Commentary

Digital Cable and Broadband Headed for 84% Penetration

Digital Cable and Broadband Headed for 84% Penetration

According to the 10th Anniversary edition of the State of Cable & Broadband 2003 report by Horowitz Associates, digital cable and cable modem service will be available in over 84% of all cable markets by 2006. Eight out of ten operators (81%) plan to provide VOD, seven out of ten operators plan to provide HDTV and SVOD (75% and 70%, respectively), and six out of ten (61%) are planning to incorporate PVR capability on their digital cable service in the next 3 years.

According to the operators interviewed for this research study, cable subscribers can anticipate a slew of new digital services and technologies available from most cable systems within the next three years. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the operators surveyed believe that cable modems will be the most important factor when it comes to generating increased revenue in their systems, followed by VOD, considered most important by 33% of the operators.

About one quarter of the operators planning to offer VOD service think they will offer it for an additional monthly fee, while one quarter think they will offer it packaged with the digital box and included in the base price of digital service. The remaining half is not sure how they will offer this service. The same holds true for both PVR and HDTV service. Three out of ten (29%) of consumers interviewed say they would be more likely to get digital cable service with free VOD of basic channel content.

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