Time Warner Cable plans $5M broadband spend in Maine

Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) customers in Maine will soon have more options for broadband as the cable MSO on Friday announced an initiative to spend over $5 million in a number of the state's cities and towns.

The MSO's planned buildout in Maine is part of a broader $100 million investment program to expand services throughout the territories it serves in New England, New York and the Carolinas.

Andrew Russell, a Time Warner Cable (TWC) communications manager, said that technicians began laying nine miles of new hybrid fiber coax (HFC) cable to the village of Sinclair in northern Aroostook, Maine. This latest build out follows an initial build out the MSO began two years ago in Long Lake.

Upon completion, Time Warner Cable will add over 150 miles to its 12,000-mile HFC network in Maine this year, providing access to an additional 3,000 homes and businesses in Maine.

Communities included in this latest buildout include: Alna, Arundel, Augusta, Belgrade, Biddeford, Brewer, Canaan, Cumberland, East Machias, Gardiner, Grand Isle, Greene, Hallowell, Hartland, Hollis, Kennebunkport, Lewiston, Limington, Lincoln, Lubec, Mapleton, Monmouth, Mount Desert, Naples, Orrington, Oxford, Richmond, Surry, Turner, Vassalboro, Wales, Waterboro, Westbrook, Windham, Wiscasset and Woodstock.

Time Warner's move to expand its HFC network to serve more broadband customers comes at a time when there are a number of new competitive forces in play.

For one, the MSO has to square off with a rejuvenated FairPoint. FairPoint (Nasdaq: FRP), which will report its earnings on Monday, has been aggressively expanding out its broadband capabilities in Maine, including the broadband speeds of 11 of its central offices (COs) in the state.

The second factor is that FairPoint, while still having to abide by its POLR (Provider of Last Resort) rules to provide POTS (plain old telephone service) to all residents and business, now has the benefit of the updated telecom regulatory regime in Maine. With these new regulations in place, the telco can now "adjust" the pricing of its services to more effectively compete with aggressive cable operators like TWC that continue lure subscribers away with their own triple play bundle packages.

For more:
- Bangor Daily News has this article

Related articles:
Time Warner Cable targets business customers with $25M fiber network in NYC
Time Warner Cable Business wins Empire State Building fiber contract
New York City to award free fiber-based broadband to area startups
Maine's new telecom regulatory structure allows FairPoint to respond to competition