Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
|  Shocked?
Is anyone really shocked?
The cable companies aren't going to lower their price until FiOSTV and U-Verse make a real dent in their core product offering. While cable plays the waiting game, the ILECs are realizing this TV thing is expensive and their promises of cheap TV aren't materializing as the network contracts become more and more expensive for them. So, they are forced to raise rates to - wait for it - just a few dollars less than the cable companies. |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
 ·Comcast
1 edit | Yawn...
And we have more advanced broadband deployments in many of the places which did not have service otherwise. Since cable TV and broadband are luxury services anyway, why is price really that big deal when before such laws these items were not available at any price?
As for public access channels, who really cares about these anyway? I'd rather have my cable provider spend my subscription money on getting more HD channels instead of wasting it on things that most people don't even watch.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
·Cox HSI
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Cox VOIP
·ViaTalk
·RoadRunner Cable
·MegaPath
·Verizon west (ex G..
·Time Warner VOIP
4 edits | It's a simple axiom, customers get double-teamed
Community improvements and endless access channels are crap, just typical gov't thievery on the backs of ratepayers which ultimately pay the higher prices.
These franchise agreements are supposed to protect ratepayers from bullcrap like giant boxes on the lawns and require minimum customer service standards; not be machines for stealing ratepayer money to patch holes in their budgets or provide free platforms for endless campaigning (as I see regularly on Cox 3 here in OC) with kissass softball throwing hosts.
These local gov't thieves took a good thing and abused it. Now the power swings the other way (toward the State...purchased by cable and telcos) where there is little to no local control.
And of course you won't see price benefits in an oligopoly. But on the HSI side there is ZERO doubt that competition of a different type (speed) is fierce. We see in market after market cable crap their pants over FiOS and ramp of speeds faster than their networks can support. Unfortunately in voice services cable VOIP hasn't had the same effect on the brainless telcos who continue to charge rip-off prices along with mounts of junk fees. |
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pleeeaaaaassseee
@dslextreme.com | As i see it you're playing right into their hands with what you're using right now, stop complaining |
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Blackened
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale
join:2003-09-29
| Keeping my money away from TV
.. until they go to the logical a la carte subscriptions.
If it means never, so long cable TV. I have plenty of DVDs and an internet connection which I can find stuff I want to watch, in some cases porting to my television, rather than being forced to pay for shit I don't ever watch. |
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garmst
join:2000-09-17
New York, NY
·Speakeasy
| What's the fuss?
Where is the surprise with prices? The content providers (Hollywood) are pushing up the prices of the content as high and as fast as they can. Costs of providing the programs drive up end users prices. No surprise here. VZ won't get any better deals than cable.
Plus VZ and ATT are spending cash like crazy to build the new network. This stuff ain't free. Gotta pay Cisco's bill.
Local channels suck. There disappearance is an improvement. Darwin says: Go extinct!
Community improvement? How about the community pay for it themselves. I'm personally tired of Gov sucking a buck out of every nook and cranny to hide from the taxpayer and voter.
I'm about close to dropping cable for a month or two to see what life would be without it. With Netflix and Internet media I might now miss it too much. |
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b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA | Well, what did you think would happen?
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Old_Grouch
Don't just sit there silly DO something
Premium
join:2004-05-26
Greenwood, IN
clubs:
·AT&T Midwest
| Oh DUH
Everyone who is surprised may step to the last table on the left.
Most jurisdictions that I have watched have been mere imitations of each other. Telco claims nirvana of lower rates and competition while cable claims infringement on protected territory and erosion of income by unfair competition.
When the dust settles, telco gets what it wants and cable gets in line immediately behind them to sign-up for single franchise authority. Everybody who "serves" got what they wanted and everybody who "buys" got what the servers wanted.
And the politicians - - well, they got shelter for only following the mantra of benefit to the consumer. Mean while, the sellers (uh, through PACs of course) pour more and more dollars into campaign accounts. Surprise you to learn that at&t's PAC in Indiana has given $10-20,000 to the reelection campaign of the governor who led the charge for single-franchise legislation in Indiana?
Consumers will have equal treatment when we make the same contributions. Never mind that companies don't vote and people do...it's the money that talks and all else walks.
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At Team Discovery we know how to get more outta that danged 'puter of yours!
If you paid taxes it's a rebate. If you didn't, it's welfare. |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY | want lower prices?
unsubscribe. plain and simple economics... if the company doesn't have customers.. they will have to lower the price to meet customer demand for lower prices or go out of business.
a nice deep, & dark recession will do that nicely in short order. |
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Comcablrtl
join:2003-10-25
Midwest
·Comcast
| reply to Matt
Re: Shocked?
...and the cable companies were the ones that warned that this would happen. Why would the telcos want to offer a lower price than cable? They need to make money too. The only reason they started offering cable was to have some way to compete against cable companies that offer phone service. If you think about it, just about all customers signing up for cable phone service are coming from telcos. For them to sit back and watch their phone customers disappear to cable is definitely not a winning strategy. They had to launch cable to have a competing product. They can offer slightly lower prices, or even the same prices as cable, and be able to now retain those customers that were jumping ship to get a double or triple play from a competing cable company/ |
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NetAdmin
CCNA
join:2008-05-22
| reply to pnh102
Re: Yawn...
said by pnh102  :As for public access channels, who really cares about these anyway? I'd rather have my cable provider spend my subscription money on getting more HD channels instead of wasting it on things that most people don't even watch. Your statement is ironic because most people aren't watching HD channels as most people haven't upgraded their televisions to HD or aren't willing to pay for HD service/equipment.
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Over ten plus years of carrying The Clue Bat... |
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N3OGH
Bear patrol must be working like a charm
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to garmst
Re: What's the fuss?
said by garmst :Where is the surprise with prices? The content providers(Hollywood) sports content providers are pushing up the prices of the content as high and as fast as they can. Costs of providing the programs drive up end users prices. No surprise here. VZ won't get any better deals than cable. If I didn't have to pay for ESPN, ESPN2, Comcast SportsNet, etc my bill would be considerably less.
Hey, I like a ball game as much as the next guy, but if I want to see it, I buy a ticket and pay for it.
With the price they charge the cable co, ESPN should be a PREMIUM channel by now...
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Petty people are disproportionably corrupted by petty power… |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA | reply to pleeeaaaaassseee
Re: It's a simple axiom, customers get double-teamed
Another graduate Magna Non-Sequitur. |
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MrMoody
Carbon Based Lifeform
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC
·Embarq
·Skype
·magicjack.com
| reply to garmst
Re: What's the fuss?
said by garmst :The content providers (Hollywood) are pushing up the prices of the content as high and as fast as they can. Costs of providing the programs drive up end users prices. No surprise here. VZ won't get any better deals than cable. No, in fact they probably get a worse deal than the bigger cable companies. Then when everybody drops their cable for some cheaper alternative entertainment, the networks will blame the loss of revenue on piracy, in a repeat of the music industry's decline.
I'm about close to dropping cable for a month or two to see what life would be without it. With Netflix and Internet media I might now miss it too much.
If you can get digital broadcast and you're like me, you won't miss it at all. I've been cable free for a year and a half.
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The public is a poor business manager. |
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cornelius785
join:2006-10-26
Worcester, MA
| the rate hikes...
first off, i'm not for rate hikes. i always wonder when cable companies say something to the effect of 'your getting more for your money', but the only changes i see that the balance in my bank account seems smaller. i suppose you do get more for your money if you use every feature and get some huge package, but if you just get basic cable TV, the 'value' has been the same for many years.
has anyone actually took a good look at the rate hikes? are the rate hikes keep pace with inflation or are they exceeding the inflation rate? are the content producers increasing their rates and the cable companies just passing the cost along? |
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dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
| reply to Matt
Re: Shocked?
Cell phone prices have not decreased with all of the so-called competition. Land line prices did not decrease either. Even with the phone companies getting their asses handed to them. The only price drop came from services offered through different technologies by non-entrenched companies such as VOIP.
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dnoyeB
"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. " Ecclesiastes 9:16
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dnoyeB
Ferrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI
| reply to pnh102
Re: Yawn...
In my area (Detroit) lots of people watch the public access channels. City council can be quite entertaining. Its almost like the British house of commons.
Personally, I dumped my cable down to limited Basic. I would drop that if I could get quality internet service from anyone else besides Comcast.
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dnoyeB
"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard. " Ecclesiastes 9:16
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by dnoyeB :In my area (Detroit) lots of people watch the public access channels. City council can be quite entertaining. Its almost like the British house of commons. So I've heard. A channel dedicated to raucous government proceedings, complete with blood, would actually be a winner.
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to NetAdmin
said by NetAdmin :Your statement is ironic because most people aren't watching HD channels as most people haven't upgraded their televisions to HD or aren't willing to pay for HD service/equipment. Where's the incentive to upgrade if cable companies are wasting cash on crap like public access instead of more HD channels?
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This isn't fair! I was only supposed to hate just ONE presidential candidate! |
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hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH
·Time Warner Cable
·buckeye cable
| reply to Comcablrtl
Re: Shocked?
Telco's never had to offer Cable. If they'd offer a lower cost product they'd have business. But nope! they only offer you a special when you threaten to leave to go to Cable, or you go to sign up with Comcast and VZ puts a hold on your number transfer request and then they decide to call you and offer you some promotion that they would NOT have offered to you in the first place. Because they're VZ and don't have to do that.
Remember the telco's are the ones that have the "other fees and taxes" so when they have to lower your price due to them losing business to VoIP and Digital phone customers they have some sort of profit coming in. |
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