This past week, Cox Cable followed suit and un-wrapped a new collection called TV Economy priced at $34.99. It also does not include ESPN. When comparing the low-cost packages with the typical expanded basic packages that might run in the $60 to $80 per month range, the multi-system operators may have created a small “bridge” to get them past the continued drain due to high consumer retail rates.

Looking ahead, one must wonder if consumers will be willing to forgo access to certain expensive programming  in exchange for lower video bills. Time and continued package modification will tell.

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This is the first marketing promotion under the new landmark partnership which was announced last month, whereby Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $3.6 billion to a consortium of cable providers for 122 advanced wireless services (AWS) spectrum licenses covering approximately 259 million people, or more than 85% of the U.S. population. Additionally, the cable companies and Verizon Wireless entered into a joint re-sale, marketing and technology development agreement. Separately, just a few days later, Verizon Wireless entered into an similar agreement with Cox Communications to purchase 20 MHz of AWS spectrum licenses covering 28 million POPs for $315 million.

Under the trial promotion launched in the Northwest, customers who sign up for a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless and Comcast will be eligible to receive a prepaid Visa card, varying in value from $100 to $300 depending on which Comcast bundle is selected and the length of service contract. The prepaid Visa card is intended to be used toward the purchase of a smartphone or tablet.

To qualify, customers must purchase the Comcast and Verizon services within 14 days of each other, and must activate a new smartphone or tablet device. The initial joint offer is scheduled to end May 8, 2012.

In addition to this online offering, Comcast will promote Verizon Wireless services through its call centers and in its retail stores. For its part, 8 Verizon Wireless stores in the Seattle area will be staffed with Comcast reps for the initial retail launch.

The AWS spectrum sale and related agreements have not yet been approved by the FCC or the Department of Justice, the later of which announced back in December that it is investigating the proposed transactions.Verizon Wireless maintains that the marketing agreements are not subject to regulatory approval. For its part, the DOJ’s antitrust division maintains that it has the flexibility to look into all related aspects of a proposed transaction to determine if they will result in anticompetitive market dynamics.

Last week, at the request of FCC officials, Verizon Wireless and the cable companies — Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Inc., and Bright House Networks LLC as part of SpectrumCo, and separately Cox Communications, Inc., — voluntarily submitted new information about the marketing agreements in order to avoid undue delay in the commission’s review of the spectrum transaction. However, the companies made it clear that they still believe the deals are not relevant to the spectrum transactions as they are not contingent upon one another. They also said that the FCC doesn’t have the authority to review them.

In a letter submitted last week to the commission, nine companies and public interest groups asked the FCC to require Verizon Wireless and the cable companies to publicly provide all of the documents related to joint marketing agreements so the market impact of the agreements can be reviewed. Entities signing onto the letter included C Spire Wireless, Directv LLC, Ntelos Holdings Corp., Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile, New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, Consumer Federation of America and Media Access Project.

Although they did not sign onto the joint letter, Fairpoint Communications and Frontier Communications are clearly impacted by Verizon Wireless’ partnership agreements. The two landline companies each acquired wireline network assets and customers from Verizon. Now they face competition from Verizon as it returns to these markets with LTE service offered through its new cable partner companies.

Petitions to deny the spectrum transactions must be filed with the FCC by Feb. 21, oppositions to the petitions are due March 2 and replies are due March 12 in WT docket 12-4.

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Comcast is moving quickly. While the spectrum sale will likely take up to 12 months to receive regulatory approval, Comcast Cable President Neil Smit announced last week that the cable company will begin bundling Verizon Wireless services in four markets in early 2012. ”The teams are already engaged; they are great commercial arrangements and we think we’ve put together great packages that combine the best of the various bundles,” Smit said, while speaking at a UBS investor conference.

The offerings may not be a quad-play of wireless, video, voice and data. Instead, Comcast may offer a triple-play containing three of the above products and/or a home security component. “It offers us a couple of different combination plays and ultimately more choice for the consumer,” Smit said. He also confirmed that Comcast will continue to compete with Verizon Wireless’ parent company Verizon Communications in markets where it offers its FiOS TV and Internet service.

In addition, Time Warner Cable also is pro-actively incorporating existing Verizon Wireless products into its bundled packages, starting almost immediately. However, speaking at the same investor conference, Time Warner Cable Chief Financial Offer Irene Esteves said it was too soon predict what new products it might bring to market with Verizon Wireless, or when those products will be available.

In related news, Clearwire is facing major repercussions from the spectrum deal. As you might remember, back in 2008, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House, Intel and Google invested in Clearwire. The plan was for the cable companies to utilize Clearwire’s planned nationwide WiMax network as the mobility component of their bundled packages. Unfortunately things did not go as planned. Clearwire’s funding did not stretch as far as it has planned, and new technologies such as LTE surpassed WiMax. All of the cable partners declined to continue funding Clearwire, which received a last minute cash infusion from its largest partner Sprint just last month.

As expected, Comcast confirmed last week that it plans to discontinue its customer relationships with Clearwire. Comcast’s Infinity2Go service, which utilizes the Clearwire network, will be taken offline during the next six months. However, Comcast said it plans to retain its 9% equity stake in the WiMAX provider “for the foreseeable future.”

On the heels of the spectrum deal and Comcast’s departure, Clearwire announced last week that it will seek $300 million in a new public equity offering. Sprint has said it will buy an undisclosed number of private voting shares of Clearwire.

For its part, last week Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam stated at an industry event that the company will now discontinue its fixed LTE trials with DirecTV. However, in a statement given to FierceWireless, Verizon spokesman Jeffrey Nelson maintains that the conclusion of Verizon’s trials with DirecTV were not a result of Verizon’s partnership with the cable companies. Further, Nelson reports that Verizon continues to hold discussions with DirecTV on LTE, although the company has nothing new to report out of the trial.

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As part of the purchase agreement with SpectrumCo LLC — a joint venture controlled by Comcast Corp. which includes Time Warner Cable, Inc. and Bright House Networks -– the cable companies will be able to re-sell Verizon Wireless services on a wholesale basis, adding wireless to their service bundles. For its part, Verizon Wireless also will be able to sell the cable companies’ services. It’s unclear at this time if Verizon will choose to market the cable companies’ wired services in areas where is also is the incumbent telco.

Additionally, the cable companies and Verizon Wireless said that they “have formed an innovation technology joint venture for the development of technology to better integrate wireline and wireless products and services.”

SpectrumCo’s sale and transfer of its advanced wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless is subject to approval by the FCC and review under the Hart-Scott Rodino Act and other customary conditions.

SpectrumCo paid nearly $2.38 billion in 2006 for its spectrum holdings, which it won at the FCC’s AWS-1 auction. Technically, it was enough to make the venture the nation’s fifth largest wireless provider. There was speculation that the companies would attempt to build and operate a wireless network, but the majority decided to take a wait-and-see approach to their spectrum assets. Initially, the venture included Sprint Nextel Corp., which dropped out in 2007, and Cox Communications, which first attempted to build a wireless network and then withdrew its cards in 2009, taking cash and spectrum interests with it.

Of note, all of the cable companies which stand to benefit from this transaction also are investors in Clearwire. In fact, Comcast and Time Warner Cable now market Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX services. In all likelihood, this deal means that the cable industry will have to exit the Clearwire venture. It also raises questions about whether Sprint will have to take on additional equity to keep Clearwire afloat.

Needless to say, this arrangement also further shines a spotlight on the AT&T-T-Mobile acquisition, which AT&T has said is all about acquiring AWS spectrum. Verizon has just taken away one option by which AT&T could acquire spectrum if the merger does not go through as proposed.

For more, see this release.

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Pay-TV subscribers will need to authenticate in order to access the content through the Xbox system. In general, users also will need to subscribe to video and broadband services from their traditional service provider (in other words, cord cutting is not an option), and subscribe to a $60 per year Xbox Live Gold membership. (Microsoft confirmed today that only a small amount of content will be available on the Xbox without authentication and Xbox Gold status.)

Analysts had anticipated a game-changing announcement, speculating that Microsoft would utilize its gaming system as a tuner to deliver live video feeds from cable channels. Analysts were expecting that Microsoft would announce a new model, a virtual cable operator offering services directly to the public and breaking up channels into a la carte offerings.

However, the software giant and its partners did not go that far; instead, subscribers will only be able to use the Xbox to access a TV Everywhere-type service, a value-add to their traditional Pay-TV service. Nevertheless, this announcement is one more step in the traditional pay-TV provider’s migration away from a proprietary set-top.

Although the Microsfot release lists a variety of cable channels, as a subscriber, what content you will have access to depends upon your video provider. For Comcast and Verizon, they are offering content on the Xbox which is already available on a variety of mobile and in-home devices. For instance, on the Xbox service, Comcast will offer access to its existing on-demand content library, while Verizon’s FiOS customers will have access to the limited channels already contained in the service provider’s established TV Everywhere package.

So what’s in this for subscribers? Well, of particular note, Microsoft has said that it intends to incorporate Kinect functionality into the service, which will allow users to quickly search for content using vocal and physical commands.

“Today’s announcement is a major step toward realizing our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Combining the world’s leading TV and entertainment providers with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360 and the intelligence of Bing voice search will make TV and entertainment more personal, social and effortless.”

As a related aside, back in October 2010, AT&T announced that its subscribers could utilize the Xbox as a fully functional set-top box  – one step further than its competitors add-on offerings discussed above. However, DSL Reports notes that the telco is changing course and will now require a user to subscribe to the Xbox Live Gold level service in order to continue using the game system as a set-top. AT&T will offer users a $60 service credit to offset the cost of the first year of membership.

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ESPN 3D was introduced in 2010 and has covered the FIFA World Cup, NBA Finals, NCAA football and basketball and Major League Baseball. But despite the assumed thrill of being at the center of the action, too few AT&T customers were interested in paying $10 per month to experience it. 

Although numerous surveys show sales of 3D TVs are expected to grow, a majority of consumers are reluctant to invest in 3D at home, citing not only costs but lack of content and the necessity of having to wear 3D glasses. ”The price tag for ESPN 3D was too high, especially considering the low demand we’ve seen from customers,” AT&T said in a press release.

DirecTV and Comcast provide ESPN 3D for free.

AT&T’s departure should not necessarily have an adverse impact on ESPN 3D. The provider is estimated to have produced more than 120 events in 3D in the past two years, and Sony Electronics is bound to an agreement with ESPN 3D through June 2012.

Meanwhile, sales of 3D TV sets remain sluggish. Although content is increasing and prices are decreasing incrementally, it remains to be seen whether lower prices will entice more buyers toward the experience.

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A possible Hulu acquisition would provide Apple with a new subscription service featuring more video. Currently Apple provides video for it’s popular iTunes customers on an on-demand rental basis rather than a subscription.  Comcast, Disney and News Corp. have built a program rights extension of five years into the sale, creating a strong potential alternative to Netflix.

Estimates are that Hulu will command more than $2 billion.

For more, see this Bloomberg News article.

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“The market opportunity for consumer- and SMB-oriented technical support services is significant because it is currently underutilized,” said Kurt Scherf, vice president, principal analyst, Parks Associates. “One-third of consumers and 44% of SMBs experienced computer-related problems, but only 13% of those people and 28% of those businesses used professional support services.”

The firm’s new research reports – Consumer Technical Support Services: Overview and Opportunities for SMB Technical Support – find broadband service providers are driving the market. However, ISPs face competition from retailers, equipment manufacturers, software developers and third-party vendors.

The research firm predicts that in order to grow, product and solutions providers will need to change their approach, adopting a more holistic view of support. Parks Associates notes that current offerings are PC-centric, with a focus on as-needed repair – but customers desire on-site, remote and depot support, with proactive and ongoing maintenance for multiple devices. Specialized server and hosted backup support also is important for the SMB environment.

“The foundation of technology support services is in time-of-needed repair and troubleshooting elements,” Scherf said. “However, as this market matures, offerings will include support of new devices such as smartphones and tablets. Providers will augment their traditional warranties and service plans with additional services based on a holistic model of support that focuses on time-of-purchase and includes assistance throughout the lifecycle of a technology or service.”

In related news, Comcast announced last week that it has expanded its new premium technical support service for the residential market nationwide. Comcast’s Xfinity Signature Support offers a wide array of options, ranging from $20 a month for 24/7 support for an entire home network and up to four PCs, to stand-alone one-time fixes for $200.

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This service will be delivered on the subscriber’s HDTV through an adaptor box, a high-quality video camera and a specially designed remote control that enables customers to type Skype chat messages as well as control their television. Subscribers will get notifications of incoming calls on their TVs and will be able to answer calls with full-screen video or in a window while watching TV.

The other calling party does not need any special equipment beyond what is needed to use Skype.

According to the Associated Press, Comcast’s Skype adapter won’t work with Skype-out services, which let users receive or place calls via phone numbers. Instead, Comcast plans to bundle a limited version of Skype’s offerings with its own phone service, for which it charges $20 per month and up, to the TV adapter.

This week Comcast demonstrated the service in a video posted on its blog. The interface is designed to be a simple and easy to use. Comcast is planning to pre-populate the Skype TV address book with the user’s existing Skype contact list and Comcast Connect address book.

Comcast plans to start trials of the application in the next few months, but has yet to determine what the service will be called, or how much it will cost. The cable company plans to launch the service sometime later this year. If it’s successful - and priced appropriately – it could open up a whole new venue in the  video chat market.

Last year Cisco led the way with its umi TV video chat service, but it was priced quite high for a residential solution ($599 with a $24.95 monthly fee) and the company later backed away from its marketing plan, citing a shift away from consumer devices.

Skype is the the largest and perhaps most widely accepted videoconferencing solution, with more than 145 million connected users online per month. If Comcast can create a plug-and play solution that works with your existing Skype contacts, this could be the new, killer app uniting the residential video conferencing market with the traditional flat screen TV.

For more, see this Comcast blog post.

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According to Comcast, every household in Comcast’s footprint with children who receive free lunches under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will qualify to receive Comcast XFINITY Economy broadband service (1.5 Mbps down, 384 kbps upstream) for $10 a month, the opportunity to buy a PC for $150, and access to digital literacy training. The program will launch this summer.

Comcast reports that the Internet Essentials program will run for at least three school years, but any household that qualifies during the three-year period will remain eligible for the discounted prices as long as a child in the household continues to receive a free lunch under the NSLP.

“Having access to high-speed Internet service allows children to do schoolwork, adults to find jobs and grow the city’s economy, and families to learn and explore together,” said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “The Internet Essentials program is a perfect example of the city’s government and business community working together to craft innovative, competitive solutions to the important problems facing our citizens.”

“The shared focus of the Mayor and Comcast on broadband adoption is justified by the relationship between broadband adoption and jobs. Based on some national research, every one percentage point increase in broadband adoption in the City of Chicago should translate into 1,000 to 3,000 new jobs,” added Comcast Corp. Executive Vice President David L. Cohen.

For more, see this release

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