Seidenberg on Comcast, Net Neutrality

Who would have ever thought a staid industry like telecom could produce mudslinging antics worthy of two Hollywood studios? Seidenberg shot back at comments made by Comcast CEO Roberts, covered in a CNN/Money article as well as a clarification of where Verizon stands on Net Neutrality in Forbes.

Here’s what Seidenberg had to say about Comcast:

“Customers will decide if we’re doing the right thing,” Seidenberg said, adding that the company has already done a good job of adding high-speed data and video customers in the few markets where it has already launched FiOS. “People love the product. Cable companies are vulnerable.”

On stock performance (Remeber Roberts said “If you could divorce yourself from the stock price, we’re doing well,”)

Investors naturally recognize that there is a lot of price compression in telecom. I’m not sure we have proved to investors that we can innovate fast enough to offset the price compression

I think he has pretty good grip on why his company is viewed negatively (down +20% in last year). And on Vonage, which institutional investors view as the Ebola Virus that will infect the entire telecom space:

When asked about Vonage, Seidenberg said that he thought the company’s voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) product was one that was attractive to early technology adopters but he did not think the company had a viable long-term business model.

The ‘why’ behind this answer would have been interesting. Unfor