THE CABLE PIPELINE

If you believe Cable Operators are not thinking about Mobile Networks and what kind of synergies could bring them increased cash-flow in the future, then you’ve probably missed the obvious signs laid out since 2008.

Strategic Partnerships

Starting with their investment in Clearwire in 2008, companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House have upped their ante in wireless and mobile strategies. Other companies with investments in Clearwire include Sprint, Intel and Google. This is not an idle investment by the cable community; it is a strategy to combat the increasing competition in Northeast markets by telecom providers like Verizon and AT&T with Quad-Play capabilities. This competition will eventually spread to other regions as increased investment opportunities present themselves.

With the Quad-Play on the table as an option for customer superiority within the most profitable and populated markets as the Northeast, not having a 4-play strategy just doesn’t make good business sense. Fast forward to today and one can see these scenarios’ playing out as Verizon’s FIOS and Verizon Wireless bundle along with AT&T’s U-Verse and AT&T Wireless services are nipping at cable’s heels for supremacy.

Mobile Strategy

The mobile strategy for cable operators may simply involve current economics. It is quite obvious that creating strategic partnerships with companies like Clearwire and Sprint is a quick and easy way to deliver the mobile market on a selective basis while not having to invest needed capital in a start-up entry. In point, if a partnership gets the job done and allows you to stave off your competitors, and only where there is Quad-Play competition; it relates to both cheaper and faster to market economics. See (Reality Check: Now is the Time for Cable Quad Play)

Mobile Back-Haul Revenue

An additional revenue generator for cable operators is the mobile back-haul market. As mobile operators continue to upgrade their networks to 4G, the need to replace existing infrastructure in middle mile and the edge to the cell tower becomes critical, especially with video, apps and increased voice minutes becoming a major players on mobile networks. It is estimated that by 2015 this could become a $3billion per year revenue windfall. “Cable operators like Microwave, fiber and copper vendors will benefit from this concern”. See (Cable Operators will find Success in Mobile Wireless Backhaul a New Visant Strategies Study Finds)

The advent of these partnerships between cable operators, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House with Clearwire and Sprint involves the limited, deliberate, and measured investment into the mobile community while only launching where they need to compete. They are enjoying great cash-flow from video operations, including Digital Cable, VOD, HDTV and DVR’s while bundling Internet and IP Telephone for the Triple-Play, in markets with limited competition. Currently it seems partnerships are the best way to enter the mobile market in a limited way, and at least in the short-term. However, cable should consider expanding those markets for a Quad-Play, or it could lose being first to market and face a catch-up game with potential competitors and find that winning back customers is much harder than being the incumbent.

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It seems to me that Comcast is heading down the trail of Wal-Mart bliss, if you take a closer look at recent events. What could a cable giant with revenues mostly generated from Digital Cable have in common with Wal-Mart? Well, it could happen if the operator continues to move in a concerted direction that positions itself as one stop shopping, “Have it all done in one place. Save your time. Save your money “, experience for customers.

Comcast’s current offerings include Broadband Internet, Digital Video, HD, VOD, Telephony, Cable Advertising and has recently acquired Clearwire to offer Wi-Fi, and is now about to acquire NBC Universal to garner a big stake in content for your online experience. What else does it need to become the largest cable operator where consumers can get everything in a home technology experience they need at, (one stop)?  

Keep in mind that to be like Wal-Mart, Comcast would have to offer a substantial reason for consumers to not migrate to Netflix, Apple iTunes/Apple TV, and Boxee, which would be price. It has been clear for a long time that offering a bundled package is a consumer friendly endeavor. Just contemplate what Wal-Mart has accomplished by offering an “economies of scale” price to its customers. They became so large and successful; it garnered them a public relations “black eye”.

Sufficed to say, if Comcast is serious about stopping migration away from its current services, then it should consider a bundled package, including all the popular content and applications, while using the “economies of scale” that made Wal-Mart a success, to offer a price and service package that no one else can emulate.

It will then truly become a Wal-Mart experience.

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