Competition Watch

Cable World, April 3, 2000

* A Thomson Multimedia survey of customers who bought RCA brand satellite boxes with their DirecTV package indicated high satisfaction rates. Ninety-one percent said the product met or was better than their expectations. When asked why they bought the service, 29% cited dissatisfaction with cable service, while 39% pointed to the programming variety available. Another 23% said cost was a factor.

* Montana Power is ditching its traditional electric utility service to become a telecommunications provider. The company's board voted March 28 to sell off its power business and rename itself Touch America. That decision is based on higher profits from its existing high-speed Internet service riding on 12,000 miles of fiber line. The newly dubbed Touch America plans to extend the net- work to 26,000 miles by the end of 2001, even as it looks for buyers for its energy assets.

* EchoStar Communications Corp. is extending its small-dish satellite television programming to Alaska and Hawaii beginning April 1. The service, which costs customers $29.99 per month, includes 41 standard cable channels. An array of additional packages offers premium channels, local stations, PBS affiliates and independent UPN and WB Network stations.