According to a recent article in the San Antonio Business Journal, Time Warner Cable has developed a new flat-rate phone plan that will allow its customers to stay connected with over 100 countries, including Mexico, Iraq, Peru, Taiwan and Spain.

The International OnePrice plan offers Time Warner customers 3,000 minutes per month, with the option to bundle this product with video and high-speed data for a low, monthly fee. Calls outside the plan coverage area will be billed per minute. Time Warner will gradually provide International OnePrice plan in most of its service areas over the next six to nine months.

Time Warner Cable service passes more than 26 million U.S. homes in 33 states, with 13.5 million basic video customers.

Charter Communications recently announced it is giving its residential phone customers 30 free minutes of international calling on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13, to help families keep in touch with their loved ones around the globe.

Charter Telephone® customers can take advantage of this special 30-minute offer by dialing the star key, then dialing H-E-L-L-O (star key, 43556) from their home phone. They will be able to call friends and family on their wireline phone in more than 200 countries.

"Mother's Day is an occasion when families reconnect with each other through the simple gesture of a phone call,"said Ted Schremp, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Charter Telephone. "Mother's Day traditionally has the highest calling volume of any day of the year; more than Christmas or Thanksgiving. And today, with so many loved ones stationed overseas, serving our country, Charter is pleased to offer families this opportunity to connect with one another."

Charter Telephone service includes 10 calling features and voicemail at no additional charge. Customers may also keep their current phone number when they switch to Charter service. Charter Telephone service is provisioned over a private, managed network, unlike offerings that run on the public Internet. Calls can be made directly through any working in-home jack, and customers do not need to purchase new equipment.

"We are pleased to extend this special international calling offer to our customers," said Mr. Schremp. "They had a choice when selecting the best service provider for their needs, and they chose Charter. We appreciate their loyalty, and this is just our way of saying thank you—and Happy Mother's Day."

Charter serves nearly 600,000 telephone customers, and has more than quadrupled its number of customers since the beginning of 2006. Today, Charter's phone service passes more than 7 million homes, with additional launches planned this year.

For more information, check out the Charter press release.

A recent Red Herring article suggests that Vonage and rival start-up VoIP companies are facing stiff competition from cable companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable who are poised to dominate the market with digital phone service. While VoIP companies continue to struggle with consumer perception and patent disputes involving Vonage, cable companies control a combined 71 percent of the U.S. VoIP market, nearly 10 million customers.

According to the article, Time Warner Cable digital phone has 21.1 percent of the U.S. VoIP market, while Comcast Digital Voice® owns 19.9 percent, putting them well within the range of Vonage. Cable companies now provide service to 80 million U.S. homes, up from 33 million just two years ago, according to Bruce Leichtman of Leichtman Research. He estimates that Comcast will reach 10 million more homes in 2007, while Time Warner Cable will add 6.4 million customers.

Charter Communications recently announced that it has reached a significant milestone—500,000 Charter Telephone&trade customers.

The achievement was accomplished in a relatively short period of time; primarily during the past year when Charter undertook an aggressive rollout of telephone services.

Charter Telephone has more than quadrupled its number of customers since the beginning of 2006. Today it passes more than 6.8 million homes, and Charter plans to launch phone service in more markets this year.

The milestone underscores the growth Charter has been experiencing with its triple-play bundle of services: Charter Digital™ Video, Charter High-Speed™ and Charter Telephone

"More than seven out of 10 of our Telephone customers subscribe to all three services," said Ted Schremp, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Charter Telephone.

"Charter Telephone gives customers a new and better choice for phone service, and when combined with other Charter services, the great value and convenience is undeniable" said Mr. Schremp.

Charter Telephone offers customers an unlimited local and long distance calling plan for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, which includes 10 features and voicemail at no additional charge. In certain markets, Charter Telephone has successfully launched a plan that includes unlimited calling to Mexico. Charter Telephone service is provisioned over a private, managed network, unlike offerings that run on the public Internet.

"We want to thank each of our 500,000 customers who have helped us achieve this milestone," said Mr. Schremp. "They appreciated a new choice in phone service and trust us to keep them connected with a comprehensive range of advanced communications services."

For more information, check out the Charter press release.

RCN recently announced that Consolidated Operator Services, a U.S. based telecommunications provider, is now its new directory service assistance provider.

Through RCN's new partnership with Consolidated Operator Services, RCN phone customers can dial 411, 555-1212 or area code plus 555-1212 and receive accurate business, residential or government telephone listings from efficient and courteous directory assistance representatives.

"Our decision to evaluate our existing directory assistance service originated from customer requests," said Mark Chinn, RCN's VP of product and pricing. "RCN's efforts to improve our customers' experience in all areas of our business ultimately resulted in our transition to Consolidated Operator Services."

"Consolidated Operator Services is excited to be RCN's new directory assistance provider", said Rick Hall, vice president and general manager. "We are very pleased that our high-quality service is a such a good fit for RCN."

Call completion assistance is offered after a listing has been provided, and Spanish-speaking operators are also available.

Read more about RCN digital phone service.