[1] Around the time that Sprint Nextel spun off their landline division to form Embarq, Verizon, and AT&T began work on their own IPTV services to compete with the local cable companies.

[citation needed] CenturyLink (still known as CenturyTel) began rolling out what was to eventually be known as Prism TV in October 2009 in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Reception for Prism TV has been generally positive, with many observers feeling that giving consumers the option in areas where they might have been stuck with the local cable company if they weren't able to receive satellite television (due to either technical reasons or not being allowed through their landlords if they rent their homes) combined with cord-cutting would ultimately help push pay TV prices lower.

While CenturyLink has been slower to roll out Prism TV compared to Verizon Fios and AT&T U-verse, it has gotten praise from some consumer advocate groups that they are at least putting forth the effort to upgrade their landlines and offer the service.

Verizon, and to a lesser extent, AT&T, have both received criticism for all but abandoning their landline infrastructure to focus more on their wireless divisions, something CenturyLink doesn't offer on its own.