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Time Warner Cable 'Really Comfortable' With Kansas City Speeds
Basic Tier Increases Come to Kansas City

Time Warner Cable continues to downplay the need for faster speeds to compete with Google's symmetrical 1 Gbps offering in Kansas City. "We’re really comfortable where our speeds are," Time Warner Cable spokesman Mike Pedelty said in an interview with the Kansas City Business Journal, which notes that some of the speed increases we've been seeing in numerous other markets have arrived in Kansas City.

The company is bumping its Lite Internet tier from 1 Mbps to 5 Mbps, its Basic Internet tier from 3 Mbps to 10 Mbps, Standard tier from 10 Mbps to 15 Mbps, and its Turbo Pass Internet tier from 15 Mbps to 20 Mbps. "Asked whether Time Warner Cable was considering a 1-gigabit network in the near future, a company spokesman effectively said no," says Business Journal reporter Alyson Raletz.

So far raising speeds beyond 50 Mbps or lowering prices hasn't happened, the company hoping that locking customers into long-term contracts (and offering them tickets to the latest Twilight movie) is enough to keep users from fleeing to Google Fiber. As Google Fiber expands to more homes next year, we should see rather quickly whether or not that's a winning strategy.
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ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList

Premium Member

haha

nice try, twc

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

Re: haha

Bump lite and basic in NY!
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to ArrayList

Member

to ArrayList
said by ArrayList:

nice try, twc

Google is only available in a couple hoods so far of the near 200 hoods targeted over the next year. TWC doesn't really need to react in KC until Google is more broadly rolled out. Spring will give a better indication when Google starts hitting higher income hoods that have significant TWC penetration. KCMO will start in the Spring.
sparc
join:2006-05-06

sparc

Member

TWC should be really comfortable with losing customers...

even if i was on a 2 year contract with TWC, i'd still pay the $300 for Google Fiber.

People in KC who can get Google Fiber are one lucky bunch.

kcmo
@rr.com

kcmo

Anon

Re: TWC should be really comfortable with losing customers...

i will pay early termination fee when they offer me live kcmo north

time warner needs to think upload speed if they even want a chance of keeping customers that need it.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Might work...

I don't think they will lose as many people as some seem to think. The economy is still tough, price is still king. $70 for internet is hard for some people to swallow, regardless of how great the speeds are.

There is the free 5mbps service, but so far that seems to be kept pretty quiet for whatever reason. And the TV service is unavailable with the free service.
travelguy
join:1999-09-03
Bismarck, ND
Asus RT-AC68
Ubiquiti NSM5

travelguy

Member

Re: Might work...

I agree - based on my experience with Comcast 50/10 over the past year, I don't see any huge consumer benefit to fast download speeds at this time. The sender side is still throttled for most sources.

Faster upload speeds do help for cloud backups, but once you get through the initial backup, that's not a huge benefit either.

It's going to take some breakthrough app on Google Fiber before TW or anyone else starts feeling the pressure.

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY
·Charter

StevenB

Premium Member

Re: Might work...

said by travelguy:

I agree - based on my experience with Comcast 50/10 over the past year, I don't see any huge consumer benefit to fast download speeds at this time. The sender side is still throttled for most sources.

Faster upload speeds do help for cloud backups, but once you get through the initial backup, that's not a huge benefit either.

It's going to take some breakthrough app on Google Fiber before TW or anyone else starts feeling the pressure.

Why wait to up the speeds currently then wait when it's a dire need? It used to be a cost measure because equipment was very expensive to deploy. But now. Updating your last mile and doing transit within different tier 1 providers are dropping, because of how tier 2 and 3 companies are offering same up time(s) and deliveries.

Problem within certain MSOs, is that they want their sheets to look nice for investors. Even though Verizon cherry picked markets, they still made a network that is similar to what other countries are deploying because they want to future 1 and 2 is costs are now cheap.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: Might work...

Well... it's not cheaper. Anytime you have to get crews out to run cable it is never cheap. Fiber or copper.

I think it is only a matter of time before CenturyLink does some major fiber runs. Not having a wireless company to fall back on... they will have to. Once they do it, come of their competitors like Time Warner will have to up their network one way or another.
travelguy
join:1999-09-03
Bismarck, ND
Asus RT-AC68
Ubiquiti NSM5

travelguy

Member

Re: Might work...

said by silbaco:

I think it is only a matter of time before CenturyLink does some major fiber runs. Not having a wireless company to fall back on... they will have to.

That's the problem CL has - it's the other way around. Because CL doesn't have a wireless division throwing off loads of cash, they don't have the funds to underwrite the cost of a major fiber deployment. Wall Street sets the amount they can borrow and they are maxed out on the debt side of the balance sheet. Amazing considering how low interest rates are these days. Float new stock? Ha.

Shoot - Wall Street won't even let VZ do any more FIOS deployments and they own part of the largest cell company in the US.

Best CL can do is use the money they make from regulated wire service to update the occasional DSLAM.

Bo Dang Ren
@120.101.94.x

Bo Dang Ren to silbaco

Anon

to silbaco
If you give Google $300 for the installation, you get free Internet at a lower speed (5 down/1 up) for at least seven years.

powerspec88
Premium Member
join:2007-03-11
Lees Summit, MO

powerspec88

Premium Member

Oh really?

To bad we are not. I have Surewest cable (as it far better than TWC) along with U-verse as we need the speed. Offer faster speeds and we may switch back....
etaadmin
join:2002-01-17
united state

etaadmin

Member

A non issue

Let's be realistic, in how many more markets are we going to see google fiber? Two, three more?

Yeah, I like all the optical fiber and stuff but... I CAN'T GET IT and this is what really matter.

The truth is that the cable companies' footprint is more than 92% of the US and that is what counts.

»fastnetnews.com/dslprime ··· sinesses
quote:
Cable’s the Savior for High Speeds in More Than Half the Abandoned Areas
92% of U.S. homes can get cable modem service, nearly all soon at 50-100 megabits. 5-10% of the U.S. has a broadband problem, but unless you need more than 100 megabits you have a highly capable connection.
If AT&T drops lines to 20-25%, as indicated, at least half of those homes have a cable modem alternative. Many of them have already done so, a key reason AT&T is giving up the territory. That leaves 3-6M homes in AT&T territory that will only have LTE or satellite choices. These need special attention in policy.
Wires are much faster than wireless for at least the next decade most places and have far more capacity. So wireless is only a partial substitute. The price differences with Europe make clear that the U.S. situation of only telco vs cable is weak competition and leads to much higher prices. That’s a market failure and even conservative economists should be calling for government to do something.

Yeah, I'll take it I want that 1Gbps fiber to my home so where do I sign up?

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
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morbo

Member

Re: A non issue

said by etaadmin:

Yeah, I'll take it I want that 1Gbps fiber to my home so where do I sign up?

Contact AT&T in the Dallas area to order your high speed connection. I believe you'll be looking at $10,000 - $75,000 a month depending on the tier you buy. OC12 will be on the high end.

Google Fiber points out the extreme price gouging charged by legacy providers for high speed service. You can either pay tens of thousands of dollars for a high speed line or you can pay $50 a month for an antiquated, DSL based Uverse connection.

bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

1 recommendation

bbeesley

Member

Re: A non issue

said by morbo:

Contact AT&T in the Dallas area to order your high speed connection. I believe you'll be looking at $10,000 - $75,000 a month depending on the tier you buy. OC12 will be on the high end.

Google Fiber points out the extreme price gouging charged by legacy providers for high speed service. You can either pay tens of thousands of dollars for a high speed line or you can pay $50 a month for an antiquated, DSL based Uverse connection.

Comparing OC12 to PON is a bad comparison.

First, OC12's are dedicated, PON is a shared fiber medium. Second, OC12 edge and core devices are tens of thousands of dollars while PON gear can be had for less than a hundred bucks for the ONU with the OLT port running a bit less than $1000 each and that is shared 32-1.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
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morbo

Member

Re: A non issue

I know the comparison is rough, but it is the closest gig service he can purchase.
xenophon
join:2007-09-17

xenophon to etaadmin

Member

to etaadmin
said by etaadmin:

Let's be realistic, in how many more markets are we going to see google fiber? Two, three more?

Don't expect Google to rollout nationwide but I'd expect to find them in several more markets. Many seem to think if they don't rollout nationwide they will fail. There are many ISPs that are only in a dozen markets - or even less. Google may be in it long term as they can use it as case study information for decades or to develop ways to help other ISPs to rollout more efficiently/cheaply. They can benefit long term by staying in this, even if the intent isn't really to profit specifically as an ISP.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: A non issue

My guess is they will choose a market from each region. That will allow them to obtain a variety of information across the US.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: A non issue

I would assume they choose an area with each of the cable/telcos where they are fat and happy and their WAN is passing by.

Verizon FIOS
Charter
Cox
Cablevision
ATT Uverse

Centurylink/Frontier - It's no fun picking on the kids on the short bus. We already know DSL is dragging....

I know in Verizon territory Boston would be the big whale or Baltimore. They passed by Buffalo too, although in the burbs we get it.

I would put a spanking on AT&T next to show how grossly inferior uverse is.

I hear Verizon is deploying VDSLish in apartments in NYC rather than running home runs to each unit.

StevenB
Premium Member
join:2000-10-27
New York, NY

StevenB

Premium Member

Re: A non issue

They passed a lot of areas in the country. Because it's cherry picking

My friend who lives in an apartment here in NYC has VDSL.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: A non issue

I have heard a few times that some of the apartments getting VDSL is the fault of the apartment owner. Something about not wanting to recable the building or some such thing.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: A non issue

Correct. If the complex is sane, they will get Verizon to run the fiber. If for some reason I was moving to NYC, FIOS FTTH would definitely be a requirement.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco to elefante72

Premium Member

to elefante72
I don't think they will go up against FiOS. Most FiOS customers seem pretty happy overall other than the price.

Baltimore wouldn't be a surprise. That would be a good one to hit.
sludgehound
join:2007-03-12
New York, NY

sludgehound

Member

Which wins?

Oh please, it is to laugh! Stream Twilight...
cooperaaaron
join:2004-04-10
Joliet, IL

cooperaaaron

Member

Google needs .......

to go to the heart of Cable, Comcast, and deploy right in their hometown! And I'm not even in PA to root for this! Then go to the homes and headquarters of all the big cable and phone companies and deploy their services.. Even tho they need to be nationwide, just to hit the incumbents where they live, and hit them where most of the subscribers are, I would be happy just for that!

motorola870
join:2008-12-07
Arlington, TX

motorola870

Member

100Mbps is coming to TWC in Kansas City per the article.

Karl did you ignore the fact that TWC is planning on upping extreme to 50Mbps and Ultimate 100Mbps in Kansas City before the end of they year in that article?

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

Yet another shining example where Execs from ISP's

are simply allowed to say whatever, whenever, and however they want without any substantive questions back OR any actual answers given.

I may end up tearing my eyes out from dismay if I read another "Your price is going up another $5 per month so that we can make your value better!"

moldypickle
Premium Member
join:2009-01-04
Haughton, LA
ARRIS SB8200
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-nanoHD

moldypickle

Premium Member

Re: Yet another shining example where Execs from ISP's

said by Bill Neilson:

are simply allowed to say whatever, whenever, and however they want without any substantive questions back OR any actual answers given.

I may end up tearing my eyes out from dismay if I read another "Your price is going up another $5 per month so that we can make your value better!"

Just happened to us on SL..... Seriously thinking about dropping the damned tv service.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Time Warner Prevails

It will take a few years, but mark my words, Google will tire of this experiment, and they'll probably see some setbacks as well, once they're forced to resell their product, allow servers, and submit to the infamous "net neutrality" y'all worship.

Time Warner may have [evil] cable company roots, but they've shown a willingness to invest time and again where telco rests on their copper laurels. They routinely offer up better broadband values, while their pay-tv offerings are at least on-par with the competition, and they tend to offer better annual packages for those who negotiate. They are not going anywhere. I'm not sure why so many here are rooting for them to fail, when for most of us, they offer a marked improvement over the LEC.

If Google is going to dominate the market, they need to offer up a better broadband price, and they need to offer a pay-tv package that doesn't cost $120/month.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: Time Warner Prevails

If they don't tire of it in a few years, they will once they have to start repairing the vast amount of above ground infrastructure they are putting in.

As other companies have observed, putting network infrastructure above ground can get quite costly in the Midwest. The dollars it saved at the time of deployment are well spent later on fixing the mistake.
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus to elray

Member

to elray
I didn't know they forbid servers in their Terms of Service, I thought that was a Verizon thing. Definitely not network neutral.
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: Time Warner Prevails

A lot of ISPs forbid servers. Mine doesn't at this time, but they restrict upload so tightly that it is too costly to host servers.

Google's ToS:

"Unless you have a written agreement with Google Fiber permitting you do so, you should not host any type of server using your Google Fiber connection...."

»support.google.com/fiber ··· tx=topic

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude

Premium Member

Give me fiber!

NOW so I can dump TWC! :P
miketrin
join:2001-11-09
Lenexa, KS

miketrin

Member

80 Mbps in KC?

noticed a bump from 50 to 80 Mbps... wtf?