Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) has taken another tack in its New York market to entice more users to sign up for its 50 Mbps DOCSIS 3 speed tier by offering one year of free VoIP service.
The new promotion is clearly another effort to more effectively compete against Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS FTTP service as well as increase its DOCSIS 3 user base.
After its initial DOCSIS 3 offering failed to garner attention due to its high cost, TWC has been seeing some uptick with its higher speed services, adding 54,000 subscribers in Q4 2011. Part of the increase was attributed to a similar promotion where the cable MSO offered free Slingboxes to new subs.
How effective the VoIP promotion will be is perhaps too early to tell, but as Verizon continues to ramp up its FiOS subscriber base (adding 201,000 FiOS Internet customers and 194,000 FiOS TV subscribers in Q4 2011), cable operators need other weapons to battle telcos that offer fiber-based products.
For more:
- DSL Reports has this article
Special report: Battling for subscribers: Cable MSOs and telcos square off
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