When Time Warner Cable announced an ambitious plan to go all-digital and follow up with a suite of faster broadband speeds, a deeper VOD library and a fleet of souped-up video gateways, that sound you heard might have been the MSO's vendors cracking open the bubbly.
That’s because TWC’s big network and services overhaul plan, which gets underway first in New York City and Los Angeles before branching to other markets through 2016, offers a dose of good news for suppliers that could use a shot in the arm.
They didn’t get much of one from the MSO in the fourth quarter, as TWC reported fourth quarter 2013 capital spending of $827 million, below the $872 million expected by Raymond James, and the $850 million anticipated by Wall Street.
But the three-year capex outlook for TWC, which also includes a ramp up of line extensions to commercial buildings, looks “very encouraging,” even with the specter of a deal with Charter Communications, explained Raymond James analyst Simon Leopold in a research note issued Thursday.
