Cogeco → Re: Cogeco buying Atlantic Broadband

The regions served by Atlantic Broadband are also in the shadow of some future Fios buildouts, especially Maryland, Delaware, Florida.

True Fiber with TV/Phone/Inet, vs. Legacy Cable.

Portugal all over again.

Hi guys. You might have seen me post on the front page stories. I'm an Atlantic Broadband customer, and I'm sure you'll tell me all you know.

The fact is, there's no competition to speak of in these areas.

Verizon has not built FiOS in any ABB territories in MD. They are milking 3 Mbps DSL here for all it's worth. The only place that has FiOS and ABB is Middletown, DE. FL and SC are AT&T markets, and U-Verse is garbage, it is available in South FL areas with ABB.

Verizon is the landline phone company for all of MD and the affected areas of PA, but they have no interest in laying fiber here, unfortunately.

These are areas that can be milked and neglected, and they have under ABB. We have very few channels compared to other operators.

This is just proof that no company in the US wanted to deal with us. In 1998, we were owned by TCI here in Western MD (the eventual largest base of Comcast's current customers), then we were sold that year, being considered non-strategic to a company who was bought out in a few months by Charter. Then in 2004, Charter decided they didn't want us and the other areas anymore, and Atlantic Broadband was a start-up at that time. The South Carolina market was an acquisition around 2007-2008 for them.

Exactly........ and like Portugal there is no CRTC'ish regulatory monopoly protections to run back to.

Having experienced FIOS first hand, there is no comparison to the offerings of a legacy cable provider. The FIOS intake rate is something like 20% when they move into a market.

True, though it should be pointed out that American consumers will go after a company like a swarm of bees and drag them into court at even the slight appearance that they are being taken advantage of.

Not to mention the FCC, State Attorney Generals, Consumer Groups, Special Interest Litigators.

No competition? Sounds like it's right up cogeco's alley then. I'm sorry to say that you will likely see whatever service you have get more expensive for less value. They are likely the worst ISP in North America when it comes to bang for your buck.

And sure - why not jack the rates up in Canada to pay for screwups in the US - cogeco customers seem to love the abuse, based on their actions (or lack of).