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Comments on news posted 2014-02-12 22:48:22: CNBC reporter David Faber is breaking the news on Twitter that Comcast has beaten Charter to the punch and will be acquiring Time Warner Cable in an all-stock deal valued at around $159 per share (valuing Time Warner Cable at around $44.4 billion). ..

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DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

2 recommendations

DataRiker

Premium Member

Really?

Just what we need. More consolidation!

motorola870
join:2008-12-07
Arlington, TX

motorola870

Member

Re: Really?

does this have any effect on current channel offerings? I would be upset if Comcast started yanking HD channels from Time Warner Cable systems plus we have HD channels already announced to be added:
EPIX HD
EPIX2 HD
EPIX3 HD
EPIX West HD
QVC HD
Sportsnet LA HD
Nicktoons HD
Nick Jr. HD
Ovation HD

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: Really?

It will be business as usual until it clears regulator approval but i am sure it will especially since Comcast agrees to dump 3 million customers.

motorola870
join:2008-12-07
Arlington, TX

motorola870

Member

Re: Really?

said by swintec:

It will be business as usual until it clears regulator approval but i am sure it will especially since Comcast agrees to dump 3 million customers.

so you are saying those additions are safe?

swintec
Premium Member
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME

swintec

Premium Member

Re: Really?

said by motorola870:

said by swintec:

It will be business as usual until it clears regulator approval but i am sure it will especially since Comcast agrees to dump 3 million customers.

so you are saying those additions are safe?

I have no clue. We are a ways out from anything happening I think.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

1 recommendation

Morac to motorola870

Member

to motorola870
I doubt you'll lose channels in the short run. In the long run if Comcast doesn't have contracts with those channels you could lose them.

Either way though, expect rate hikes.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

devolved to DataRiker

Member

to DataRiker
The 4th hated cable company wants to buy the 6th hated cable company and both combined companies control just about everything you watch on TV.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil to DataRiker

Premium Member

to DataRiker
I'm thinking "To big to fail", and how this purposed merger shows no one remembers the lessons from the recent past.

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221 to DataRiker

Member

to DataRiker
I hate all stock swaps. One company, using overpriced stock, overpays for another company.
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

Yeay!

The best outcome.
txfeinbergs
join:2009-03-10
Allen, TX

1 recommendation

txfeinbergs

Member

Re: Yeay!

Why is this the best outcome?
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

Re: Yeay!

Between Charter and Comcast...

Comcast has faster internet speeds and much better TV equipment.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

1 recommendation

cork1958

Premium Member

Re: Yeay!

said by etaadmin:

Between Charter and Comcast...

Comcast has faster internet speeds and much better TV equipment.

And better/more choices of tiers and customer owned modems and a Direct Support forum here!!
46436203 (banned)
join:2013-01-03

46436203 (banned) to etaadmin

Member

to etaadmin
Comcap has outrageous bandwidth caps and fewer HD channels.

Time Warner's uncapped 100 Mbps looks like a steal compared to Comcast's capped speeds and overage fees. A 300 Mbps connection with a 300 GB bandwidth cap is the equivalent of a 1.5 Mbps uncapped connection. NO THANK YOU.

Have fun with your monthly bills with overage fees in the hundreds of dollars from Comcap in the future because you wanted to watch a 4K movie that month.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf

Member

Re: Yeay!

said by 46436203:

Comcap has outrageous bandwidth caps and fewer HD channels.

Time Warner's uncapped 100 Mbps looks like a steal compared to Comcast's capped speeds and overage fees. A 300 Mbps connection with a 300 GB bandwidth cap is the equivalent of a 1.5 Mbps uncapped connection. NO THANK YOU.

Have fun with your monthly bills with overage fees in the hundreds of dollars from Comcap in the future because you wanted to watch a 4K movie that month.

I don't know why people always talk about Comcast's monthly caps when as far as I know it's not even turned on, let alone being enforced. I know people doing 2 to 3 terabytes a month without a problem.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Yeay!

I've heard that folks in Nashville and thereabouts have received hefty overage bills from Comcast. So the caps and fees are turned on in some areas.

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx to Mike Wolf

Premium Member

to Mike Wolf
Unenforced, but written rules have a nasty habit of turning into enforced ones, especially when it benefits their bottom line to do so.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD
Ooma Telo

1 edit

devolved to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
Take a close look at any ISP's TOS and I will bet you somewhere it says that they can (me: and often don't) enforce bandwidth caps. Just because they don't doesn't mean they won't.

My ISP doesn't cap bandwidth, but they say they will in their TOS, they just never do.

I believe anyone who uploads 50 TB of data should be bumped up to the enterprise tier.

GAComcastUsr
@charter.com

GAComcastUsr to Mike Wolf

Anon

to Mike Wolf
Do you not realize that Comcast has implemented a 250gb data cap in numerous markets?

knighthawktf
@comcast.net

knighthawktf to Mike Wolf

Anon

to Mike Wolf
I assure you they are on, and people are being charged 10$ for each 1-50g over the 300gb in many southern markets at the moment. The change was effective jan1, customers effected were emailed about it in late December, it sounds like they are testing it in dozen markets before pushing it everywhere later this year.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4 to 46436203

Member

to 46436203
Comcast doesn't really complain unless you download over 750 gb or data and even then just sends you a friendly reminder. Basically you have to run a server from your home to be shut down.
46436203 (banned)
join:2013-01-03

46436203 (banned)

Member

Re: Yeay!

Or, you know, you have an interest in keeping your shit backed up to the cloud so you're not one of those idiots crying about having lost all their data when their hard drive fails/there's a flood/fire/burglary/etc.

I have 50 terabytes of storage space on my home PC that I keep all of my media stored on. It's more convenient to have a server to store all your Blu-rays than to have to pop in each disc manually when you want to watch it. Comcap would expect me to pay $20,000 in overage fees to back up my data and another $20,000 in overage fees if I ever had to re-download it from the cloud due to some disaster at my location.

At Comcast's overage fees of $10 per 50 GB of data used, you could buy three brand new 4TB hard drives for the same price that Comcast would charge you in overage fees if you wanted to back up a single 4 TB hard drive to offsite storage with your Comcast connection.

Something ain't right with this picture. Comcast's greed is intent on taking us back to the dark ages where large amounts of data had to be moved around physically because it was faster and more cost effective than trying to transmit it via the Internet. It should not be cheaper to buy hard drives and pay for shipping than it costs to transmit that data via the Internet here in the year 2014.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy

Anon

Re: Yeay!

said by 46436203:

Or, you know, you have an interest in keeping your shit backed up to the cloud so you're not one of those idiots crying about having lost all their data when their hard drive fails/there's a flood/fire/burglary/etc.

I have 50 terabytes of storage space on my home PC that I keep all of my media stored on. It's more convenient to have a server to store all your Blu-rays than to have to pop in each disc manually when you want to watch it. Comcap would expect me to pay $20,000 in overage fees to back up my data and another $20,000 in overage fees if I ever had to re-download it from the cloud due to some disaster at my location.

At Comcast's overage fees of $10 per 50 GB of data used, you could buy three brand new 4TB hard drives for the same price that Comcast would charge you in overage fees if you wanted to back up a single 4 TB hard drive to offsite storage with your Comcast connection.

Something ain't right with this picture. Comcast's greed is intent on taking us back to the dark ages where large amounts of data had to be moved around physically because it was faster and more cost effective than trying to transmit it via the Internet. It should not be cheaper to buy hard drives and pay for shipping than it costs to transmit that data via the Internet here in the year 2014.

Since when do you have right to use 50 TB a month? And do you plan on re-uploading everything to the cloud every month? Shouldn't just 1 time be enough and add new stuff later?
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah to 46436203

Member

to 46436203
You back up the same data every month? What kind of crappy backup program do you have? It should be incremental and not always back up EVERY blu-ray you have on your server.

Sounds more like you're just making up a situation and not thinking it all the way through just to rant on Comcast.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4 to 46436203

Member

to 46436203
why not buy a couple backup drives and store them in a safe place? Wouldn't that be easier than transferring 50tb of data every month? I thought that was the purpose of a backup drive?
Expand your moderator at work

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221 to 46436203

Member

to 46436203
It would be most likely faster to re rip the BR to the NAS..unless what (likely) is happening is you don't have the orginials

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy to 46436203

Anon

to 46436203
said by 46436203:

Comcap has outrageous bandwidth caps and fewer HD channels.

Time Warner's uncapped 100 Mbps looks like a steal compared to Comcast's capped speeds and overage fees. A 300 Mbps connection with a 300 GB bandwidth cap is the equivalent of a 1.5 Mbps uncapped connection. NO THANK YOU.

Have fun with your monthly bills with overage fees in the hundreds of dollars from Comcap in the future because you wanted to watch a 4K movie that month.

Hyperbole much? It's only equivalent to 1.5 Mbps is one runs their connection 24/7. No one does that unless they are illegally downloading stuff.

Hundreds in overage fees? Last time I checked the overage fee was $10 per 50 GB. So to get $200 in overage fees( because $100 is not hundredS) one would have to use 1300 GB. Who does that?

Suit Up
join:2003-07-21
Los Angeles, CA
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X
TP-Link Archer C7

Suit Up

Member

Re: Yeay!

said by Mr Guy :

Hyperbole much? It's only equivalent to 1.5 Mbps is one runs their connection 24/7. No one does that unless they are illegally downloading stuff.

Not everyone uses the internet the same way. Just cause you might not use yours 24/7 doesn't mean that everyone who does is doing something illegal. I seed Linux distros 24/7. Perfectly legal.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

Re: Yeay!

And it's your CHOICE to seed those. That's not exactly normal residential usage you're talking about that. I'd imagine less than 1% of people in the world seed Linux distros from home. Most people acquire their Linux distros from a server on the actual Internet. I download mine direct.

Besides, this is ALWAYS the lame excuse that people come up with when they talk about use terabytes per month. "I seed Linux, man. You can't cap me."

Suit Up
join:2003-07-21
Los Angeles, CA
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X
TP-Link Archer C7

Suit Up

Member

Re: Yeay!

said by smcallah:

And it's your CHOICE to seed those. That's not exactly normal residential usage you're talking about that. I'd imagine less than 1% of people in the world seed Linux distros from home. Most people acquire their Linux distros from a server on the actual Internet. I download mine direct.

Besides, this is ALWAYS the lame excuse that people come up with when they talk about use terabytes per month. "I seed Linux, man. You can't cap me."

Of course it's my choice. Like I said, "Not everyone uses the internet the same way." Just cause I seed Linux distros 24/7 doesn't mean everyone does. But the point is, not everyone using their connection 24/7 is doing something illegal. I said nothing about any of that other stuff you're going off about. So rather than responding to something I'm not saying, maybe try responding to what I'm saying.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to etaadmin

Member

to etaadmin
...and higher internet prices...and 300GB caps...and rather nasty net neutrality practices (they were congesting peering points long before Verizon)...
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

Re: Yeay!

Uh... congested peering points have ZERO to do with Net Neutrality.

Congested links means you didn't buy a big enough link or won't buy more. Why do you think that is a net neutrality issue?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: Yeay!

"won't buy more" becomes a Net Neutrality issue when the only congested points on your network are ones where you aren't settlement-free interconnecting or forcing peers to pay you for traffic. Comcast knows it can't get away with tiering access to sites on the consumer side, so they basically do it from the content provider side; if you don't pay a couple bucks per megabit or use a SFI Comcast peer or someone who pays Comcast for transit/peering, good luck getting more than a megabit or two to end users during peak times, even as those same subs complete 50M speedtests to "preferred" destinations.

So yes, it's all about Net Neutrality.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude to etaadmin

Premium Member

to etaadmin
said by etaadmin:

Between Charter and Comcast...

Comcast has faster internet speeds and much better TV equipment.

What about Internet caps and prices?
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

Re: Yeay!

said by antdude:

said by etaadmin:

Between Charter and Comcast...

Comcast has faster internet speeds and much better TV equipment.

What about Internet caps and prices?

For me not an issue but I understand that caps are not enforced.

I used to have TWC business class at home for the static IPs I decided to switch to residential because I got tired of waiting for DOCSIS3.0 (50-75/5 Mbps) If caps become an issue I can always get comcast business.

MeInDallas
join:2001-08-17
Dallas, TX

MeInDallas to etaadmin

Member

to etaadmin
I just hope Comcast dont throw Dallas to Charter like an old bone.

CNN just reported the sale as breaking news.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf to etaadmin

Member

to etaadmin
Music to my ears! This means Time Warner customers will get better, faster internet, and the added customers putting a strain on Comcast's network means brand new state of the art equipment which will benefit everyone, especially the obligatory free speed tier increases and lower bills all around to pacify current customers. Just imagine every single resident of New York City on Comcast internet! I don't know the math but I think the amount of bandwidth used on a daily basis from NYC alone is twice the amount Comcast in the rest of the country produces in a month. Don't even get me started on Los Angeles.

••••

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY

StevenB to etaadmin

Premium Member

to etaadmin
The fed won't allow it. But yes faster speeds are a plus
DigitalPkrat
join:2003-12-20
85128

DigitalPkrat

Member

Please not Comcrap again.

I just moved out of their service area and am happy not being forced into a commercial package due to a pathetically low cap. I hope the transaction takes long enough for Google to finish their deployment here.

•••••••••••••
46436203 (banned)
join:2013-01-03

46436203 (banned)

Member

This might be good news.

Charter is shit and Comcast is shit; Time Warner is merely a pile of vomit. Either one of them acquiring Time Warner Cable will be the equivalent of turning a pile of vomit into a pile of vomit and shit so this is bad news for Time Warner subscribers. Time Warner subscribers, I only have this to say to you: If you thought having uncapped 100 Mbps service and the most high definition channels of any cable provider in the nation was bad, wait until Comcast rolls out their bandwidth caps and $10-per-50 GB overages onto you. You don't know the meaning of what it's like to have a truly awful cable provider yet.

HOWEVER...

Unlike with Charter, where Charter is a rinky dink little cable company, we're talking about the largest cable provider in the United States merging with the second largest cable provider.

There might actually be some hope of this merger getting blocked by the government like the AT&T/T-Mobile deal. A slim hope, but a hope that wouldn't be present if Charter was the one trying to acquire TWC.

••••
rocafellanrd
join:2009-05-04

rocafellanrd

Member

So what about Optimum

Will they sell Time Warner Manhattan to Optimum ?!
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: So what about Optimum

Y'all can hold out that hope...101/35 is currently better than Comcast's comparably priced tier where it counts.

More likely: whoever buys NYC also buys up Optimum not too much later.

anoan
@comcast.net

anoan to rocafellanrd

Anon

to rocafellanrd
Optimum is just a product name. Product name of Cablevision which is not included in this merger news. Short answer is NO. Welcome to Xfinity by Comcast.

DarkenMoon
Premium Member
join:2013-11-14
Silver Springs, NV

1 recommendation

DarkenMoon

Premium Member

Well

God help us. Please.
54761437 (banned)
join:2013-01-18
Durham, NC

1 recommendation

54761437 (banned)

Member

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Hello, caps!

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

Too many company changes!

Ugh, a new cable company after Century Communications, Adelphia Communications, Time Warner Cable, and now Comcast since early 2001?

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

1 recommendation

djrobx

Premium Member

Re: Too many company changes!

For us it's MediaOne, AT&T Broadband, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and now ... ?? Comcast ??

We're cursed. I really thought Time Warner Cable would stick.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

Yep.

Ugh!
fartness (banned)
Donald Trump 2016
join:2003-03-25
Look Outside

fartness (banned)

Member

What about Earthlink?

I am on EarthLink and don't have to pay TW's ridiculous modem fees, and I also pay less money than TW customers for the same 15/1 package. I wonder how EL will be impacted by this?
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

smcallah

Member

Re: What about Earthlink?

TWC is only offering EL on their system because of the AOL-TW merger way back when, it was a stipulation to "line share" to have the merger go through.

At this point, they may be able to drop EL. But it still makes them money. EL isn't just there for free.
fartness (banned)
Donald Trump 2016
join:2003-03-25
Look Outside

fartness (banned)

Member

Re: What about Earthlink?

I figure I save about $15 a month with EL so I hope they don't get rid of it. It would also be nice if EL is kept and doesn't have the same caps as Comcast.
FrontirCynic
join:2006-10-25
Long Beach, CA

FrontirCynic

Member

hello...

throttling, caps, loss of net neutrality, huge and continual price increases...uh DOJ you just told sprint and tmob no what about this?

••••

guppy_fish
Premium Member
join:2003-12-09
Palm Harbor, FL

guppy_fish

Premium Member

And paid for by TWC and Brighthouse customers

Oh and yes I said Bright house as TWC handles all the data side of things
sticks435
join:2004-05-25
Kansas City, MO

sticks435

Member

my last hope...

Is that my apartment gets Google Fiber by the time this gets approved and everything gets changed over.

Zenit_IIfx
The system is the solution
Premium Member
join:2012-05-07
Purcellville, VA
·Comcast XFINITY

1 edit

Zenit_IIfx

Premium Member

What will CC keep?

Going by a map of Cable MSO boundries, it looks like keeping the TW Ohio, NY, PA, WV, NC, SC makes the most sense geographically, pretty much cementing CC as the dominant cable MSO on the east coast.

California, Texas, who knows.

Really its all guessing from here on out.
The good news from this is that TW systems will see some upgrades.

But I bet the systems Comcast will be divesting may be DOCSIS2.0 only ones, if they still exist in TW footprint.

Also....this means we now have a new system similar in size to what was Ma Bell 30 years ago. Pa Cable, hello.

••••
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

Kearnstd

Premium Member

I wonder how many jobs will be lost...

Whenever companies this big merge you tend to see thousands get the axe while the execs and shareholders laugh all the way to the bank. Of course in mergers execs and shareholders honestly have nothing at risk, Its the employees of the company being borged who bare the greatest risk, Their jobs which are far more valuable than any stock.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4

Member

Re: I wonder how many jobs will be lost...

they'll still need all of the local techs and offices. There weren't may layoffs when Comcast bought att broadband although when att bought tci they closed the city office and moved it across the river.
mikedz4

mikedz4

Member

election year means quick approval?

I think with elections coming up this deal with be approved by September with major restrictions. Like Comcast having to spin off nbc universal and Comcast regional/sports networks into a separate entity. Also they will have to divest a bunch of subscribers and agree to other conditions.

•••

Packeteers
Premium Member
join:2005-06-18
Forest Hills, NY

1 recommendation

Packeteers

Premium Member

it's getting out of hand

first they let comcast buy it's own content providers,
now they let comcast buy even more distribution?
why do we even bother having industry regulators

BRP
@208.72.76.x

1 recommendation

BRP

Anon

Re: it's getting out of hand

Campaign contributions?

Irun Man
Premium Member
join:2002-10-18
Millsboro, DE

Irun Man

Premium Member

Ah well...

Maybe we'll be lucky here and get spun off to Cablevision (Optimum) since we're so close to their territory... that wouldn't suck as much.

anon1857
@comcast.net

1 recommendation

anon1857

Anon

Dear God

Will someone in the mother F**KING GOVERNMENT actually do something? You cheap, lazy, political WHORES! As if we don't have enough competition already. The half-assed easily worked around deal when Comcast bought out NBC was a joke.

AT&T wants to patent charging for different type of traffic. Verizon apparently is treating traffic differently. Comcast is working on a way to reap massive profits in overcharges (caps) while not pissing off the sheep same way Wireless Co's have got away with it. Charter is completely irrelevant and will soon merge with Cox.

Only Google can save us now. And they've already went from, "Don't be evil" to "We f**ked evil, and still are!"

YAY! Lets dance and piss on the freedom of choice we have to get broadband service in 'Murica!
datacapcomin
join:2014-02-12
San Antonio, TX

1 recommendation

datacapcomin

Member

oh my, this is absolute terrible news!!

this is going to be nightmare for many many people! This data cap crap that comcast does in some markets is causing many headaches for people who use netflix,hulu, xbox live, amazon instant,prime, xbox one game dl's, ps4 game dl's, work from home, tablets wifi, etc........i pray they don't change things in san antonio!

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Surprise TWC subs!

You will soon have data capped internet!
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