GCI: A Portrait Of Things To Come

摘要

What does the future hold for cable? For a glimpse of what's in store for the industry, perhaps one need look no further than the nation's final frontier. Alaskan operator General Communication Inc. (GCI) has already largely migrated its subscriber base to an all-digital platform, garnered a sizable share of the local phone market and added wireless to its bundle—all services operators in the lower 48 aspire to. According to GCI pres., CEO and co-founder Ron Duncan, 81% of GCI's footprint is "all-digital." Thus, if those customers want anything more than the minimum 15-20 channel regulatory basic tier, they need a digital box. By the end of next year, GCI won't offer anything analog except that basic tier.