Cablevision 2013 Annual Report Download - page 16

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video in the future. AT&T (which recently entered into an agreement to sell its Connecticut operation to
Frontier Communications) offers video service in competition with us in most of our Connecticut service
area. Verizon and AT&T also market direct broadcast satellite ("DBS") services in our service area. This
competition with Verizon and AT&T negatively impacts our video revenue in these areas and will
continue to do so in the future. Each of these companies has significantly greater financial resources than
we do. See "Regulation" for a discussion of regulatory and legislative issues.
DBS. We also face competition from DBS service providers in our service area. The two major DBS
services, DISH Network and DirecTV, are available to the vast majority of our customers. These services
each offer programming that is substantially similar to the programming that we offer, at competitive
prices. Our ability to compete with these DBS services is affected by the quality and quantity of
programming available to us and to them. DirecTV has exclusive arrangements with the National
Football League that gives it access to programming that we cannot offer. We compete in our service
areas with these DBS competitors by "bundling" our service offerings with products that the DBS
companies cannot efficiently provide at this time, such as high-speed Internet access service, voice
service and interactive services carried over the cable distribution plant.
Other Competitors and Video Programming Sources. Another source of competition for cable television
systems is the delivery of video content over the Internet directly to subscribers. Consumers are able to
watch much of this Internet-delivered content on Internet-ready television sets, mobile devices and other
devices. Some of these services charge a nominal or no fee for access to their content. The availability
of these services could adversely affect customer demand for our video services, including premium and
on-demand services. Cable television systems also face competition from broadcast television stations,
entities that make digital video recorded movies and programs available for home rental or sale, satellite
master antenna television ("SMATV") systems, which generally serve large multiple dwelling units
under an agreement with the landlord and service providers, and "open video system" ("OVS") operators.
RCN Corporation ("RCN") is authorized to operate OVS systems that compete with us in New York
City.
There can be no assurance that these or other existing, proposed, or as yet undeveloped technologies will
not become dominant in the future and render our cable television systems less profitable or even
obsolete.
High-Speed Data
Our high-speed data service faces intense competition from other providers of high-speed Internet access,
including Verizon and AT&T. In addition, DBS providers have tested the use of certain spectrum to offer
satellite-based high-speed data services. Internet access services are increasingly offered by providers of
wireless services, including traditional cellular phone carriers and others focused solely on wireless data
services. The Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") is likely to continue to make additional
radio spectrum available for these wireless Internet access services.
VoIP
Our VoIP service, branded Optimum Voice, faces intense competition from other providers of voice
services, including carriers such as Verizon and AT&T. We must also negotiate interconnection
agreements with these carriers. Our VoIP service also faces competition from other competitive
providers of voice services, including wireless voice providers, as well as VoIP providers like Vonage
that do not own networks but can provide service to any person with a broadband connection.