said by sdofi :So if the only difference between these two companies is that one allows Internet equipment exchanges and the other company does not then one company is providing less customer service and is therefore being less competitive.
If there is a problem with your router, Verizon will gladly send you out another with 1 or next day delivery. If there is no problem with it, and your service is working just as good as it was when you agreed to the TOS, why should the company just willing exchange it for you?
It cost's the company a great deal of money to take in a router, screen, clean, and place it back into circulation just so that you can have a new one. This is why you can purchase a new router if it's a requirement for you to have the newest version immediately.
I'm not sure how TWC handles their returned equipment, maybe they just toss it back into the pile to hand out to the next customer that comes along so that they don't take on any cost.