Comcast 2007 Annual Report Download - page 5

Cable Services
We offer a variety of services over our cable systems, including
video, high-speed Internet and phone. We market our services
individually and as bundled packages of services and features.
We are focusing our technology initiatives on extending the reach
and capacity of our networks, improving network efficiency, increas-
ing the capacity and improving the functionality of advanced set-top
boxes, developing and integrating cross-service features and func-
tionality, and developing interactive services.
Substantially all of our subscribers are residential customers. We
have traditionally offered our video services to restaurants and
hotels, and we are beginning to offer all of our cable services to
small and medium-sized businesses.
Video Services
We offer a full range of video services. We tailor our channel offer-
ings for each system serving a particular geographic area according
to applicable local and federal regulatory requirements, program-
ming preferences and demographics. Subscribers typically pay us
on a monthly basis and generally may discontinue services at any
time. Monthly subscription rates and related charges vary according
to the type of service selected and the type of equipment the sub-
scriber uses. Our video service offerings include the following:
Basic Cable. Our basic cable services consist of a limited basic
service with access to between 10 and 20 channels of program-
ming and an expanded basic service with access to between 60
and 80 channels of programming. These services generally consist
of programming provided by national and local broadcast net-
works, national and regional cable networks, and governmental
and public access programming.
Digital Cable. Our digital cable services provide subscribers with
access to over 250 channels, depending on the level of service
selected. We also offer some specialty tiers with sports, family or
ethnic themes. Our digital cable services also provide access to
multiple music channels, an interactive program guide and a video
on demand library.
Video on Demand. Our video on demand service allows our digital
starter cable and full digital cable subscribers the opportunity to
choose from a library of more than 10,000 programs over the
course of a month; start the programs at whatever time is con-
venient; and pause, rewind and fast-forward the programs. A
substantial portion of our video on demand content is available
to our digital cable subscribers at no additional charge. We are
continuing to expand the number of video on demand choices,
including HDTV programming.
Subscription Video on Demand. Our subscription video on de-
mand service provides subscribers with on demand access to
packages of programming that are either associated with a partic-
ular premium content provider to which they already subscribe,
such as HBO On Demand, or are otherwise made available on a
subscription basis.
High-Definition Television. Our HDTV service provides our digital
cable subscribers with improved, high-resolution picture quality,
improved audio quality and a wide-screen format. Our HDTV
service offers our digital cable subscribers a broad selection of
high-definition programming with access to up to 30 or more high-
definition channels in certain areas, including most major broad-
cast networks, leading national cable networks, premium channels
and regional sports networks. In addition, our video on demand
service provides over 250 HDTV programming choices. We are
continuing to expand our HDTV programming choices.
Digital Video Recorder. Our DVR service lets digital cable sub-
scribers select, record and store programs and play them at what-
ever time is convenient. Our DVR service also provides the ability
to pause and rewind “live” television.
Premium Channel Programming. Our premium channel program-
ming services, which include cable networks such as HBO,
Showtime, Starz and Cinemax, generally offer, without commer-
cial interruption, feature motion pictures, live and taped sporting
events, concerts and other special features. These services also
provide multiple offerings of the premium channel in which the pro-
gramming varies as to the time of broadcast and theme of content.
Pay-Per-View Programming. Our pay-per-view service allows our
cable subscribers to order, for a separate fee, individual mov-
ies and special-event programs, such as professional boxing,
professional wrestling and concerts, on an unedited, commercial-
free basis.
High-Speed Internet Services
We offer high-speed Internet services with Internet access at
downstream speeds of up to 16 Mbps, depending on the level
of service selected. These services also include our interact-
ive portal, Comcast.net, which provides multiple e-mail addresses
and online storage, as well as a variety of proprietary content
and value-added features and enhancements that are designed to
take advantage of the speed of the Internet services we provide.
We are supporting industry-wide development of specifications
for technology that will enable us to offer significantly faster Internet
speeds to our subscribers and we are working with our vendors to
commercialize and deploy this technology. We plan to begin the
deployment of this technology in 2008.
3Comcast 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K