I think it's now almost a foregone conclusion that the cable MSOs have the telco's beat -- for the time being at least -- in the residential voice marketplace for most of urban America.
I recently switched over a second voice line at home to my
Optimum Voice account -- Cablevision's brand of cable telephony service -- because to be brutally honest, the local telco, Verizon, just doesn't come close to providing the same deal.
From a smooth and incredibly fast turn-on, to an all-you can eat domestic calling plan with every enhanced service you could want for $24.95/mo for the first line, $14.95/mo for the second-
including visual incoming caller ID on your television set no less -- it's probably -- in combination with
Skype or similar web-based service -- one of the smartest choices in residential telephony.
The Wild Card: Verizon's new fiber-optic
FIOS service isn't yet available in our area, or many others yet -- but it could represent a real threat to the cable-co triple-play "monopoly" with it's mix of IPTV, phone/video services and superfast Internet access -- which would ultimately be good for everyone since it will heat up the competitive juices and produce real benefits for the consumer.
Time will tell if the cable operators can maintain their lead.
// posted by Marc Robins @4/14/2008 11:15:00 PM
