireless.
FTTH requires house calls. That makes it very expensive. Cable too required
house calls, and was expensive to install, but they used those MVPD revenues,
while walled gardens were the only game in town. Now, that coax can readily
be repurposed. I think Verizon jumped to FTTH prematurely. There are
transitional schemes available, and they flatly refused to consider them.
Based on studies I have seen, FTTH only makes sense in new developments where
they have a good shot at capturing customers relative to overbuilds, where they
must get existing cable subscribers to switch. And overbuilds are very
expensive; the legacy cable operators have a significant cost advantage.
It is the combination of broadband AND MVPD service that makes
overbuilding the cable monopoly with FIOS financially attractive.
The MVPD business in decline, and the broadband business on the rise, should
also factor into the strategic thinking.
Both the article and my initial response covered that. The declining rate of
return on potential MVPD subscribers must be balanced against the potential
revenues from broadband. Then there is the reality that when real competition
for high speed broadband happens in a market, rates typically decline, reducing
the rate of return for all competitors. And if the FCC decides to set
broadband rates potential revenues could be capped.
In short, it makes sense to develop strategies for broadband deployment that
DON'T depend so heavily on the overly burdensome MVPD model, which technology
is finding ways to bypass.
Exactly. So put on your CFO hat and think about what you are saying. If the
purpose of the deployment is just broadband, how much can you charge, and is
this sufficient to provide a good rate of return for investors?
Not exactly the ideal conditions to risk spending billions to
deploy FIOS.
Which was a given from day 1.
Then why did you criticize Verizon for not continuing to deploy FIOS?
Regards
Craig
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Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks - Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Manfredi, Albert E
- » [opendtv] Re: NY Times: In Verizon Strike, Blue-Collar Stress Hits the Sidewalks- Craig Birkmaier