Comcast 2009 Annual Report Download - page 11

Table of Contents
Comcast 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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cable services similar to ours. These phone companies now
offer their video services in a substantial portion of our
service areas. In some areas, this expansion has been
accelerated by certain regulatory authorities adopting new
rules designed to ease the franchising process and reduce
franchising burdens for new providers of video services and
by some phone companies claiming that they can provide
their video services without a local cable franchise (see
“Legislation and Regulation” below). In some areas, these
phone companies also have marketing arrangements with
DBS providers in which their high-speed Internet and phone
services are sold together with a DBS provider’s video
services.
Other wireline providers
We operate our cable systems under nonexclusive franchises
that are issued by a local governing body, such as a city
council or county board of supervisors or, in some cases, by
a state regulatory agency. Federal law prohibits franchising
authorities from unreasonably denying requests for additional
franchises, and it permits franchising authorities to operate
cable systems. In addition to phone companies, various other
companies, including those that traditionally have not
provided cable services and have substantial financial
resources (such as public utilities, including those that own
some of the poles to which our cables are attached), have
obtained cable franchises and provide competing cable
services. These and other cable systems offer cable services
in various areas where we hold franchises. We anticipate that
facilities-based competitors may emerge in other franchise
areas that we serve.
Satellite master antenna television systems
Our cable services also compete for customers with SMATV
systems. SMATV system operators typically are not subject
to regulation in the same manner as local, franchised cable
system operators. SMATV systems offer customers both
improved reception of local television broadcast stations and
much of the programming offered by our cable systems. In
addition, some SMATV system operators offer packages of
video, Internet and phone services to residential and
commercial developments.
Other competitors
Our cable services also may compete to some degree for
customers with other companies, such as:
•
online services that offer Internet video streaming,
downloading and distribution of movies, television shows
and other video programming
•
local television broadcast stations that provide multiple
channels of free over-the-air programming
•
wireless and other emerging mobile technologies that
provide for the distribution and viewing of video
programming
• video rental services and home video products
High-Speed Internet Services
We compete with a number of companies offering Internet
services, many of which have substantial resources,
including:
Digital subscriber line (“DSL”) technology allows Internet
access to be provided to customers over phone lines at data
transmission speeds substantially greater than those of dial-
up modems. Phone companies and certain other companies
offer DSL service, and several of these companies have
increased transmission speeds, lowered prices or created
bundled service packages. In addition, some phone
companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, have built and are
continuing to build fiber-optic-based networks that allow them
to provide data transmission speeds that exceed those that
can be provided with DSL technology and are now offering
these higher speed services in many of our service areas.
The FCC has reduced the obligations of phone companies to
offer their broadband facilities on a wholesale or retail basis
to competitors, and it has freed their DSL services of
common carrier regulation.
Various wireless phone companies are offering 3G and 4G
wireless high
-speed Internet services. In addition, a growing
number of commercial areas, such as retail malls,
restaurants and airports, offer Wi-Fi Internet service.
Numerous local governments are also considering or actively
pursuing publicly subsidized Wi-Fi and WiMAX Internet
access networks, and commercial WiMAX offerings are being
rolled out in some of our service areas by competing wireless
providers.
Phone Services
Our phone services compete against wireline phone
companies, including competitive local exchange carriers
(“CLECs”), wireless phone service providers and other VoIP
service providers. Certain phone companies, such as AT&T
and Verizon, have substantial capital and other resources,
longstanding customer relationships and extensive existing
facilities and network rights-of-way. A few CLECs also have
existing local networks and significant financial resources.
Advertising
We compete for the sale of advertising against a wide variety
of media, including local television broadcast stations,
national television broadcast networks, national and regional
programming networks, local radio broadcast stations, local
and regional newspapers, magazines and Internet sites.
•
wireline phone companies
•
Internet service providers, such as AOL, Earthlink and
Microsoft
•
wireless phone companies and other providers of wireless
Internet service
•
power companies