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By Jim Barthold
Counting 132,000 subscribers at the end of the second quarter (http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/centurylink-revenue-drops-453b-legacy-losses-offset-next-gen-consumer-busin/2013-08-08) , CenturyLink's (NYSE: CTL) Prism TV isn't as big a threat to cable operators as AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse TV or Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) FiOS TV, which each reach about 5 million subscribers.
But the IPTV service, which debuted in 2011, is slowly gaining steam, and picking off cable customers in markets such as Phoenix, Ariz., and Omaha, Neb., where it competes with Cox Communications, and Colorado Springs, Colo., where it goes head-to-head with Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA). It gained 12,000 Prism subscribers in the second quarter, and half of those customers were new to CenturyLink, CEO Glen Post told analysts in August.
Prism TV competes with Comcast, Verizon and AT&T
The Monroe, La. telco, which now has completely swallowed (http://www.fiercetelecom.com/story/centurylink-qwest-wrap-their-merger/2011-04-01) the former Qwest operating company, is possibly more serious about television than Verizon, which has halted its FiOS expansion, and more dangerous network-wise with a fiber-to-the-premises switched digital video play than AT&T in many markets.
"Prism is a good news story for us," said Chris LaNasa, vice president of consumer product strategy and operations for CenturyLink, pointing out that Prism TV's 130,000-plus subscribers, in addition to Phoenix, come from competitive cable markets like Las Vegas, Fort Myers and Orlando, Fla., North Carolina, Colorado Springs and Omaha, where CenturyLink has upped the ante even further with a 1 Gbps broadband offering.
The competitive advantage of triple play
While the telco unabashedly targets incumbent cable operators' TV subscriber bases, it's been getting an added benefit from its triple-play offering of TV, high-speed broadband and voice.
"We're taking customers back," said LaNasa....