NEW YORK — The war for TV, Internet and telephone customers is escalating this year as phone companies push deeper into cable’s territory and cable firms prepare a high-tech counterattack, promising new video features and greater online speeds.
The ultimate winner will be consumers benefiting from more competition, analysts say.
People should expect a marketing frenzy this year, with promotions for speedier Internet connections and broader offerings of high-definition TV programming.
“It’s turning into a customer-oriented marketplace, and both sides see it as an all-or-nothing game now,” said Jeff Kagan, an industry analyst based in Atlanta.
After some initial skepticism, investors have warmed to the phone companies’ pricey deployments of new fiber-optic networks.
But Wall Street beat up on cable firms last year, although many hope for a stronger 2008.
“The cable companies are going to wake up and embrace this new kind of competition,” Kagan said. “We want both sides to be successful.
“If one wins and one loses, then eventually the customer loses because prices go up.”
A big driver of the contest is New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., which in 2004 began a six-year, $23 billion deployment of FiOS, a network of fiber-optic cables reaching to homes and businesses. The network is in parts of 17 states, mostly in the Northeast but also in states that include Florida, Texas and South Carolina.
FiOS provides phone service, digital television and Internet access with download speeds of 20 to 50 megabits per second.
The company says a few customers are testing connections of 100 megabits per second.
Typical connections from the biggest cable providers top off around 10 megabits per second, although some have begun offering high-end plans up to twice as fast.
Verizon’s advantage on the upload side, where it offers speeds of up to 20 megabits per second, is often far greater. Upload speed has taken on more importance as Internet users increasingly post videos and other content online.
More than halfway to its goal of giving more than 18 million homes network access by 2010, Verizon has more than 1.5 million FiOS Internet customers and more than 1 million TV subscribers, largely in suburban areas.
