 UTSpectreFire Tempers Steel
join:2001-12-01
Hamlin, PA | And now we know the rest of the story This explains the "nickel-and-dime" increases in our cable bills!! That is how they are getting their backing from their 300,000 cable subscribers. Just this month, they announced a $2 increase for basic cable.
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"Show me your face, and I'll cure all your ills" |
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@attbi.com | Sarcasm, right? |
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| reply to UTSpectre
I know EXACTLY what you're talking about, UTSpectre. I have seen my cable bill rise via many small, gradual rate increases since Adelphia bought the local cable franchise from Cablevision in 1999.
I have analog cable with only 1 converter box (additional boxes cost extra), and I don't get any premium channels like HBO, etc.
My monthly bill with Cablevision was $36. Now it's $49 with Adelphia. Ugh.
Additionally, there has been a marked decline in audiovisual quality since the buyout. At times, certain channels (MTV in particular) suffer problems like poor picture clarity and weak or intermittent sound. Adelphia insists the problem is with my TV set. I know this is not the case, however, as my neighbors have the same problems on their sets.
The icing on the cake is that Adelphia has engaged in some major foot-dragging as to availability of broadband access in my area. As of now, I STILL can't get a cable modem. They have promised (repeatedly) to roll out broadband access, but it always gets pushed back. Judging by Adelphia's DSLR rating and my own experience with their crummy cable TV service, I wouldn't touch PowerLink with a 20-foot pole even if it were available.
The real kicker: if I still had Cablevision, I'd have Optimum Online by now! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Personally, I'm glad to see Adelphia in rough financial straits. I hope they go bankrupt and have Cablevision buy the local franchise back (though with my luck, it'd end up being Comcast). Sighhh...I can dream, can't I?
As soon as I move, I'm getting DISH Network and IDSL from Covad.
Smell ya later, Ahellphia. |
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 Darkflight4G Stitch626
join:2001-03-03
Rowland Heights, CA | I've heard all these complaints from users, and I'm thinking I'm screwd if I move back to LA. (My parents are 'forced' into Adelphia). Curiosity though, if I remember correctly, didnt Adelphia spin off ABS intentionally with plans to fail. I remember reading that this was their way of 'debt' reduction or something like that. (I think it was mentioned here a couple months before the SPinoff).
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Darkflight |
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| said by Darkflight:
I'm screwd if I move back to LA. (My parents are 'forced' into Adelphia)...didnt Adelphia spin off ABS intentionally with plans to fail.
IF true it is the only thing Adelphia has succeeded at doing right.
Overall, the LA area has lots of choices of broadband between DSL and cable. Hope your specific area is one of them.
[text was edited by author 2002-03-27 22:53:25] |
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djrobsd
join:2002-01-24
San Diego, CA Reviews:
 ·Cox HSI
| Adelphia will just get bought out if they can't .. Let's get real guys.. They're a cable company. They're not going any where. They have a wire that goes straight to your house, which is something most companies can't say.. They're not just going to abandon that wire, or as they call it in the telecom business, "the last mile".. Someone else will buy them if they continue to struggle.
Honestly, Adelphia is trying really hard to win their customers... In my area alone, my modem has gotten so fast that it's almost back to @HOME speeds, with the exception of upload cap @128k, and my guess with DOCSIS 2.0 is they will offer tiered service.
Also, they are trying to make more money from the customer by offering enticing packages. For $99 a month, now I get digital cable, my cable modem, and ALL the premiums, HBO, Showtime, the works.. Now normally a cable company will charge like $70 to $80 for all those channels, but I am getting them all, and the modem for $99.
My old bill was $55.. So that's $45 more in revenue that adelphia is now collecting as a result of offering that good package to a loyal customer.. Smart business, when you give your customers an offer they can't refuse, they will go for it.. Normally I wouldn't even have TV at all, just data.
So, folks, I can't really bash adelphia any more.. They are getting better.. Now, if the installer shows up at 3pm on Monday, and has my cable modem working within 2 hours at my new apartment my faith in Adelphia will only grow stronger (I'm moving on monday!) |
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| Who ABS Really Is Adelphia Business Solutions IS NOT a cable company. They are a CLEC which was officially once part of Adelphia Communications. They were officially "spun off" (meaning "let go from") from Adelphia Communications effective Jan 1, 2002. They are on their own now. This is a company which has lost $500+ million every year since it's inception in 1997 and borrowed this amount from Adelphia Communications every year to balance their financial sheet. This loss was primarily due to expansion, which many companies have had problems with in recent years.
Similar Chapter 11 CLEC filings have occurred with McLeod, XO Communications, MPower Communications, etc...
Ironically during the Chapter 11 interim ABS will borrow $135 million from Adelphia Communications. It's all "in the family"!
[text was edited by author 2002-03-28 07:14:27] |
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 cbyrdWhere's The Any Key?
join:2001-07-11
Murfreesboro, NC | The thing that concerns me is that Adelphia currently uses ABS equipment and fiber as part of it's backbone. That was my original question. According to the DNS records, ABS owns much of the equipment on that backbone. Has Adelphia purchased it (or did they own it all along)? If not, what is going to happen to Adelphia's Powerlink customers? I now they're not going to go away, but if Adelphia does not (or is not allowed) to purchase those assets, will an already bad situation with regards to Powerlink service get worse?
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| reply to djrobsd
Re: Adelphia will just get bought out if they can't .. Our Company uses ABS with a T-1 line. We have been satisfied with there service and are getting around 99% uptime. THhe speeds have been great, as well. On top of that, the prices have are very affordable , and support friendly and knowledgable. I hope they stick around , so we do not have to go with MCI or Bell South T's that are 75%-150% more costly. |
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 sadowskiI Am My Own DoppelgangerPremium,MVM
join:2000-04-14
Buffalo, NY | reply to djrobsd
A used car salesman will make a seemingly great offer too but go back when the rot starts showing and see what happens.
You are at least in the short-term lucky that in your area they bought up an existing facility and didn't do it themselves on the cheap, but wait till they oversell it or it just ages or breaks and needs work. |
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| reply to cbyrd
Adelphia/ABS Transport Next Excuse,
You're correct, Adelphia uses ABS (as well as others) for transport. Since Adelphia and ABS are owned by the same family, even though they are not legally affiliated any longer, I would see no change in the arrangement. The "spin off" of ABS from the parent was a strategic move to allow Adelphia Communications to not lose any more money on their business which continually does not make a profit. However, if ABS went belly up in a significant way or if they were to be purchased by another company (not likely at this point), then Adelphia Communications may have to find alternative arrangements for transport if ABS no longer exists or if it's purchased by a company and their arrangements are not acceptable to Adelphia Communications.
I wouldn't fret too much, there plenty of capacity out there for transport with many hungry providers more than willing to provide it. In fact, if backbone routes are changed to other carriers, it may actually improve the situation, especially in the western US. |
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| reply to UTSpectre
Re: 33.79/month Cable bills here in the Cleveland Ohio suburbs are only $33.79. Yes they are up from two years ago ($30/month) and now I'm seriously thinking about Satellite instead of cable. |
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