Battle for cable clients heats up in Maryland

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jan 5, 2006 by Dori Berman

Howard County's 70,000-plus cable customers might soon find two surprises in their mailboxes: more advertising and cheaper bills.The Howard County Council's approval Tuesday night of an agreement allowing Verizon Communications Inc. to provide cable television service to county residents provides competition for Comcast Corp., which held the only franchise agreement in the county.

Adding a second land-line cable provider in a jurisdiction typically reduces rates by an average of 15 percent, according to Federal Communications Commission research.We expect to experience the benefits which are generally realized only when there's facility- based cable competition in a community, said Dean Smits, the county's cable administrator. In addition to lower rates, Smits said competition also translates to improved customer service.Verizon has begun to upgrade its telecommunications network in 16 of the 29 states in which it operates landline services. The new fiber optic network, known as FiOS, will have video capabilities in addition to the current telephone and Internet services, and the company plans to offer cable service in jurisdictions where it can secure franchises. The company will bring the new fiber network directly to customers' homes, which spokesman Harry Mitchell said provides superior quality services and will ensure the company is prepared for future technological advances.The company rolled out its cable service in Keller, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth, in September, and soon followed with service in Herndon and Fairfax County, Va., as well as several other communities around the country. Robin Stennet, the company's senior marketing manager in Virginia, said the company will use some of its marketing strategies for Internet and phone services in cable markets to lure customers away from Comcast. For example, the company has a FiOS lounge in a mall in Springfield, Va., where people can use the high-speed Internet service and other products. In Maryland, a mobile version of the lounge, built inside a branded Hummer, has visited several events around the state to give people a chance to try the service.Stennet said it allows customers to touch and feel services that are traditionally not something you can test drive before you get them.For the new cable service in Herndon, Stennet said the company just wrapped up the entry period for a sweepstakes where customers can win a 50-inch, flat screen, high-definition television to go with their new service. Mitchell said the company will begin releasing package and pricing information for Howard County in March, when the franchise becomes effective, but said he has no doubt the competition will benefit consumers in Howard County. He said he would expect Comcast's prices to dip once a second provider is in the picture.But Comcast spokesman Jim Gordon noted the competition would be nothing new for his company, which currently offers cable service in 16 Maryland jurisdictions. We've been competing for 10 years for video service, he said, referring to the competition with satellite service providers. Comcast also competes for cable customers in Northern Anne Arundel County with Millennium Digital Media.While Comcast is the sole provider in Anne Arundel for areas south of Route 50, both companies have franchise agreements in the more populous northern section of the county.Anne Arundel Cable Administrator John Lyons said he's confident residents have experienced better customer service because of the competition. And, while the standard package rates are only slightly lower than in surrounding jurisdictions, Lyons said residents realize savings through promotional deals. The companies often send direct mail advertisements to all county residents, and Lyons said many subscribers bounce back and forth between the companies and their special offers.Anne Arundel may soon have a third provider - talks with Verizon for a franchise agreement could wrap up as early as next month, Lyons said. Verizon is also in talks with Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Mitchell said.