Charter Communications said Wednesday that it has promoted long-time executives Pattie Eliason and Sharon Peters to senior roles in its sales and marketing organization. Both will continue to report to Charter executive VP and chief marketing officer Jonathan Hargis.

Eliason has been named senior VP, Spectrum stores and retail, while Peters was named senior VP, marketing.

Eliason joined Charter in 2003 as director of marketing and sales and was made group VP in 2016, overseeing the re-branding and launch of 700 new and renovated Spectrum stores nationwide. In her new role as senior VP, she will continue to lead Charter’s stores strategy while also managing relationships with retail partners that sell Spectrum products and services, including Walmart and regional retailers like H-E-B. Prior to joining Charter she held sales and marketing roles at RCN, AT&T and Cox Communications.

Peters joined Charter as group VP of marketing in 2016, and has pioneered marketing strategies and tactics, including a search strategy for residential and business customers that is now considered a marketing best practice, the company said. As senior VP she will continue to lead all media planning, direct marketing, customer retention and engagement, mover marketing, database marketing and marketing communications efforts for Spectrum’s residential and Spectrum Business products and services. Prior to joining Charter, Peters spent 19 years at Cablevision, ultimately serving as the lead marketing executive responsible for developing integrated digital, media and direct marketing strategies and plans for the Optimum brand.

“Pattie and Sharon have been key contributors in Charter’s success,” Hargis said in a press release. “Under Pattie’s leadership, our retail store strategy has helped Spectrum Mobile become the nation’s fastest-growing mobile provider, while Sharon’s commitment to developing innovative marketing strategies has been critical to our continued growth while improving the overall customer experience.”

Altice USA said it is offering a premium pay increase to employees in customer-facing field service and retail positions in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Effective immediately and retroactive to March 28, Altice USA employees in customer-facing roles will receive a 20% pay premium increase based on hours worked, the company said.

Related: Facing Up to COVID-19

Altice has taken several steps to battle the coronavirus outbreak. As of April 2, it said most of its employee base is now working remotely. To assist at-home connectivity for its workers, the company is increasing the complimentary data speed offering provided to its employees to 200 megabits per second. In addition, the company is:

• Offering paid administrative leave, in addition to sick, personal and vacation time, for employees who are quarantined or diagnosed with COVID-19.
  

• For the essential work that cannot be conducted from home, Altice USA has introduced a series of preventative measures including:
• Increasing the frequency and intensity of cleaning and disinfecting in locations that remain open;
• Adjusting practices in call centers and implementing zoning to ensure the recommended social distancing guidelines;
• Limiting the number of customers inside open retail stores; and
• Changing procedures for technicians entering customer homes, which includes, among other measures: taking daily temperature checks; making pre-calls to ensure a customer is not sick; providing nitrile gloves, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes to be used during service visits; and having technicians use personal remote devices to avoid touching customer equipment.

Altice USA also has opened its Altice Advantage broadband service for free for 60 days to any households with K-12 and/or college students who do not currently have home internet access. The company also joined the Federal Communications Commission’s “Keep Americans Connected Pledge,” which provides relief to customers impacted by the pandemic.

Comcast will open its first ever Xfinity retail store in Shreveport, La., this week,  part of an overall effort to revamp its retail presence throughout its communities with more modern, tech-savvy facilities.

The Shreveport store, set to open on Sept. 27, will give customers hands-on access to Comcast's Xfinity, Xfinity X1, Xfinity Mobile and digital voice and Xfinity Home products. The 3,600-square-foot location is designed to offer a simpler and more streamlined customer experience and features multiple service counters staffed by Xfinity sales consultants, interactive iPad product demonstrations, and dedicated areas that showcase Comcast’s suite of products and apps. It also offers an automated payment kiosk to increase speed of service.

“We’re excited to launch our first Xfinity retail center in Shreveport and to deliver an enhanced level of service to our customers,” Comcast regional SVP Doug Guthrie said in a statement. “This new store is designed entirely around the needs of customers, and offers them an opportunity to explore and interact directly with our products.”

The store will be open for business Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Once relegated to the sidelines, retail locations are increasingly becoming the new face of cable companies, allowing customers not only to pay their bills and pick up equipment, but to try out new services in a relaxed, high-tech atmosphere.

Comcast arguably unveiled the new face of cable in 2015, when it announced plans to revamp its Xfinity stores across the country, turning its retail locations into cable versions of Apple’s Genius Bars. With sleek lines and stacks of high-tech equipment, big-screen TVs and video game consoles, the stores not only showcased what Comcast had to offer, but educated customers in the nuances of broadband, home security and control and all they could do with those services.

Related: Helping Subscribers Help Themselves

Back in 2015, at the launch of its flagship Studio Xfinity in Chicago during INTX: The Internet & Television Expo, Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said the operator saw the new retail initiative as a huge opportunity.

“As we improve the service and offer more and more products, customers are saying ‘Gosh, I didn’t know I could do that,’” Roberts told Multichannel News at the time.

Comcast has since built or refurbished 258 Xfinity retail stores across the country, with new plans to upgrade the experience even more. Clearly Comcast, and others, are seeing the power of putting on a good face.

Charter Communications is revamping hundreds of Spectrum stores across its footprint, partly in anticipation of the planned June launch of its wireless product. Cox Communications has more than 100 Cox Solutions stores across its footprint and Altice USA opened Optimum Experience Centers in Long Island, N.Y., and Paramus, N.J., where customers can interact with new products like the Altice One hub, “smart home” offerings from Nest and see high-speed internet demonstrations. The Experience Centers are separate from the company’s Optimum retail walk-in stores that continue to handle all exchanges, returns and requests for equipment and in-person bill payments.

Comcast vice president of retail John Giacomazzi said Comcast has conducted reams of research, and has spoken with employees and individual customers to make the normally transactional nature of customer interactions more palatable. In the retail business, he added, if a customer walks in with a piece of equipment to return or repair, they are met at the door by a greeter, who takes the equipment, gives them a receipt and encourages them to browse around the store while their transaction is completed.

The retail location is set up in zones — X1 for entertainment, home security and the connected home, internet and Xfinity Mobile. Within each of those zones, the product is on display so they can use it themselves or be walked through its operation by a sales consultant.

“It’s a much brighter retail store experience and [has] more of a residential feel, as opposed to an industrial service center,” Giacomazzi said. “It’s a warm environment. We have solid oak floors; we have bright lights and a very neutral palette. Everything is out and open and available for receiving a customer’s touch and engagement.”

The stores are also in high-traffic retail areas, such as malls and shopping centers, away from the more industrial office park locations of the past.

“We’re with traditional retailers — Apple and Sephora, Starbucks, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma,” Giacomazzi said, adding that most of the stores are standalone, but the company has a few mall locations coming up. Comcast expects to add more than 50 new stores throughout the footprint this year alone. The goal, he said, is to eventually have every customer within a 15 minute drive of an Xfinity retail location.

The stores also are chock full of accessories like new xFi pods — plug-in devices that extend the reach of WiFi service throughout the home — as well as cell phone cases, protection, power, speakers and headsets.

“We’re expanding the complementary accessories,” Giacomazzi said, adding that Comcast is moving toward accessories that will enhance the overall experience. “If you are streaming or DVR-ing your content away from home, we have a nice headset that will help you listen to that content.”

Cox Communications senior vice president of customer care Peter Lilly agreed, adding that at Cox Solutions stores, Cox sells everything from lightbulbs to modems.

“It’s not meant to break the bank as much as make sure that customers are getting the most of what they want from us as a full service business,” Lilly said. “It’s as much about retaining a customer, making sure we’re adding value and sharing knowledge about what our products can do for them. We want somebody when they walk in to pay their bill to know not only that their bill was paid, but to learn something new about their products and services. Maybe it’s something they are already paying for, but they didn’t understand how to get the most out of it. That’s another benefit for us and a value-add for the customer long-term.”

Comcast launched a new customer centric design for its Xfinity retail stores across the country, giving new and current customers the opportunity to discover new products and address any service needs. The first locations of the new store format recently opened in Pueblo, Colo.; Aventura, Fla.; Henrico, Va.; and Chattanooga, Tenn.

“We want to bring our customers an incredible shopping experience, which showcases the power and innovation of our Xfinity products and demonstrates how they work together,” said Comcast Cable SVP retail sales Tom DeVito in a statement. “We have heard from our customers that they want to touch and feel our Xfinity products and understand their capabilities as they make decisions for their own home. Our Xfinity stores are the place to do that.”

Comcast has built or re-designed more than new 250 stores since 2015 and will open over 50 of the new and enhanced Xfinity stores in high-traffic shopping centers across the service footprint in 2018. The ultimate goal is for customers to be within a 15 minute drive of a Xfinity store.

The stores are designed strategically by product area –Xfinity Mobile, Xfinity X1, Xfinity Home and Xfinity Internet.

Customers can still visit the stores to pay their bills and swap out equipment and ask questions about their service. In-store appointments can be scheduled online on their local store website.

The new Xfinity stores also have a dedicated space for Comcast Business, where customers and prospects to come in and discuss their needs with an expert.

Altice USA said it has opened its first Optimum Experience store in Long Island, N.Y., part of an effort to introduce state-of-the-art retail centers in its service territory.

The Long Island store – located at the Westfield South Shore Mall in Bay Shore, N.Y. – will allow customers to interact firsthand with the company’s Optimum-branded digital cable television, high-speed Internet, WiFi and voice services, as well as purchase third-party merchandise.

“The roots of our company extend throughout Long Island so we are thrilled to be opening this new Optimum Experience Center so our loyal customers can see and try the next generation of products and services that are now starting to roll out,” said Altice USA’s head of sales & marketing Gregg Graff in a statement. “What an exciting and unique opportunity for consumers to come together in a community-centric environment at our Optimum Experience Centers to test drive current and future technologies, view educational product and online service demos, purchase products, plus have a little fun.”

The company opened a similar store in Paramus, N.J., in November at the Westfield Garden State Plaza Mall.

The Long Island location occupies about 4,117 square feet and features:

Product and interactive displays and demos, including Altice One, the Company’s all-in-one entertainment and connectivity device with modern user interface and easy-to-use advanced features such as access to apps, voice search and more;

High-speed Internet demos, where tablets will showcase the Company’s online and app-based services;

The Nest suite of ‘smart home’ connected products, which include the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Thermostat E, Nest Protect smoke and CO alarm, and a range of Nest Cams;

A 15-foot TV Wall that demonstrates the different places customers can use Optimum Wi-Fi, including a selfie station featuring local areas where Optimum WiFi is available, and an Optimum WiFi hotspot finder interactive map;

A dedicated area specialized in Small Business solutions with demos of Altice’s latest technology, showcasing the Business Hosted Voice Platform and mobile application for small and medium sized businesses;

Third-party merchandise to purchase, including Samsung TVs, tablets, Nest products, home theatre equipment and accessories; and

A children’s gaming and television programming area;

Altice USA’s traditional Optimum retail walk-in stores will continue to handle all exchanges, returns and/or other requests for Optimum equipment, including cable boxes, routers, remotes, as well as in-person bill payments and questions.

The Long Island Experience Center is located between The Cheesecake Factory and Macy’s. Store hours are 10 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Sunday, subject to mall schedule changes.

Altice USA has opened its first customer Experience Center in the New York Tri-State area, with an Optimum-branded store location at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, N.J., getting the honors.

Altice USA, which acquired Cablevision Systems in June 2016, said its second Experience Center will open in the coming months in the Westfield South Shore Mall in Bay Shore, Long Island.

Altice USA said the new stores are next-gen retail stores where customers can interact with Optimum-branded TV, broadband, WiFi and voice products, and purchase third-party merchandise.

The new store in Paramus features an “open floor design” that occupies 3,695 square feet. Among the demos and interactive display are those for Altice One, the company’s new all-in-one service hub/device, which runs on a new interface.

Also on show and for sale are smart home connected products from Nest, including connected thermostats, smoke and CO alarms and Nest cams. Altice USA and the Google-owned company announced a product and services partnership in late October.

RELATED: Altice USA Hawks Nest Smart Home Products

Altice USA is also using the store to sell Samsung TVs, tablets, home theatre equipment and accessories, and has set up an area for children’s gaming and television programming, as well as one dedicated to small business services.

It won't be surprising to see Altice USA use the new outlets to sell mobile services once a product launches that comes way of its "full" MVNO agreement with Sprint. 

Update: Altice USA's traditional retail stores will continue to handle equipment exchanges and returns of equipment such as cable boxes, routers, remotes, and to handle bill payments and other questions.

“What an exciting and unique opportunity for consumers to come together in a community-centric environment at our Experience Centers to test drive current and future technologies, view educational product and online service demos, purchase products, plus have a little fun,” said Hakim Boubazine, Altice USA’s co-president and COO, said in a statement. “With our Experience Centers, we are changing the way we interact with our customers and the way they interact with us by providing a more personal, in-store experience that showcases the many ways we enable seamless connectivity.”

Linksys has debuted its first retail product to combine a DOCSIS 3.0 modem with a WiFi router.

The product, called the AC1900 Dual-Band Cable Modem Router (CG7500), combines a D3.0 modem capable of bonding 24 downstream channels and eight upstream channels, with 802.11ac WiFi and six antennas, and also includes four Gigabit ports and one USB 2.0 port. The device’s “Tri-Band” technology supports three dedicated WiFi bands that, the company said, can support combined speeds up to 4 Gbps.

The company confirmed that the device uses the Intel Puma 6 DOCSIS 3.0 chip, but notes that it includes a new set of firmware.

Taking aim at consumers who are looking to sidestep monthly rental/leasing fees, the new model is already approved for use on Comcast and Charter Communications networks, with more to be added to the list in the coming weeks. The CG7500 carries an estimated street price of $199.97, and is available now for pre-order , and will be available for in-store purchase this weekend, the company said.

In addition to sales at its own site, Linksys.com, the CG7500 will also be available through a mix of online and brick-and-mortar retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy.com, B&H, Micro Center, New Egg, Office Depot, Target and Walmart, Fry’s, and Meijer.

Linksys, acquired by Belkin from Cisco Systems in 2013, reentered the retail cable modem market last year, and competes with players that include Arris, Netgear, TP-Link and Zoom Telephonics, which now licenses the Motorola brand.

Jeff Heynen, consulting director and senior research analyst in SNL Kagan’s Media & Communications unit, has estimated that retail sales make up 10% to 15% of the total DOCSIS CPE market.

RELATED: Retail Modem Market Small, but Active (subscription required)

Per recent NPD data, Arris holds about 52.3% of the retail market for DOCSIS modems, followed by about 32% for Netgear, 5.8% for Linksys/Belkin, and 4.6% for Motorola/Zoom, and 3.2% for TP-Link.

At the CES confab in January, Linksys also showed off its first DOCSIS 3.1-based modem, which is expected to hit retail later this year.

RELATED: CES 2017: Linksys Tees Up DOCSIS 3.1 Modem

“Combining the Wi-Fi router with a cable modem as a single solution helps consumers declutter their home environments while eliminating extra hardware rental costs charged by most cable companies” Brian Nickell, product manager at Linksys, said in a statement. “Our entrance into the gateway market shows our commitment in providing consumers with high performance cable products combined with the latest wireless technology to deliver the ultimate Wi-Fi experience throughout the home.”

The cable industry has had an inconsistent relationship with CES, the annual gadget-fest that’s set to take place next week in Las Vegas.

In most years, the cable industry has ceded the CES spotlight to pay TV rivals such as DirecTV and Dish Network/EchoStar, relegating itself to spots on panels alongside an assortment of CE-related announcements that faced the challenge of rising above the noise.

The big difference was in 2008, when the industry unveiled tru2way, the ill-fated brand for the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP), envisioned to become the core for a wide range of interactive, cable-ready TVs, set-tops and other consumer devices. Comcast also took center stage that year as a CES keynoter as it touted the promise of tru2way and unveiled several new products and initiatives.

At the 2017 CES, cable’s expected to have something to say, though the industry, again, won’t playing a starring role. Interestingly enough, Dish is apparently taking a pass on its annual CES presser at next week's show. 

Multichannel News will be tracking the announcements that matter while also reporting from the ground in Las Vegas.

Get complete coverage of CES 2017

In the meantime, here’s a look back at some of cable’s moments at past CES gatherings. It’s a representative, rather than exhaustive list, so if you have something to add to it, please chime in on the message board.

2002

With an eye on the retail potential for cable-ready devices, Motorola introduced the DCP501, a home theater system with an integrated cable receiver, DVD/CD/MP3 player and stereo receiver that carried an MSRP of $899. Motorola never said how many of those monstrosities it sold, but at least two cable operators – Charter and Cox Communications – did make them available for purchase in select markets. Interestingly enough, the DCP501 is still offered from third-party sellers on Amazon starting at $129.99, though good luck getting a cable operator to support it. 

2005

Back when the cable and CE industries were still trying to find common ground on what was referred to as a two-way “Plug & Play” agreement, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Charter Communications and Samsung announced a couple of agreements -- memorandums of understanding, in this case -- to support OCAP in digital TVs.Execs from those companies held court at the Four Seasons to tout the deals, with TWC and BHN and Samsung agreeing to write specs for OCAP-complaint TVs, with Charter and Samsung teeing up a deal to deploy “low-cost network interface units” and Samsung two-way HD TVs that use  XHT (eXpandable Home Theater), a home networking technology that supports the IEEE1394 "Firewire" cable.

RELATED: FCC Douses FireWire Requirement For Set-Tops With IP

LG Electronics also announced it would integrate OCAP into a line of digital TVs and set-tops.

2008

Marking cable’s most significant presence at CES, the industry pursued a bigger retail play with the introduction of the tru2way brand for interactive set-tops and TVs, with Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts using a keynote to promote the effort and cable’s new commitment to “openness” with the CE industry.

"The era of an open, two-way cable platform is here," Roberts declared. Panasonic rolled out a line of HDTVs powered by tru2way, but stopped selling them in 2010.

Comcast also used the show to announce a deal with TiVo, and to trot out a portable DVR/set-top device with Panasonic outfitted with tru2way. The standard-def product, called the AnyPlay P-DVR (pictured above, and not to be confused with the George Foreman Grill), was not rolled out, though Comcast later reused the AnyPlay brand for an in-home video streaming device that was also discontinued.

Comcast also unveiled “Project Infinity,” an initiative that set the stage for the operator's ever-expanding VOD library, and introduced Fancast, the brand of a short-lived online video hub, while also demonstrating how DOCSIS 3.0, which was on the cusp of its first deployments back then, could enable consumers to download entire movies in about four minutes.

That was also the year that Digeo displayed big retail ambitions that quickly fizzled out. At CES, Digeo was touting a high-end multi-room DVR that would start at about $1,000, work in tandem with less expensive “Moxi Mate” boxes, used a CableCARD to deliver secure linear, digital cable TV service, but did not support tru2way. But just days later, Digeo, which would be sold to Arris the following year for $20 million, confirmed it was laying off half its staff and killing two new products that were headed to retail, including the flagship box it was trumpeting at CES.

2011

Authenticated apps from pay TV providers built into retail TVs started to show their face. Comcast and  Time Warner Cable kicked things off by announcing partnerships with Samsung that would provide access to programming on connected TVs, tablets and smartphones. That year, TWC struck a similar accord with Sony that was focused on Bravia sets.

With an eye fixed on the multiscreen future of its service provider partners and their eventual integration of over-the-top and social networking elements, Cisco Systems introduced Videoscape. While Videoscape was not a complete system at launch, Cisco would later fill in the gaps with several acquisitions, including 1 Mainstream, Inlet and BNI Video. Cisco has since  backed away from the Videoscape brand, opting instead for a suite of a suite of multiscreen video products, including those focused on cloud DVRs, under the “Infinite” moniker.

2012

The Reference Design Kit (RDK) is now a well-known preintegrated software stack for video and broadband set-tops and gateways that’s being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of TWC). But back in January of 2012, details of the project, initially helmed by Comcast, began to emerge. First out of the chute was Broadcom, which announced that it was integrating the RDK into a gateway platform. These days, more than 275 companies, including CE device makers, chipmakers, software developers, system integrators and service providers, are tied into the RDK community.

2013

It was Cox’s turn to push the multiscreen video needle by announcing a new mobile app developed with Cisco Systems (along with NDS, which Cisco had acquired in 2012) that support live and VOD fare, and plans to roll out a high-octane hybrid gateway with multi-room DVR capabilities from Cisco that would create the foundation for the MSO’s next-gen and personalized Contour platform. Cox still has subs on its legacy Contour product, but has since cast its lot on a set-top and mobile video offering that is hosted by Comcast’s X1 platform.

2014

4K was front and center at this show, as Comcast announced that it was working on an OTT-delivered VOD app for Samsung televisions. Comcast launched the app, called Xfinity in UHD, in December of 2014, initial offering small, free sample of TV shows from programmers such as NBC and USA Network.

2015

At a Cisco Systems presser, Charter Communications unveiled the Worldbox, a new hybrid IP/QAM box outfitted with a downloadable security, a cloud-powered interface and the foundation for a wide range of apps and services. Cisco was also announced as a “key” supplier of the box, but the irony, according to industry rumor, is that the box on display at the event was actually made by Humax, which was later confirmed a Worldbox supplier. Cisco, of course, exited the set-top business when it sold its CPE unit to Technicolor later that year. Arris, meanwhile, was recently tapped as a key development partner for the 2.0 version of Charter’s Worldbox, which still hasn’t been rolled out en masse.

This was also the year that Broadcom announced a modem reference design for DOCSIS 3.1. Several cable operators, including  Comcast, WideOpenWest, RCN and Mediacom Communications, started to deploy the multi-gigabit platform for HFC networks this year.

Netgear appears to be gearing up to sell its first DOCSIS 3.1 product at some other retailers in the weeks to come.

In addition to confirmed distribution via Amazon, Fry’s Electronics and Best Buy, a reader noticed that Newegg is promoting the CM1000 for $179.99 and has set a release date of Dec. 21.

RELATED: Netgear’s First DOCSIS 3.1 Modem Also Coming to Stores

The same reader also pointed us in the direction of this Netgear sizzle reel on YouTube about the product, which will tout the aforementioned certification by Comcast and highlight the Xfinity brand:

In addition to electronic distribution on Amazon, Netgear’s first retail modem powered by DOCSIS 3.1 will also be available at select retail outlets.

Netgear said the model, the CM1000, is in its distribution center and, in addition to Amazon, is released for Fry’s Electronics, and is expected to be released for Best Buy before the end of the month, though wider availability at Best Buy might not occur until the end of January.

RELATED: Retail Modem Market Small, but Active (subscription required)

The CM1000 appeared earlier in the week on Amazon for pre-orders for $179.99, with an expected availability date of Dec. 13. The item vanished from Amazon temporarily, but, at last check, is featured again on the site, though it’s listed as being “currently unavailable”  and absent of pricing information.  

RELATED: Netgear DOCSIS 3.1 Modem Set for Retail Debut

Via Twitter, Netgear said pre-orders should be reinstituted within the next week.

CableLabs certified the CM1000 earlier this year. This Comcast Web page also confirms that the CM1000 has been certified by the MSO, which has been expanding the reach of its DOCSIS 3.1 consumer trials. The current listing on Amazon still notes that the CM1000 has not yet been certified by Charter Communications.

Arris confirmed earlier this week that it will start to sell the SB8200, which has also been certified by CableLabs, at retail later this month and will share more details soon. 

Comcast is also expected to get into the retail game as well for products such as the XB6, a souped-up DOCSIS 3.1 gateway.

RELATED: INTX 2016: Comcast Previews New Consumer Gear

“We are taking this to retail,” Brian Roberts, Comcast’s chairman and CEO, said of the XB6 in September at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. The XB6, which will support a self-install option, will handle a wide range of Comcast services, including Xfinity Home. 

In May, FierceCable, citing a Comcast official, reported that Comcast is also considering retail availability of the Xi5, the MSO’s first device to support High Dynamic Range (HDR).

RELATED: Comcast’s First HDR Box in Employee Trials

In October, Roberts said the Xi5, also the first box from Comcast to support video-over-WiFi, is targeting a connection/installation goal of two minutes “with a few simple keystrokes.”

Zoom Telephonics is “on track” to debut a lineup of cable modem products in January 2016 that bear the Motorola brand and will be offered via various retail channels, Zoom president and CEO Frank Manning said earlier this month on the company’s second quarter earnings call.

Zoom, under an exclusive five-year licensing agreement announced in May, will use the Moto brand in cable modems/routers and set-tops (as well as cable modems inside set-tops) sold at retail in the U.S. and Canada starting in 2016. At that time, Zoom will take over Moto branding rights that have been with Arris, which acquired the Motorola Home division from Google in April 2013 for $2.35 billion

 “We are on track with the Motorola opportunity,” Manning said, noting that Zoom has made “great progress in product development, certifications and discussions with retailers, specifically.”

The focus now is to introduce a new line of Motorola-branded products starting in January 2016, Manning said, noting that Zoom’s initial plan is to offer six products and that the company has been working with a third-party industrial company on new designs. Zoom’s Motorola products won’t carry the Zoom brand, but Zoom also plans to continue selling cable  modem products that use the Zoom brand.

Manning didn’t go into further detail about the coming Motorola-branded product line, but said the initial focus is on modems with various downstream and upstream speed capabilities, with hopes that it will expand into other product areas. While DOCSIS 3.0 modems with 8x4 configurations are among the most popular models at retail, the latest D3.0 chipsets support 24x8 and 32x8 configurations. 

Arris, thanks in part to the Motorola brand, has dominated the retail market for DOCSIS cable modems and gateways. Manning estimates that about 10% of cable modem sales come way of retail, with the rest sold via direct-to-MSO deals. But he said Zoom is prepared to target retail aggressively.

“We don't just want to maintain the Motorola market share; we want to grow it,” he said, reiterating that he believes the Motorola plan represents a $50 to $100 million per year revenue opportunity for Zoom. “The fact is, Motorola is the strongest brand for cable modems, so that gives us an important advantage." 

Manning was also optimistic that Zoom will be able to draft a bit off of Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola’s smartphone business from Google. While cable modems and smartphones are obviously different products, “there are things you can do to give a consistent brand image,” Manning said. 

Manning said it’s too early to say how much shelf space his company will get at retailers, as those discussions are ongoing. He also expects continued competition at retail.

“Clearly Arris is not giving up and running away,” he said. “They’re trying to compete [at retail].”

He said Arris has yet to compete with “severe” pricing tactics, but believes having a known brand, rather than deep cuts on pricing, represents the path to retail success.

“We already know that it doesn't work. Zoom's had a great price and we're on the shelf,” Manning said. “We do reasonable sales, but Motorola dominates our sales right now. I think that says a lot about the importance of brand." 

Though retail is Zoom’s cable modem focus, the company is also preparing to engage more directly with MSOs, particularly those that are outside the top three. Manning said Zoom, which has butted heads with Comcast and Charter Communications (subscription required), is looking to hire sales managers who have expertise in selling directly to MSOs, noting that the Technicolor’s proposed $600 million acquisition of Cisco Systems’ CPE business is “probably going to leave some people looking for jobs." 

While that deal offers some potential possibility, Zoom is also working with search firms and industry groups as it sizes up that direct-to-operator market.

While Zoom believes the Motorola brand  will give it a leg up in the retail market, it’s overall business is dwarfed by its bigger competitors. Zoom posted Q2 net sales of $2.59 million, and a net loss of $106,000. The vast majority (98%) of revenues are from U.S. sales, and 85% of net sales are from cable modems.

The company recently raised $268,740 in a rights offering that involved the sale of 298,600 shares at 90 cents each.  "While this is a modest capital raise, it's sufficient for the near term,” Manning said, adding that Zoom hopes to raise more funding later this year. 

CHICAGO – Comcast kicked off a major customer care initiative Tuesday, announcing that it will hire 5,500 customer service reps over the next three years, unveiling a prototype Studio XFinity store where customers and potential customers can try out the latest technology and announcing new programs aimed at enhancing the customer experience.

Comcast said it will hire about 5,500 CSRs across the country, 2,000 of them at three new call centers in Spokane, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Albuquerque, N.M. The Albuquerque center will open first, staffed with bilingual employees that will speak with Spanish-speaking customers across the country. The other two centers will open later this year.

In addition, Comcast revealed a prototype Studio Xfinity store in Chicago – slated to officially open in June – which will allow customers and potential customers to explore XFinity products and services and purchase them if they want. But the emphasis will be more on educating customers rather than the hard sell.

“We’re looking at this as a huge opportunity,” Comcast chairman Brian Roberts said of the Studio XFinity stores and the customer care moves. “As we improve the service and offer more and more products, customers are saying ‘Gosh, I didn’t know I could do that.’”

Comcast has about 500 retail stores across the country and has revamped 125 of them. The Chicago Studio XFinity is a flagship store, so chances are other converted locations will not look the same.  

Comcast Cable CEO Neil Smit said the stores are only part of the changes in store for Comcast, all aimed at making the customer experience better. He added that the customer care unit has a budget of about $300 million and the additional employees will be added to that.

But among the bells and whistles – including on-screen notifications that the batteries in the customer remote need changing, and mobile tracking of service technicians – are several  back to basics initiatives. Those include an always on time pledge that will take effect in the third quarter, which would automatically credit a customer’s account $20 if a service technician is one minute late for an appointment.

Comcast EVP of customer experience Charlie Herrin said its customer care plan is broken down into four basic tenets: seeing things through the customer’s eyes; simplifying transactions; using creative technology to help customers enjoy the experience and giving employees the tools and training the need to deliver a top-notch customer experience.

Comcast has taken it on the chin on the customer service side especially during the approval process or the Time Warner Cable merger that was terminated late last month. Roberts acknowledged that there have been some black eyes on the service front, but added that they inspired the Comcast team to do better.

Roberts said that while those highly publicized slip-ups were minuscule compared to the 350 million customer calls the company receives each year, they were totally unacceptable.  

“It was a rallying cry inside the company, that we are going to top to bottom rethink every way we do business,” Roberts said. "Will we ever be perfect? I think the bar is always rising.”

Liberty Media said Thursday that it will sell off most of its stake in book retailer Barnes & Noble, ending a foray into the electronic book market the cable giant made three years ago.

In a statement, Liberty said it will sell its interest in B&N to “qualified institutional buyers,” retaining about 2% of its interest in the book seller. Liberty said the sales should close on April 8.

As a result of its reduced ownership, Liberty said it will no longer have the right to elect two members to Barnes & Noble’s board of directors, and effective April 8 Liberty CEO Greg Maffei will cease to serve on the B&N board. Liberty senior vice president Mark Carleton has been re-elected to the B&N board effective April 8.

“By reducing our preferred position and eliminating some of our related rights, Barnes & Noble will gain greater flexibility to accomplish their strategic objectives,” Maffei said in a statement. “We look forward to maintaining our relationship with the company.”

Liberty first invested about $204 million for a 17% stake in B&N in 2011, in what some analysts believed was an attempt to gain control of the retailer’s Nook electronic book technology. But as the Nook has foundered under competition from the Amazon Kindle, Liberty’s interest appeared to wane.

 “Liberty Media has been a strong supporter of the company and Greg Maffei and Mark Carleton have been and continue to be tremendous partners at an important time in the company’s history,” said Barnes & Noble chairman Leonard Riggio in a statement. “Liberty’s decision to retain a portion of its investment and have active involvement on our board underscores Liberty’s ongoing commitment to Barnes & Noble.”