Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) plans to speed up its deployment of Maxx, its all-digital DOCSIS 3.0-based high-speed data offering that delivers speeds of up to 300 Mbps. During its second quarter earnings call, CEO Rob Marcus said that the company will deploy Maxx in a number of markets including Austin, Texas; Dallas; Raleigh, N.C.; and San Diego. The company expects to reach 3 million customers with Maxx by year-end and cover 6 million customers by year-end 2015.
New York City and Los Angeles are already outfitted with Maxx, which the company announced at the beginning of the year. Marcus noted that the rollout of Maxx has helped set the company up for deployment of DOCSIS 3.1 when it becomes available.
Marcus said that the Austin, Texas, market will have Maxx this year. This is notable because Austin has become a hotbed for high-speed Internet deployments. AT&T (NYSE: T) and Google Fiber (NASDAQ: GOOG) currently offer 1 Gbps service there.
Marcus also said that TWC's cloud-based channel guide is available in 6 million set-top boxes, which is about 40 percent of its overall boxes. He noted that customers who have the updated guide are accessing a lot more video-on-demand offerings than those with the legacy boxes.
The company also saw a jump in usage of its TV app. Marcus said usage increased 70 percent, and he said more than one-quarter of Time Warner's subscribers used the app in the past 30 days. "We see this as evidence of customer satisfaction," Marcus noted. Interestingly, Marcus said that while he believes the TV app will be complimentary to the set-top box because the app provides the consumer with more flexibility, he added that it was "conceivable" that the app running on a CE device could over time replace the set-top box.
In the second quarter, TWC reported revenue of $5.73 billion, up 3.2 percent year over year. The company's second quarter average monthly revenue per residential customer was up 1.7 percent to $106.98. Residential high-speed data ARPU was up 9.7 percent to $46.92.
Here's a breakdown of other key metrics and announcements for the quarter:
SportsNet: Regarding TWC's ongoing dispute with SportsNet LA, Marcus reiterated that the company is willing to agree to arbitration, but details of the process have not been set. He noted that so far none of the other distributors has been willing to participate in the arbitration process. Earlier this week, DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) indicated it had no interest in entering the arbitration process with TWC.
Comcast deal: Marcus said that he expects the Comcast deal to close by the end of the year despite reports earlier this month that he thought it might be delayed. In February, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) agreed to buy Time Warner Cable $45.2 billion in stock.
Residential customers: TWC's residential customer base declined by 43,000, which the company said was the best second quarter in five years. TWC's residential video subscribers declined by 152,000 and its residential voice customers had a net add of 79,000.
Data customers: TWC's high-speed data customers increased by 67,000. The company said 30 percent of customers are on its highest pricing tier and close to 40 percent of its new high-speed data customers are on its Turbo and above tier.
Business customers: TWC's business primary service unit and customer relationship net adds grew by 37,000 and 21,000, respectively.
For more:
- see this TWC release (PDF)
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