Cable companies to ramp up Web, HD, mobile service

It helps that the largest operators recently pulled the plug on an uncompetitive cobranded cell phone venture with Sprint Nextel Corp. called Pivot.

Instead, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House Networks have joined forces with Sprint, Clearwire Corp., Intel Corp. and Google Inc. to develop a national high-speed WiMax wireless network where cable will gain more control over the wireless product.

Time Warner, the nation's second largest cable operator, doesn't see an urgent need to add mobile Internet to its product line, Stern said. But the Sprint-Clearwire investment is a hedge against the possibility that wireless will become more important to cable's competitiveness.

Instead, Time Warner is hot on switched-digital technology, which sends viewers only the channels they choose to watch, to make space for more high-definition channels. Stern said nearly half of Time Warner's cable system uses switched digital and by year's end, it will be in a "significant majority" of divisions.

Cable operators will also move more analog channels to the digital tier this year to free up space, which could upset consumers on the basic tier because they'll have to upgrade to the digital package to watch the same shows.

By the end of the year, Time Warner plans to offer 100 HD channels in New York City, where Verizon has applied for approval to offer FiOS TV. FiOS is a threat to cable because its fiber-optic lines go all the way to the home and provide better picture quality and higher Internet speeds. In contrast, cable runs fiber lines to a neighborhood node, then uses coaxial cable into the home.

Comcast currently offers 500 high-definition movies, shows and channels and expects to hit over 1,000 by year's end. The cable operator is betting on volumes of HD content to keep phone and satellite TV companies from taking away video customers in markets where they compete.

The industry as a whole is ramping up its deployment of a software called Tru2way that would standardize its systems so consumers can use the same set-top box, DVR and other devices with any cable operator for two-way services -such the on-screen TV guide and video on demand.

Dr. Paul Liao, chief technology officer for Panasonic Corp. of North America, said the company is on track to unveil this fall a 42-inch and a 50-inch plasma HD-TV that are compatible with Tru2way.

He said Panasonic is developing a multi-room DVR that would let viewers, for example, pause a show on a DVR in the living room and continue watching it in a different room because the devices all communicate with each other. While other multi-room DVRs are available already, they largely won't work across different cable operators, and Panasonic's will, Liao said.