Signal Spring 2019 Newsletter

10 www.alliancecom.net Your Guide to the Cable Industry Why watching TV over the Internet might be a smart option T he Internet is changing the video industry just like it changed the music industry more than 10 years ago. Today, you can access a video just as fast as a webpage or email. In fact, one can argue that Internet speeds have mainly advanced due to the demand for video. Cisco Systems estimates that 82 percent of Internet traffic will be video related in 2020. These changes to the video industry are good for consumers who have quality broadband connections because they offer more choices and competitive rates. Fortunately, Alliance has been building a fast, reliable fiber-optic network for years, and we’re ready to grow with the Internet as it continues to develop. Along with phone and high-speed Internet, Alliance offers tradi- tional cable TV service. Some of you remember back in the day when the only choices you had in watching TV were volume, on, off, and maybe a dozen channels. It may seem like cable TV has changed a lot. However, compared to other technologies, traditional video hasn’t changed much at all. In some ways, cable is as rigid as it’s always been because the industry in general is strangled by TV contracts and local station retransmission rules that limit our ability to offer à la carte channels or flexible viewing options. Sure we have cloud DVR, video on demand, and channel surfing through an onscreen guide. Yet we’re restricted by Designated Market Area boundaries, retransmission agreements, cable TV rules written decades ago, and broadcast restrictions in an IPTV/ digital technology world. It’s frustrating because Alliance has a state-of-the-art video platform and high-speed data network, but video contracts place restraints on special features that we could offer and prohibit you from purchasing just the channels that interest you. By Ross Petrick, General Manager