The sale has generated increasing interest over the last year as cable stocks have begun to rebound, thanks in large part to such new services as cable telephony, digital cable and on-demand television.
And with a more trusted and cable-savvy management, the broadband part should also soon get into its stride and be in a stronger position to sweet-talk other operators into opening their networks for cable telephony.
NTL, recognised in the industry as the most innovative company, also has the most comprehensive infrastructure cable, mobile telephony, a national fibre-optic network and a television broadcast network.
If Congress truly wants to help, it should simply declare that by a date certain the traditional barriers between TV, radio, telephony, cable, wireless and satellite will be eliminated.
The product can also be used in IP telephony devices and cable modems, the company said.
He made three more fortunes--in cable television (Vision Cable Communications), mobile telephony (Metro Mobile) and gas pipelines (Southern Union).
Phone companies would also benefit, since unregulated cable could easily lead to deregulated telephony.
Telephony, network and cable television, music-oriented FM radio, AM talk radio, even satellite radio and television all see their foundations crumbling under the onslaught of the Internet.
Like other telecommunications giants of DT's ilk, the onslaught of cellular and Internet-based telephony, along with cable operators offering triple-play packages of cable, broadband and phone services, has put a stranglehold on profits.
But that doesn't mean cable VoIP is going to replace traditional telephony any time soon.
It forthrightly refused to recognize that the Internet was obliterating traditional barriers between long-distance and local telephone calls and between telephony, TV, radio and cable.
Cable is also a relatively new entrant in the telephony business serving about 24m of the roughly 100m American households.
And both the telecoms firms and their cable rivals are aggressively, though somewhat reluctantly, offering VOIP telephony.
Telecoms firms are in trouble because their fixed-line business is shrinking, and because their cable rivals are beating them in entertainment while getting stronger in telephony.
If Vonage did manage to survive Verizon s legal attacks, it would still be in a difficult position as a small, stand-alone VoIP provider in a market full of telephony giants that offer bundled telephone, VoIP and cable packages.
Such services include broadband Internet access, telephony and on-demand video, and they help differentiate cable from its somewhat less expensive rival, satellite TV.
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