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Comcast Chairman: Cable Ready for Telco Competition

Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts welcomes the competition posed by telcos entering the video sector, believing he could take more phone customers from the Bells than the telcos could capture in video customers from cable, writes Broadcasting & Cable.

“People outside the industry seem to think the telcos are going to steamroll over the cable guys and take half the market and that they’re going to be gigantic video players. I’ve lived through this a couple of times, so I’m less confident of that,” said Roberts.

Roberts isn’t worried, as the telcos fight to get around the city-by-city franchising by getting either national or statewide franchises. “So long as it’s a level playing field and doesn’t create new regulations on our industry - either intended or unintended - I don’t see why this industry doesn’t take the view that we’re ready for more competition.”

On Demand - Comcast’s video-on-demand service - now offers 6,000 shows and serves as a “value proposition - you can call it glue - that allows us to make our products the best,” said Roberts. “Now we have broadcast content from NBC and CBS. The IFC Films deal gives us theatrical movies on the same day and date as movie theaters, let alone with DVD retailers.”

Roberts also said the iPod announcement with Desperate Housewives now has content companies questioning if they should change their traditional business relationship with the consumer.