Dow Jones reports that Comcast Corp. doesn't regard the Baby Bells' plans to offer a competing video service to be a legitimate threat to the cable industry, according to its chief executive.
Brian Roberts, who is also chairman of the nation's largest cable company, said he "questions the logic" of spending all that money to lay down a high- speed fiber network just to enter the mature video business. "It's not the pot of gold that will solve all your problems," he said during a conference hosted Wednesday by BusinessWeek, a unit of McGraw-Hill.
"You hear [Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg] say we're going to this and that - we're doing this now," Roberts said of its strategy of bundling multiple services such as video, Internet and voice. "The Telcos' plan does not show any economic promise."
While Roberts doesn't see the phone companies as a threat, he does take the satellite companies more seriously. Comcast's main advantage over satellite is the ability to communicate in both directions. As such, the company has been aggressive in pushing video-on-demand services to its customer base.
Brian Roberts, who is also chairman of the nation's largest cable company, said he "questions the logic" of spending all that money to lay down a high- speed fiber network just to enter the mature video business. "It's not the pot of gold that will solve all your problems," he said during a conference hosted Wednesday by BusinessWeek, a unit of McGraw-Hill.
"You hear [Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg] say we're going to this and that - we're doing this now," Roberts said of its strategy of bundling multiple services such as video, Internet and voice. "The Telcos' plan does not show any economic promise."
While Roberts doesn't see the phone companies as a threat, he does take the satellite companies more seriously. Comcast's main advantage over satellite is the ability to communicate in both directions. As such, the company has been aggressive in pushing video-on-demand services to its customer base.