The other day, I was talking to a person who was a trainer for the local cable company. As you probably know, the people who install cable services really need to know a lot to get the job done, and it takes training and an apprenticeship to ensure quality and technician success. My acquaintance noticed that since his cable company no longer has a monopoly, and there is new competition in town, many of his company’s technicians have been recruited by others.
Still, each company has different systems and facilities are slightly different. Often these technicians are independent contractors and they go to work for the other company for a while, leave and come back. This gives the first cable company some good competitive intelligence, and it’s much easier to rehire someone who’s already been trained than the expensive training and trial period to get them up and running if they’re new.
Some might say that the cable industry has certainly had a good run here in the United States, and most of it is due to special treatment, barriers to entry, and good friends in government who have simplified the laws in their favor. Even so, there is competition from cell phone networks and Internet TV type services. Right now they can’t really compete because of bandwidth issues, but in the future they will be able to send more information faster, they will solve those problems. So many consumers are disengaging, cutting the cord line, if you will.
Still, in general, the cable companies have a better price and have been offering bundled services such as Internet service through cable, telephone service, and also television. If you have one of those, you’ll likely opt for the bundled service, which could even include Wi-Fi in your own home. In fact, my acquaintance and I also discussed what Google was doing in Topeka, Kansas with extremely fast Internet service that could also provide voice communication, television, and the fastest Internet on the planet.
Will it be able to compete with the future of 4G or even 5G wireless? Each technology competes on its own merits and on price. Every new technology is disruptive, but the cable companies have a good thing and seem to claim that they are somewhat recession proof. If someone has lost their job and spends a lot of time at home, watch more TV. When people have jobs and good income, they ask for the premium service with more expensive bundled services with all channels. Either way, the cable company makes money, or so they say.
Many industry analysts believe that cable TV companies are somewhat recession proof, but nothing is guaranteed as technology increases rapidly and there is so much disruption in the high-tech communication world, who knows, just time. will say it In fact, I hope you will please consider all this and think about it.