Verizon for Cable Competition (Folo) Cable Firms Said to Plan Financing for WiMax

Verizon Communications announced Wednesday that it wanted the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to make it easier for consumers to switch video service providers, as competition with cable companies heated up, Reuters reported from New York.

Both Verizon and the U.S. phone industry leader AT&T offer high- speed Internet and video services that compete with cable, while cable providers sell phone services.

Verizon said consumers should be able to switch from cable as easily as they can change phone companies. Phone companies accept cancellations from rival providers, but many cable companies require consumers to submit disconnection orders themselves.

“The process to switch video providers is more cumbersome for consumers,” Verizon said in a petition to the regulatory agency.

“This significantly complicates the process of switching video providers, thereby entrenching the cable incumbents’ dominant market position.”

Verizon is spending billions of dollars on an all-fiber network to deliver FiOS, a high-speed Internet and high-definition video service.

Originally published by Reuters.

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