Cable Companies

Comcast Corp.'s move to offer telephone service in suburban Maryland is the latest push by it and other communications giants toward the convergence of phone, wireless, cable, Internet and content into a single set of consumer services. Comcast Digital Voice introduces to the market a formidable competitor to Verizon Communications Inc., which has been as dominant in regional phone service as Comcast has been in cable television. Comcast plans to announce the new service tomorrow. Consumers increasingly have more choices when it comes to phone services, from ditching land lines altogether in favor of wireless phones to making calls over the Internet.

Breaking ranks with his compatriots in the cable industry, Charles F. Dolan, chairman of Cablevision Systems Corp., said yesterday that he supports giving consumers the option of paying only for the channels they want, not just the large bundles of channels that are typically offered. Dolan's statements supporting so-called a la carte pricing comes days after similar comments from Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Letting consumers choose the channels they want "will result in a more affordable service for all with more programming options," Dolan said in a statement.

Comcast Corp. and three other major U.S. cable TV firms said yesterday they will begin marketing cellular-telephone service through Sprint Nextel Corp. early next year, a move analysts say temporarily leapfrogs phone company rivals such as Verizon Communications Inc. in the battle to sell bundled services to consumers. "The battle lines are drawn," said Raul Martynek, chief executive officer of Eureka/InfoHighway, a New York-based provider of telecom services for businesses. Joining Comcast in the deal with Sprint are Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications, which currently reach 41 million households.

PHILADELPHIA - In an effort to keep customers from defecting to cable, Verizon Communications Inc. offered a slower version of its high-speed Internet service yesterday for $14.95 a month. The new tier of DSL service might represent an early benefit for consumers as phone companies try to move into territory traditionally dominated by cable, and as cable firms begin to sell phone services. Its success or failure might also answer an important question in the Internet marketplace these days: Which is more important, price or speed?

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators unanimously agreed yesterday to relax regulations on phone companies' high-speed Internet services, a decision cheered by Bell companies and booed by consumer advocates. The Federal Communications Commission voted 4-0 to reclassify digital subscriber lines as an "information service" that would be far less regulated than traditional phone service. The change means the government no longer will require phone companies to lease their high-speed lines at regulated rates to competing Internet service providers such as Atlanta-based EarthLink Inc. BellSouth Vice President Herschel Abbott said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin "should be widely applauded for pushing to completion these sweeping changes."

In a decision likely to limit consumer choice in the rapidly growing market for high-speed Internet access, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that cable companies were not required to give competitors access to their broadband networks. The decision was seen as a victory for cable giants, such as Comcast Corp., and the Federal Communications Commission as well as the one-time Bell operating companies - including Verizon Communications Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. - which are seeking a similar exemption.

In a debate that will shape the future of high-speed Internet service, the Supreme Court will hear arguments today to determine whether cable companies must open their networks to competitors. The court could decide, in effect, how companies can compete to deliver high-speed Internet access to a rapidly growing market and how much choice consumers will have. The case pits the Federal Communications Commission and National Cable & Telecommunications Association, representing cable companies including Comcast Corp.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, the Hunt Valley broadcaster that is one of the nation's largest independent owners of television stations, has settled a long-running dispute with Comcast Corp. that will allow viewers of Sinclair stations to watch programs in high-definition. The disagreement reached a critical point in January when Comcast subscribers in Baltimore and in Baltimore County complained that they wouldn't be able to watch the Super Bowl in high-definition because Sinclair wouldn't allow the cable company to carry the digital signal for its Fox affiliate.

In a setback for Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. and other broadcasters, federal regulators ruled yesterday that cable companies would not have to carry more than one television signal for every broadcast company - a key ruling as the industry shifts toward digital TV. A digital signal can carry more information without using any more space on the broadcast spectrum. Sinclair and other broadcasters want cable companies to be required to carry six digital channels offered by a local television station - known as multicasting.

Shawn Henson, an avid Ravens fan, bought herself a 65-inch Toshiba high-definition television as a Christmas present this year and planned to have a big Super Bowl party with her new purchase as the main attraction. But while watching the National Football League playoffs last weekend on the Fox network, she discovered she didn't truly have high-definition - the new technology that promises a picture at least five times as clear as that of regular television. Without it, the images on her screen look stretched and out of focus to her. Now, she and her friends are thinking of carpooling to a bar Feb. 6 to watch the Super Bowl.