|
At the SeaChange International Summit in NYC this week, Comcast’s VP of Advanced Business and Technology Development, Mark Hess, said executives are discussing whether to sell its cable programing outside of its cable footprint—yep, deliver it over-the-top of other (cable) operator’s broadband connections to consumers who live in other (cable) operator’s footprint. By implication, this means it would be okay for other cable TV operators to sell into Comcast’s privileged territory, a move certain to recast the entire U.S. PayTV industry. Aw, but it’s just an idea, right?
Is this a box Comcast really wants to be opening? Does this signal an end to cable’s mutually recognized service boundaries, the beginning of new age in which competition (the god to which so many business owners chant, at least when it serves their ends) becomes real and cable operators are let loose to exploit the territory of their former allies?
Perhaps, but doubtful—at least within the next five years or so. After that, all bets are off.
...
|