| This is what is wrong with the USA "Verizon is hoping to secure a citywide video franchise"
If any ISP or cable company wants to deploy something, it should be simple as a yes. Why? It benefits the consumer in every possible way. Lower prices, better quality, and more choices. These ridiculous high and tedious barriers of entry into the market do NOT benefit the consumer in any way.
If we want speeds that are not third world and no caps then we need to get rid of this crap stopping that from coming true. When each ISP is basically a monopoly or a duopoly at best in the areas they serve we won't see some real improvement. Also over $50 for a few basic channels of Cable is ridiculous. If I want a decent channel package you have to pay $75 to the Cable company. |
|
|
|
Reviews:
 ·WOW Internet and..
| How do you figure that it will lower prices? ATT offers cable TV service now in my neighborhood. But guess what? Their service is cheaper than local cable. But Cable isn't going to lower their rates and who says ATT isn't going to raise their rates either?
It does not give any benefits except if I'm not happy with one I can go to another.
The Cities in Ohio that have several cable companies do not have price wars.
Show us a state that has these deals with the phone companies and are having price wars? But I'll bet you won't be able to find one because its NOT happening. Instead VZ and ATT both are raising cable rates the same as Comcast, TWC, Cablevision and many other cable companies. |
|
| reply to Aozora
Fair and equal pricing?? Who what and where? You must be drinking the juice from some wild plant. If you believe for one moment that unless these utilities are some how monitored and controlled that abuse will grow. They understand the word cheat and liar. These are codes the RBOC'S live by. Tell me what does it really cost to supply dial tone? Oh yes I am sure if you use imbedded costs the price is beyond high. But how about using a forward looking cost? Hmm now that would be far to fair and not allow them all the nice perks that they steal from us. Give competition a chance to grow and allow access for all. End of story. |
|
 jsz0Premium
join:2008-01-23
Jewett City, CT | reply to Aozora
Both telco video and cable are both subject to the whim of programmers who set the prices for the channels you watch. They own the content, they get to set the prices. This information isn't usually made public so they don't get much blame for higher rates. If you look at the prices for popular channels like ESPN, Comedy Central, MTV, etc you might be surprised how much of your bill is going straight into their pockets.
Also, let's face it, Americans are hooked on TV. The programmers can raise the rates and the providers can pass it onto the subscribers because even at $75+ a month it's still a good deal to most people. If it wasn't a reasonable deal all the video providers would be losing subscribers hand over fist. For most families especially the prospect of going without video service is basically unthinkable. So if you're spending $100 a month and you have 3 or 4 people in the house you're paying something like 30-50 cents an hour per person for video service. And that's only the average, the truth is many of these households have TV's going 18 hours a day between kids & adults. I can't think of any other service that is used as much so obviously it's worth the price of admission for most people. |
|
1 edit | reply to hottboiinnc
said by hottboiinnc:How do you figure that it will lower prices? ATT offers cable TV service now in my neighborhood. But guess what? Their service is cheaper than local cable. But Cable isn't going to lower their rates and who says ATT isn't going to raise their rates either? It does not give any benefits except if I'm not happy with one I can go to another. The Cities in Ohio that have several cable companies do not have price wars. Show us a state that has these deals with the phone companies and are having price wars? But I'll bet you won't be able to find one because its NOT happening. Instead VZ and ATT both are raising cable rates the same as Comcast, TWC, Cablevision and many other cable companies. Two is a duopoly. Basically behaves like a monopoly. You need to see various providers to see a competitive market. It is like having two pizzerias in the city. The prices for both will be almost exactly identical. Throw in 10+ and boom all the prices drop because the other two know that to be able to keep their pricing higher they need to offer a much better service otherwise they need to drop price. This is why this does not happen with two of them. Specially one being a telco.
The telco advertises lower prices which are really barely any different. The Cable company advertises higher quality for their identical and not really superior service. In the end nobody is going to really compete as they both can make more money by simply having higher prices.
Ever been to a park where there are various vendors? Ever notice how the one with the cheaper prices has a severely bigger line waiting to buy? This is basic economics and basic observance of business. I guarantee if most people have more than 3 providers you would see competition go up fast. You ever wonder why certain areas get higher speeds years ahead of others? Those areas almost always have more competition. The fact is more competition even another provider or two puts companies more in alert to at least compete and match their service. Competition will never hurt the consumer.
As for the guy who said Americans are hooked one TV, that may be true for a lot but not everyone is. I just simply watch 3 shows a week for about an hr each on only two channels and sometimes the news on another. I have not had Cable or satellite TV in years and do not miss it. If I want a movie I just get it from netflix which is about $15 a month and cheaper than any Cable or satellite. In fact, I know more people who do not have Cable TV or Satellite over those who do. I can't justify shelling out over $2 a day for two channels I want and 150 that are worthless to me. |
|
