Make no mistake.  Broaband is a pure commodity.  Application services are now king.

This is true for telcos and cablecos alike -- evidenced  by yesterday's news where Comcast Corp anounced plans for an unified messaging software service that will allow customers to recieve e-mail and voice messaging services in a single place on the web.

SmartZone is a FREE add-on service designed to boost customer loyalty.  This classic "broadband evolved" becuase the theory is that customers will be less likely to leave the Comcast "triple play" for Verizon becuase now they can access their voice mail and e-mail from the same place online, with instant messaging and an interactive address book also inlcuded.

A Comcast representative said that "Customers can use that functionality to simplify their lives, helping us maintain that relationship and loyalty with them."  Brilliant!

It's interesting to note that Comcast created SmartZone in partnership with Zimbra -- a very cool company with lots of grat technology.  The deal is yet another example of how broadband service provdiers are increasingly partnering with smaller compaies to rapdily innovate.

Overall, this is definitely worth paying attention to as it is an excellent example of how carriers and cable companies are developing software services on top of their core broadband platforms to increase customer loyalty and mimize churn.