According to the latest J.D. Power and Associates Residential Television Service Satisfaction study, consumers are “notably less satisfied” with TV services than last year. That isn’t surprising given the relentless and often bi-annual rate hikes imposed by satellite, telcoTV and cable TV providers, which resulted in new and notable cord cutting last quarter. According to the study, Customer satisfaction with the cost of television service averaged 541 out of 1,000 in 2010, down 14 points from 555 in 2009.

The study measured satisfaction with TV services in four regions (East, West, North Central, South). AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS ranked highest among TV providers, though the cable companies ironically rank higher on residential phone service.

Overall, customers continue to be annoyed with price hikes, which are courtesy of the endless dance of death between broadcasters (who continually hike programming costs) and TV operators (who pass these costs on to consumers along side hikes and new fees of their own). Consumer annoyance has been amplified by a sour economy, and mirroring recent concerns from the investment sector, JD Power notes that these hikes can’t continue indefinitely:

“It’s apparent…that TV providers must better communicate their price-value proposition, as customers are increasingly voicing irritation with the amount of their monthly bill. Seventy-four percent of customers who say they definitely or probably will change TV providers in the next year cite price as a major reason to switch.”

Consumers (for now) continue to pay for services despite these hikes, which is obviously good news for TV providers. But despite changing state laws to ease telcoTV entry into the sector (many times at the cost of consumer protections, local rights, and increased deployment), TV price reductions promised by lobbyists never arrived. Carriers instead engage in non-price competition, and focus on creating the illusion of value through added services that are often half-assed (see AT&T’s Hulu clone, for example).

The TV sector is begging for disruption and the entry of inexpensive, simple, a la carte Internet video options. There’s an endless flood of articles insisting that Internet video isn’t a threat, but that’s largely thanks to the fact that broadcasters are constricting TV streaming licensing for fear of cannibalizing TV revenues, resulting in limited alternatives for consumers. If these endless carriage disputes continue, cable operators may eventually balk, and broadcasters may open their eyes to alternative delivery opportunities.

Link to the original article…

It was already known that T-Mobile planned to nurse HSPA+ for as long as possible, and that their fourth generation wireless broadband plans were murky at best. Rene Obermann, CEO of T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom, says the company won’t even consider making a move on LTE for at least two years. According to Obermann, the company isn’t worried that they’ll lag LTE efforts by Verizon and AT&T, who’ll both have deployments underway by that time. Says Obermann:

“We’ll get a fourth-generation wireless network either by buying spectrum or re-farming existing spectrum, or potentially leasing spectrum together with others. I don’t think we’ll trail others in the next two years. With HSPA+ we’re in a very good position. We still have plenty of capacity, so we are competitive” said Obermann.

T-Mobile does have some time (but not a lot) to dilly dally as they consider their next move. The company’s current upgrades allow theoretical downstream speeds of up to 20 Mbps, and there have been rumors they’ll try to push HSPA+ towards 40 Mbps down the line. While Verizon plans to offer 4G services by the end of this year, their LTE deployment will be initially capped at 5-12 Mbps downstream. AT&T meanwhile is taking their time on the shift to LTE, and like T-Mobile is nursing HSPA+, albeit less aggressively.

Link to the original article…

While Verizon gets most of the attention with their $23 billion investment in fiber to the home deployment, a significant chunk of the fiber to the home deployments in this country is being accomplished by roughly 700 smaller rural telcos, co-ops, and municipal operations. According to a new study by the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), a growing number of rural telcos are moving toward fiber to the node (like AT&T’s U-Verse platform), while many others are moving directly to fiber to the home:

NTCA’s “2009 Broadband/Internet Availability Survey” found that nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents with a fiber deployment strategy intend to offer FTTN to more than 75% of their customer base by 2011. Fifty-five percent plan to offer FTTH to more than half their customers in that same time frame – more than doubled from just 26% last year. The study says that rural areas are seeing significant gains in broadband speeds, primarily due to the increased fiber availability in their communities. Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated their customers can now receive broadband service of between 3 and 6 Mbps (up from 46% last year), and 39% can receive service in excess of 6 Mbps, which is an increase from just 25% a year ago.

According to the most recent data (pdf) from the Fiber To The Home Council, the total number of homes served by FTTH is now 4.4 million, or 4% of all homes. FTTH service now passes (no last mile drop) 15 million US homes, or 13% of all US Households.

The picture has nothing to do with the article.

Link to the original article…