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Time Warner Cable Loses Cable, VoIP Customers
Earnings Miss Most Wall Street Estimates
Time Warner Cable posted their third quarter earnings this morning, the company missing most Wall Street analyst predictions with income that dropped to $356 million from $360 million. The erosion of basic cable customers continued, with Time Warner Cable losing 128,000 residential video subscribers in the quarter, but offsetting those losses slightly with the addition of 89,000 residential broadband customers. Interestingly, Time Warner Cable took their worst hit on record in terms of VoIP, losing 8,000 subscribers on the quarter. Time Warner Cable's losses are courtesy of increased competition from Verizon FiOS, continued high price offering during touchy economic times, and cord cutting -- the latter being something Time Warner Cable has consistently downplayed.
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Slava
MVM
join:2001-02-04
Fair Lawn, NJ

1 recommendation

Slava

MVM

What is cord cutting?

"continued high price offering during touchy economic times, and cord cutting"

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

Re: What is cord cutting?

I'll never cut the cord on cable. There's just too much stuff on TV that I still love to watch.

And no, I won't download it via BitTorrent. I don't want to be screwed by the MPAA. So unless there is a way to watch my favorite TV shows online legally in one place, that cable COAX cable isn't getting cut.

My favorites include a lot of Discovery Channel content like Mythbusters and Storm Chasers along with Eureka, Warehouse 13, and Sanctuary on SyFy.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: What is cord cutting?

I had a lot of favorite shows on cable too (including Mythbusters) but it wasn't worth the $70/mo it now costs for "basic" cable where I live. I cut the cord five years ago and went OTA and haven't missed it at all. The handful of shows that are actually worth paying for are generally available from Amazon, iTunes or similar services.

Since I moved back into range of good DSL I have absolutely no connection at all to Time Warner. Good riddance to overpriced rubbish.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Re: What is cord cutting?

Can that 'awesome' DSL touch these speeds?


AnonPerson
join:2000-08-26
Lexington, KY

AnonPerson to trparky

Member

to trparky
I used to also love cable. My favorite channels were Discovery/History/NatGeo. Unfortunately the latter has become a 'premium' channel in that it is offered in almost no basic cable packages.

I also simply cannot justify paying a high price for reruns and commercials. Then the shows I actually do want to watch require me to be in a certain location at a certain time (unless I pay more for a DVR). I find it easier to use netflix and/or download via Usenet the shows I really want to watch. If they had an affordable commercial free legal alternative, I'd gladly pay for it.

For me the very concept of paying for cable and getting bombarded with commercial advertisements in the middle of my shows is ridiculous.
AndyDufresne
Premium Member
join:2010-10-30
Chanhassen, MN
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ERPro8
Netgear R7000

AndyDufresne

Premium Member

Time Warner is canary in the coal mine

Cable companies have been gaining voip sub for a while but those numbers should start to decrease as people realise that they don't need it since their cell phone will do just fine in most cases. I always said home phone service is headed to the zero$ bucket anddata connection being main product with video and phone service being low cost add ons. How low depends on what customers are willing to put up with.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

Crookshanks

Member

Re: Time Warner is canary in the coal mine

What's the point of VoIP from the cable company? If you want a fixed telephone line pony up for POTS; at least you'll get some measure of reliability and redundancy for your money. If you don't need such redundancy go wireless. It costs about the same and your phone can go anywhere with you.

My employer made the mistake of switching to Time Warner's phone product (over my objections) last year. We went SIX DAYS without phone during the recent floods here. We had power the entire time but one of Time Warner's repeaters didn't and they apparently have no provision to deploy generators during extended power outages. The business next to us in the same building had Verizon POTS that never stopped working. Go figure....
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: Time Warner is canary in the coal mine

said by Crookshanks:

What's the point of VoIP from the cable company? If you want a fixed telephone line pony up for POTS; at least you'll get some measure of reliability and redundancy for your money. If you don't need such redundancy go wireless. It costs about the same and your phone can go anywhere with you.

The point is that "VoIP" from the cable company isn't "VoIP", its cable-digital-voice, delivered over a non-Internet connection, so it can be assured delivery and voice quality. In my experience, mostly TWC, for single line residential and small business accounts, the quality is superior to POTS, and the cost is just slightly more than a Vonage-like account, with the advantage of simple, flat-rate billing versus POTS offerings.

Copper POTS still has value, and unique charms, and as you suggest, comes in on an alternate wire, and I always advise keeping a copper facility in addition to coax, if one values their life for more than $20/month.

Wireless has its advantages, but if you actually have real conversations on the phone for any length of time, cellular just doesn't cut it - at least not amongst my peers, my business partners, and prospects.
said by Crookshanks:

My employer made the mistake of switching to Time Warner's phone product (over my objections) last year. We went SIX DAYS without phone during the recent floods here. We had power the entire time but one of Time Warner's repeaters didn't and they apparently have no provision to deploy generators during extended power outages. The business next to us in the same building had Verizon POTS that never stopped working. Go figure....

Your employer, like many "businessmen", was penny-wise and pound-foolish, and should have heeded your advice. Today's small-business phone service offerings are not as reliable as the landline telcos used to provide. Anyone who wants to STAY in "business" must design redundancy and recovery into their business phone system, and never rely solely on one vendor.

Unfortunately, far too many self-made/entrepreneurs are either too cheap, or too egotistical to hear sage advice -- and when they fail, they'll scream at the cable company, rather than looking themselves in the mirror.

AMDUSER
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
Earth,
ARRIS CM8200
ARRIS SB6183

AMDUSER to AndyDufresne

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to AndyDufresne
If they don't get their network / phone working the way it is suppose to, they could have 8,001 customers who canceled the voip service..

Five years... how long it has been since the phone was installed... and the many, many times I called TWC due to unexplained phone outage / problems... [also affected the HSI] service ... including having people ask if the phone service was disconnected !?!...
When I contacted them via TWC Direct.. it went to the local area... and determined it was a wide area - previously unknown noise problem.. with no estimate of when the repairs would be done.
I have probably called in, in excess of 25+ times due to problems with the service [Phone / TV/ Internet] since it was installed.

runnoft
Premium Member
join:2003-10-14
Nags Head, NC

runnoft

Premium Member

Cable company VOIP is a bad buy

I'm not surprised they're losing the most ground percentage-wise to VOIP service. Who cares if it's $5 a month cheaper than POTS? It's still way too expensive compared to other VOIP options or ditching everything other than the cell phone. I still like cable TV but understand why so many people no longer consider that a good buy for their money, either.

Cable companies need to come up with a new approach to marketing if they want to be something more than a pipeline. The "triple play" package has no appeal to the many consumers who don't want either landline phones or cable TV at any price. Of course it's still a great deal for the cable companies who can get consumers to sign up for a triple play if they can get them paying full price after a promotional period, but they're pitching this promo to a rapidly shrinking and aging market. That's no way to build market share.

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
Netgear R6300 v2
ARRIS SB6180

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thedragonmas

Premium Member

Re: Cable company VOIP is a bad buy

i had VIP through mediacom, up until this month when my promo expired and my bill shot up. when i called about it they made no offer to reduce the bill. so i desided that instead of paying ~$50 for the phone portion i could just transfer that to another line on my cell plan for $10 (about $15 after tax). i mean they love to say its for "entertainment only" and to have a cell phone for when it goes out. so i called back, and told them i was going to port out, reduce my tv and net as far as i could go. still no offer to keep me.

so i followd through. the only reason they kept me for tv/net is because i cant get DSL (even though im in the middle of the city) and OTA tv would require me putting up a mast antenna (thanks a lot digital transition, should have at least mandated higher power transmission to get 100% over the same area or multiple transmitters!! ) if it wasnt for that i would have dropped them all together.

anon_5224
join:2001-10-23
united state
Asus RT-AC66

anon_5224

Member

the future is broadband networking

Cableco's, including TW, are certainly aware of their future role: fat-pipe-providers. Although DOCSIS 3.0 may have taken some time to get rolling, it is going to be what supplants the shrinkage of both the Video and VOIP sub-base. In another 15 years, almost all of us on this site will look back and wonder what took so long to get where we will be... imagine the set-top box as an all-in-one device that allows rich access to video/video-VOIP/www content on the TV.

Bandwidth currently used by Video will slowly be leveraged towards Internet/local Network access. There's a lot of changes coming soon in the industry, and one thing I've observed is a trend away from traditional network contracts and distribution, and more towards user-control of services and features.

Remember, Cable TV was invented to supply local content to the community as a whole, and it only eventually evolved into a premium-network distribution system. I believe the CATV industry must return to its roots in the communities if it is to survive, and with D-3.0 and higher tech's coming, the bandwidth will be available for offerings that the non-CATV providers can't even touch either due to physical limitations as with U-Verse or to latency issues as with Dish. Fiber providers are really the only realistic competitors and competition is great for innovation.

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

Member

Equipment and Service

Here's a link to an AVS site, local Time Warner cable tv. Here's a small bit of what Time Warner customers have to put up with. Clueless tech people and crap, outdated equipment. I almost cancelled this month and an awaiting FIOS.

If you check the link, check out all the negative comments on the equipment we rent and how they just continue to recycle crap, broken boxes. So any TWC executive reading this... your equipment sucks and you charge way to much plus some of your technicians are not exactly helpful. You need to rethink your business model.

»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· page=843

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

So TWC

[and every other cableco with bi-annual rate hikes]
looks like your shit actually *does* stink after all. cord cutters ARE a real threat!

skuv
@rr.com

skuv

Anon

Re: So TWC

I don't see any proof offered that the 128,000 lost were "cord cutters." All I see is conjecture.

How many went to FIOS, U-Verse, DirecTV, or Dish Network?
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

subscriber loss

lots of those subscribers were probably in queens & manhattan where Verizon's been making building by building strides of deployment. the screws have also been turned on Cablevision in south Brooklyn with deployment pushing westward.

unlike TWC, Cablevision pumped up their 15 megabits entry level to 20 (informally) and that has it's own way of retaining customers who like speed at the cheaper price ($29.95) Let's see who jumps first in making the 50 megabit plans cheaper than $1 per megabit as a regular price... more likely Cablevision than TWC.

Somehow I think TWC has some bottom line price bill creep (compared with even their advertised price) pushing customers away from bundling or subscribing altogether.. if the service sucks, feel free to comment on that too..
CodeVyper
join:2005-01-24
Palmdale, CA

CodeVyper

Member

ISP Provided VoIP is Dying

Subscription T.V. telephone service is a dying feature. It doesn't matter which provider you're talking about. Why pay $20 - $30 per month for a VoIP line, when for $8 a month I can get a Skype number or for $20 a year I can get a MagicJack? Even the lowest level broadband connection is fast enough to support 3rd party VoIP via these services.

That is unless the ISPs start blocking VoIP packets that don't originate from their service.