While pay-TV operators continue to wring their hands over subscriber losses and rising prices for content, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) reportedly is planning to launch a nationwide play in 2012 that could pay huge dividends.
The telco, according to Reuters, is planning to launch an online video service similar to Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) that would be available to 85 million U.S. households outside of its FiOS footprint.
The news service reports that talks with content partners have been going on for some two years. Programmers reportedly have been concerned about disrupting the relationship they already have with other pay-TV operators.
Last May, Verizon offered a briefing on Flex View, a cross-platform video on demand service currently available to subscribers of FiOS TV. The unspoken word was that the telco was weighing whether it should expand the service to non-subscribers, as well, on a nationwide basis, entering what already is a crowded field.
At the time, Verizon was being rumored to plan to offer it across an array of over-the-top delivery devices, like Roku, putting it in head-to-head competition with services like Netflix, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iTunes and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) Prime.
For more:
- see this Reuters article
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