Comcast Expands Retail Presence With Best Buy; Agreement Offers Education and Savings to Best Buy Shoppers.Business Editors & Technology Writers PHILADELPHIA & MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 2001 Comcast Cable Communications, Inc., the country's third largest cable company, and Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BBY BBY Best Buy (stock symbol) BBY Before Battle of Yavin (Star Wars) BBY BeBeyond (Chinese online community) ) the nation's largest retailer of technology and entertainment products, today announced they will begin offering Comcast's high-speed Internet See broadband. and digital cable TV services at Best Buy stores. The announcement supports Best Buy's larger strategy to offer consumers a choice in cable services and an opportunity to learn about and purchase the services they want at retail. Beginning this month, customers visiting more than 60 Best Buy stores in Comcast's service area can use broadband interactive displays to preview Comcast's high-speed Internet service, check availability to their home and sign up for the service. In addition, Best Buy customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey will be able to order Comcast's digital cable TV service from Best Buy's digital TV display area. Initially, the digital cable service will be available at more than a dozen stores in Comcast's service area, with plans for a broader roll-out in the coming months. New Approach with Retail Environment Offering retail shoppers high-speed cable Internet Internet access via the cable companies. There are two kinds of service. One uses a cable modem to connect to a computer, and the other uses an enhanced cable box that provides Internet access directly at the TV. and digital cable services complements the cable industry's more traditional, direct approach to reaching consumers. It has the potential to help the industry educate consumers about the offerings, which are still not well-known to most Americans. In a recent survey of 1,000 people throughout the U.S., Best Buy found that more than half (57 percent) are "not very familiar" or "not at all" familiar with digital cable television service. An even higher number (67 percent) are "not very familiar" or "not at all" familiar with high-speed cable Internet access. Given this lack of awareness, the survey also underscored the importance of the retail environment as an important venue to help educate consumers about these new technologies. It found that consumers ranked "visiting a consumer electronics store" second only to word of mouth as being most helpful in making a purchasing decision about one of these services. "At Comcast, we want customers to look to us first for the communications products and services that connect them to what's important in their lives," said Chris Caffrey, vice president of Retail Sales for Comcast. "Our agreement with an electronics leader like Best Buy complements our goal to make it easy for our customers to obtain these new services by making them available in the places they shop." Phil Schoonover, Best Buy executive vice president - Digital Technology Solutions said, "This relationship with Comcast is all about making it easier for customers to see and experience the technology they want in a familiar setting. As we continue to expand our connectivity offerings with services like Comcast's high-speed Internet access and digital cable TV, we will make these services easy to understand and purchase, and offer choice to our customers." Retail Offering High-speed cable Internet customers will save money by purchasing a modem through Best Buy as well as Comcast high-speed Internet service. Customers who sign-up for Comcast high-speed Internet service before November 15 are eligible for additional savings available with the company's current promotion of free service through the end of the year. Digital TV customers can learn more about digital cable and purchase a Comcast Welcome Kit. Comcast high-speed Internet service enhances the online experience with downloads that are up to 50 times faster than 56K dial-up services An information service on demand. The term was popular when analog modems were the only way to connect to a remote system. See dial-up. . It lets users access the Internet through the same wires that deliver cable television service, providing an "always-on" connection. The service also offers seven e-mail addresses See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address and 10 MB of personal Web space. Comcast Digital Cable features more than 250 channels, including dozens of commercial-free premium movie channels, 45 channels of commercial-free digital music, digital-quality picture, CD-quality sound and an interactive on-screen on·screen or on-screen adj. & adv. 1. As shown on a movie, television, or display screen. 2. Within public view; in public. guide. Comcast service will be available at Best Buy stores in these areas: Alabama: Florence, Huntsville, Mobile Arkansas: Little Rock Delaware: Wilmington Florida: Fort Myers Fort Myers, city (1990 pop. 45,206), seat of Lee co., SW Fla., on the Caloosahatchee River, near the Gulf of Mexico; founded 1850, inc. 1905. It has a tourist trade and light industry and is a shipping point for citrus fruits, winter vegetables, flowers (especially , Sarasota, Tallahassee Georgia: Augusta, Savannah Savannah, city, United States Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. Indiana: Ft. Wayne, Indianapolis Maryland: Baltimore Michigan: Detroit, Flint Missouri: Independence New Jersey: metro area This article is about the music production team. For the article about population centers, see metropolitan area. Metro Area are a Brooklyn-based dance music production team composed of Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani. New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). : Albuquerque Pennsylvania: Philadelphia South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. : Charleston Tennessee: Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Washington D.C. area About Best Buy Minneapolis-based Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is the nation's number one specialty retailer of consumer electronics, personal computers, entertainment software and appliances. The Company operates retail stores and commercial web sites under the names: Best Buy (BestBuy.com), Magnolia Hi-Fi (MagnoliaHiFi.com), Media Play (MediaPlay.com), On Cue (OnCue.com), Sam Goody Sam Goody is a music and entertainment retailer in the United States and formerly in the United Kingdom. It is owned and operated by Musicland, which itself is owned by former rival Trans World Entertainment which also runs Suncoast Motion Picture Company and, until January 2006, (SamGoody.com), and Suncoast (Suncoast.com). The Company reaches consumers through more than 1,800 retail stores nationwide, in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. About Comcast Cable Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation (www.comcast.com), a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of programming content. Comcast Cable is the third largest cable company in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Providing basic cable, digital cable and high speed Internet services, Comcast Cable is the company to look to first for the communications products and services that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's approximately 18,000 cable division employees serve more than 8.4 million customers in six geographic regions. About the survey Best Buy commissioned its cable services survey in September 2001 to measure consumer awareness of digital cable and high-speed Internet services and consumer interest in retail distribution of cable services. TeleNation conducted the survey and polled a random sample of 1,000 people aged 18 and above. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.10 percent. |
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