*Update: AT&T, Time Warner to Test Joint Marketing
AT&T Corp., Basking Ridge, NJ, and Time Warner Cable, Stamford, CT, yesterday said they would begin testing the joint marketing of their long-distance telephone and cable TV services in two New York markets before possibly expanding the effort to additional areas.Beginning in April, the two companies will offer incentives to each other's customers in the Syracuse and Albany markets, where Time Warner has about 600,000 subscribers, to encourage the use of both companies' services. The effort will include joint telemarketing efforts to existing customers and to potential new customers.
One of the marketing tools they will employ will be the distribution of prepaid AT&T calling cards to Time Warner subscribers. When the recipients call to activate the cards, they will be offered the chance to participate in AT&T's One Rate New York plan, which combines local and long-distance telephone service. Other incentives being considered include offering free long-distance minutes and pay-per-view movies.
The agreement follows a joint-marketing agreement unveiled last month in which AT&T and Cablevision Systems Corp. said they would offer bundled cable and telecommunications services to customers in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.
