I've always been a firm believer that it will be the larger Telcos (see AT&T and Verizon) that cash in on VoIP and the next generation of communications while the cable companies, once thought to be the cash cow in terms of VoIP, will see their US customer bases decline and don't profit to any great extent from the technology.

It appears that another factor aside from the telcos huge international networks and ability to leverage VoIP into their network backbones to reduce transmission costs and improve profits.

I read an article this morning on http://www.bloggingstocks.com/ entitled "FCC may take away many cable company benefits". The piece voices the opinion that cable companies may indeed have their best days behind them. Check it out. This is especially worth a read for investors looking to cash in on the VoIP craze, but unsure of who will profit in the long run.

http://mot.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/12/fcc-may-take-away-many-cable-company-benefits/

According to the article:

"A section of the 1984 Cable Act says that when cable systems with 36 or more channels are available to 70% of households in the U.S. and 70% of those households subscribe to them, the commission may 'promulgate any additional rules necessary to promote diversity of information sources.

That may mean that the commission could force cable to offer smaller channels carriage on their systems at lower rates. And, it could cause the government to block acquisitions by the larger cable companies to keep them from becoming more dominant.

Cable will, of course, will fight any assault in Congress and the courts, if necessary. The FCC is likely to get some concessions out of cable, if it does not get its way outright. Add that to the assault by big telephone companies and cable stocks may have seen their best days."

Labels: Cable Companies, Telcos, VoIP