Customer Loss to Internet Continues to Hurt Phone Carriers

CUSTOMER LOSS TO INTERNET CONTINUES TO HURT PHONE COMPANIES
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
According to Todd Rosenbluth, a telecommunications analyst at Standard & Poor’s, “The threat of competition from cable companies and Internet phone companies was there a year ago, but the reality of it is something we’re seeing in 2006.” He added that the phone companies were fighting back by discounting and bundling their services. Verizon and Qwest reported yesterday that the defection of their residential phone customers to cheaper Internet-based services picked up speed in the second quarter. But they said that strong sales of wireless and broadband services, as well as cost-cutting efforts, offset some of the losses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/technology/02verizon.html
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