Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), the second largest cable MSO in the U.S., said it may try to acquire rival cable TV operators in order to consolidate its position in the industry as well as to put pressure on its major rival Comcast Corp. (CMCSA). The company has decided to remain a pure play content distribution platform. Investing in high-speed Internet and the commercial business will remain the major growth initiative of Time Warner Cable.

Despite recession, Time Warner Cable sharpened its focus on business telecom services to make up for sagging revenues from residential subscribers. The company has hiked its capital spending on commercial-related plant and equipment upgrades while cutting its residential capital expenditure budget. Time Warner Cable is aggressively rolling-out next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 (also called Wideband) service. The company has decided to continue to roll-out switched digital video (SDV). Deployment of SDV will free up bandwidth that can be used by Time Warner Cable to offer 100 high-definition TV channels (HDTV), HD video-on-demand programs, and DOCSIS 3.0.

Time Warner Cable management indicated that the company may try to acquire its rival cable MSO, Cable Vision Systems Corp. (CVC) of New York or may purchase the Los Angeles assets of Charter Communications Inc. However, management clearly mentioned that it has no plans to acquire any content producing company. Comcast, on the other hand, has recently acquired ownership stake of NBC Universal from General Electric Co. (GE).

Time Warner Cable is giving emphasis on providing IP-Ethernet services everywhere and booting up cloud computing services. Next-generation WiMAX service is another major venture. Under the brand name of “Road Runner Mobile”, this super-fast mobile broadband network will provide its subscribers the convenience of mobility so that customers can enjoy WiMAX services on their devices anywhere they go within their service circle. Time Warner Cable will utilize the nationwide WiMAX network infrastructure being set up by Clearwire Corp. (CLWR).

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