CenturyLink begins offering Prism TV service in Denver. See blog post for launch neighborhoods.
If you’re tired of paying for cable TV, here’s some good news: There’s a new TV service that launched in Denver this week. The bad news? You still have to pay for it and plans start at $50 a month.
But competition is a good thing. I stopped by the CenturyLink store this afternoon to see a demonstration and was told that new promotions start on April 17th in Denver because it’s where CenturyLink is going head-to-head with Comcast. (And don’t forget, there is always Dish, DirecTV, Sling TV plus many on-demand but limited TV services.)
CenturyLink won the city’s approval last week by a wide margin (9-to-1 voted to approve) offer its fiber-based Prism TV service, which is already offered in several outlying suburbs. While the service may get to homes differently from Comcast, consumers probably won’t notice the difference. Prism TV offers 320 channels, social apps, on-demand viewing and many of the same features you’d expect from your pay TV provider.
So far, the company says it is available in these 18 Denver neighborhoods:
Baker, Bonnie Brae, Belcaro, Cole, Congress Park, Corey Merrill, Hilltop, W. Highlands, Overland, Park Hill, Platt Park, Rosedale, some sections of Stapleton, Washington Park East and West, University, University Park, and Villa Park. These are mostly similar to the locations CenturyLink has its gigabit Internet service. Hilltop and W. Highland are new since January.
Want to see it in person? The CenturyLink store near 16th Street and Stout has demos — and comfy chairs!
CenturyLink won’t elaborate on exactly where in these neighborhoods TV service is available or when it will be available elsewhere. But the plan is that Prism TV will be available to everyone in Denver, partly thanks to a City-Council requirement that companies must now provide TV service in every council district and not just the wealthy neighborhoods. You can check out the new TV service by visiting the CenturyLink’s 16th Street mall store, which the company had to specially equip with fiber for Prism TV.
If you live in Denver and want to know if you can order service today, you’ll need to look it up yourself on CenturyLink’s Prism TV site:
CenturyLink is rolling out its Prism TV service in Denver following approval from Denver City Council in late March 2015. And yes, you can watch 4 news channels at the same time!
The service is so new that employees at the 16th Street store just completed training. Albert Guillen, a retail senior sales associate, showed me some highlights: fast-moving channel clicking, apps that let you see up to four screens at once (news, kids and sports categories are available), plus Sudoku, Facebook and Twitter and other apps.
And then Guillen showed me Prism TV’s . For rooms not near an Ethernet port (since this service runs on Internet), the Arris box requires just a cord for power and a cable to attach a video source like a TV. Guillen said he takes it out on his patio to plug into a projector and watch movies outside.
CenturyLink’s wireless set-top box from Arris lets customers put a TV anywhere there is power — and within about 100 feet of the home’s router.
If this new service is tempting, remember, it’s not cable TV. Users should have a minimum Internet speed of 20 Mbps, Guillen said. Adding 40 Mbps Internet service bumps the basic plan price to $75. Here are the current prices and plans:
Besides Denver, Prism TV is also available in parts of these cities and counties: Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Colorado Springs, Eagle, Edwards, Fountain, Gypsum, Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Lone Tree, Monument, Parker, Sedalia and parts of El Paso, Douglas and Jefferson Counties.
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