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story category Comcast Beats Back Telcos In Q2
Fourth largest phone company : 5.6 million customers....
11:01AM Wednesday Jul 30 2008 by Karl Bode
tags: competition · business · cable · Comcast
Tipped by JSRoman See Profile
Comcast this morning released their quarterly earnings report, and while the company says they're facing "a challenging economic environment", Comcast's broadband additions look slightly better than the meager broadband line additions posted by both AT&T (46,000) and Verizon (54,000) this quarter. Comcast added 278,000 broadband customers in the quarter, and on a conference call with analysts and the media, Comcast stated that roughly two-thirds of their new broadband customers switched from DSL, and about one-fifth of their customers are now signing up for triple play bundles. The numbers:
Click for full size
High-speed Internet revenue increased 10% to $1.8 billion in the second quarter of 2008 from $1.6 billion in 2007 reflecting a 12% increase in subscribers and a 3% decline in average monthly revenue per subscriber to $42.01, reflecting the impact of additional bundling and the recent introduction of new offers and speed tiers.
The company lost 138,000 basic cable customers last quarter, but added 320,000 digital TV subscribers. Things continue to look bright on the VoIP front, with the cable operator adding 555,000 new VoIP customers last quarter. Comcast is currently the fourth largest phone company with 5.6 million customers, and as a whole, cable broadband carriers own close to 85% of the residential VoIP market. The one area the baby bells continue to dominate is, of course, wireless.

Related:
  1. Comcast 50Mbps Coming To Florida
  2. Comcast Unveils New International VoIP Plans
  3. Comcast Prepared To Spend Big On HD
  4. Comcast Says They'll Play Nice With Vonage
  5. Comcast, Like AT&T, Takes Heat For Neighborhood Cabinets
  6. Comcast Unveils Fancast Video Store
  7. Comcast Promises WiMax Bundles
  8. JD Power: TelcoTV Beating Cable In Satisfaction
Forums » Comcast Beats Back Telcos In Q2
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Post a:

sousademiami

join:2003-02-04
Miami, FL

So...

Can i expect to see better TV service and increased internet access speeds as a result of some kind of investment in infrastructure? And PLEASE update the software on the cable boxes!
--
OASAASLLS

johndoe303

join:2003-01-01
Boca Raton, FL
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Vonage
·Comcast

Re: So...

no, this is an article about Comcast You can look forward to caps and all the usual crap they pull. Your only hope in a speed increase is to live in an area with FiOS or U-Verse. Comcast is all about giving as little service as possible for as much money as they can extract. You gotta give them credit, they're good at big business. They are big business.

"Finishing second in the Worst Company In America contest hasn't slowed down Comcast's money making machine."

Source: »consumerist.com/5030893/
--
WRTSL54GS v2 + WRT54G v2

jt1

@comcast.net

Re: So...

you cant say fios or uverse is great to. fios cant bill right and have a hard time putting promos on the accounts. uverse really suck. my friend had it for one week then canceled it. when he turned on his tv his internet speed drop by half. that is why happens when you share bandwidth. he also has three hd tvs witch you cant watch at once.

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:


edit:
July 30th, @01:21PM

said by johndoe303 See Profile :

no, this is an article about Comcast You can look forward to caps and all the usual crap they pull. Your only hope in a speed increase is to live in an area with FiOS or U-Verse. Comcast is all about giving as little service as possible for as much money as they can extract. You gotta give them credit, they're good at big business. They are big business.

"Finishing second in the Worst Company In America contest hasn't slowed down Comcast's money making machine."

Source: »consumerist.com/5030893/
They upgraded my upload to 2mbps and no other competition except Embarq.

badtrip
East Bay
Premium
join:2004-03-20
Albany, CA
·Comcast

said by sousademiami See Profile :

Can i expect to see better TV service and increased internet access speeds as a result of some kind of investment in infrastructure? And PLEASE update the software on the cable boxes!
Sorry but you will likely see a decrease in picture quality as Comcast stuffs more shopping and religious channels into their lineup without allocating more bandwith to their video streams.

You will probably also see a lot more friendly communication from Comcast in the form of warning letters as you puncture their usage caps watching streaming video and downloading games/demos/movies to your various consoles and or computer.

They lost 138,000 basic cable subscribers...so what? I'd like to see how many digital cable subscribers are jumping ship to go with satellite or something else.

FTFA: "Comcast added 320,000 digital cable customers in the second quarter of 2008, below the 823,000 digital cable customers added in the same period one year ago. This deceleration was anticipated and reflects the significant deployment of digital boxes in the second quarter of 2007 in advance of a July 1st regulatory deadline."

This is telling. That's one hell of a "deceleration" and shows that "new Comcast subscribers" are just "old Comcast subscribers" churning subscriptions.
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20


edit:
July 30th, @02:27PM

This whole website is becoming obsolete. Its almost time to change the news posting methods. Maybe it should be the story as posted now, and then Karl should simply post a talking point memo in return including the BBR greatest hits:

1) Here come caps
2) I'll get to my caps faster
3) The guide sucks
4) My tech killed my dog.. and quite possibly my sex life
5) They bought a TV for their building
6) Brian Roberts is Hitler
7) Comcast is the anti-christ
.. and the ever so popular...
8) I wish I had FiOS!

and many more...

For one, it would be a benefit..

Carpel tunnel would go on a decline, and, since people are posting the same responses to every post about cable, well, everyone would be doing their part, little by little, in reducing their broadband foot print making the world a better place to match the so-called global warming epidemic. Frontier users, of all, should take this serious as every message pushes them closer to that 5gb cap!! I mean, it's all been said before anyway...

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:

Re: So...

So if I drop back down to 6/1, this will help global warming?
fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20

Re: So...

Yes.. the polar ice caps will once again cover the top half of the earth! Move to dial up and we'll go back into an ice age!

meh37

@verizon.net
Yep, the prohibition on repetition would essentially shutdown the Internet: everyone would turn off their computers, and the electrical power crisis would be averted...

Stop the Internet, I want to get off!

Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:

Comments?

Yea..I have a couple.

FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE THOUSAND NEW PHONE CUSTOMERS IN 3 MONTHS TIME.

They are obliterating the telco industry.

It is unbelievable how such a monumental shift in someones core business is taking place.

And, judging by the # of new TV customers..the telco's are making basically zero impact on this companies tv business.

And heck..while they're at it..just throw ANOTHER 278,000 broadband customers into the mix as well.

This is ALL coming off the backs of the telco's. The landlines they're losing..DSL customers..they're losing.

All this in 3 months time? From a business perspective..it really is incredible.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic!
Lineage

join:2006-10-19
USA

Re: Comments?

They lose DSL customers because despite the cost of cable, 1,000kbps download > 300 kbps
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL

And wait until those customers get off their bundles and their contracts expire. Many will get sticker shock and might be well motivated to switch if there is competition in their area.

Right now, the ONLY thing Comcast has going for it is their On Demand selection. I have a friend who had Comcast and went to FIOS for a couple of reasons.

Cost - FIOS was cheaper for the same TV package as Comcast plus he added internet (and dumped DSL) and phone.

Speed - DSL was too slow for him, his wife's laptop, his mother in law's system and his brother in law's XBOX360. The comparable cable package was more expensive. (See cost noted above.)

Signal quality - No contest, FIOS wins hands down. My friend and his wife are no videophiles but even they noticed the difference and they have regular TVs. Comcast was still having issues with signal quality and tried to blame it on his and my wiring. Tech in both cases said it was not our problem.

Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:


edit:
July 30th, @12:02PM

Re: Comments?

IMHO..I wouldn't be too eager to sing the praises of the cost of FIOS. If anything, Verizon is going to have a lot of heat on them to raise prices MORE than Comcast ever will.

Why? Because # 1..Fios is SO expensive to rollout.
#2..so many of their customers are coming from DSL..meaning they're cannibalizing their own customer base. And
#3...They're losing landlines left and right.

There is an amazing amount of pressure on Verizon to make Fios work. And while the price might be competitive now..it's that way because they have no other choice. I ask you though..how many more landlines and dsl customers do they lose before they can simply no longer subsidize fios at current prices?

To sum it up..I think the REAL risk in future price increases is with Verizon.

In that regard..AT&T probably does have it right with Uverse..with it not being as costly.

The problem with that though is it technologically enough to withstand what Comcast is throwing at them?

Time will tell.
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL

Re: Comments?

said by Rick See Profile :

IMHO..I wouldn't be too eager to sing the praises of the cost of FIOS. If anything, Verizon is going to have a lot of heat on them to raise prices MORE than Comcast ever will.

Why? Because # 1..Fios is SO expensive to rollout.
#2..so many of their customers are coming from DSL..meaning they're cannibalizing their own customer base. And
#3...They're losing landlines left and right.

There is an amazing amount of pressure on Verizon to make Fios work. And while the price might be competitive now..it's that way because they have no other choice. I ask you though..how many more landlines and dsl customers do they lose before they can simply no longer subsidize fios at current prices?

To sum it up..I think the REAL risk in future price increases is with Verizon.

In that regard..AT&T probably does have it right with Uverse..with it not being as costly.

The problem with that though is it technologically enough to withstand what Comcast is throwing at them?

Time will tell.
DOCSIS 3.0 is not cheap either and that further puts pressure on Comcast to up their prices.

Landlines are the bread and butter of telcos because while the basic rate is regulated, all the additions like caller ID, etc. are cash cows. Those start going going down in numbers, then you have a problem.

Comcast raises its rates too on TV due to programming costs which both sides will incur. I have already spoken to this issue many times and have said the cable companies and telcos need to grow some balls and take the issue to the subscribers. Watch how fast the tables turn on the content providers when they are held responsible for the extra money customers have to pay.

FIOS has one advantage in that fiber is already at the home so upgrading will be cheaper in the future. Fibet to the node can only go so far and we all know bandwidth is being used up by HDTV and internet.

As you said, time will tell but you also have to take into account that Verizon has a smaller footprint right now that will continue to grow.
MOTO6809

join:2007-11-05
Springfield, MA

Re: Comments?

said by moonpuppy See Profile :

said by Rick See Profile :

IMHO..I wouldn't be too eager to sing the praises of the cost of FIOS. If anything, Verizon is going to have a lot of heat on them to raise prices MORE than Comcast ever will.

Why? Because # 1..Fios is SO expensive to rollout.
#2..so many of their customers are coming from DSL..meaning they're cannibalizing their own customer base. And
#3...They're losing landlines left and right.

There is an amazing amount of pressure on Verizon to make Fios work. And while the price might be competitive now..it's that way because they have no other choice. I ask you though..how many more landlines and dsl customers do they lose before they can simply no longer subsidize fios at current prices?

To sum it up..I think the REAL risk in future price increases is with Verizon.

In that regard..AT&T probably does have it right with Uverse..with it not being as costly.

The problem with that though is it technologically enough to withstand what Comcast is throwing at them?

Time will tell.
DOCSIS 3.0 is not cheap either and that further puts pressure on Comcast to up their prices.

Landlines are the bread and butter of telcos because while the basic rate is regulated, all the additions like caller ID, etc. are cash cows. Those start going going down in numbers, then you have a problem.

Comcast raises its rates too on TV due to programming costs which both sides will incur. I have already spoken to this issue many times and have said the cable companies and telcos need to grow some balls and take the issue to the subscribers. Watch how fast the tables turn on the content providers when they are held responsible for the extra money customers have to pay.

FIOS has one advantage in that fiber is already at the home so upgrading will be cheaper in the future. Fibet to the node can only go so far and we all know bandwidth is being used up by HDTV and internet.

As you said, time will tell but you also have to take into account that Verizon has a smaller footprint right now that will continue to grow.
DOCSIS3 is expensive, however it's much cheaper than building an entire system. It can also be deployed much quicker and on an as needed basis.

Your right FIOS is great because it goes to the house, but cable wouldn't have to do that since they are using coax. They could get away from running fiber to the house by deploying fiber to feeder. Basically after the node you only feed tap strings, at that point going out to 3ghz+ is much easier.

On the other hand if they still had concerns about coax, they could use the RF over glass(RFOG)solution. That could use existing fiber thats being used for HFC plant to deploy it and also keep the existing headend.

Cable has many option to compete with telco's without the need to spend as much as them.

Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:

Re: Comments?

As you mention, docsis 3.0 is not only much cheaper..but time is a huge factor in all of this.
Imagine Comcast having a docsis 3.0 network all but finished by the end of 2009, while Verizon is struggling to wire manhattan by 2014 and other places by...??? who knows when?

By then, a fios rollout could be perceived as a non event if comcast is sailing along at 50Mb + speeds in many areas that many years before them.

And again, people are forgetting some key points. All the while..verizon could be losing landlines bigtime..losing dsl customers bigtime..while spending huge bucks on fios. This is a recipe for them to have to charge more for fios.

We'll see how it goes but my early estimation is..
Fios = Rambus and
Docsis 3.0 = DDR.

And we all know who won that race.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic!

meh37

@verizon.net

Re: Comments?

"And we all know who won that race."

The lawyers?

Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:

Re: Comments?

said by meh37 :

"And we all know who won that race."

The lawyers?
lol. true.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic!
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL

said by MOTO6809 See Profile :

DOCSIS3 is expensive, however it's much cheaper than building an entire system. It can also be deployed much quicker and on an as needed basis.

Your right FIOS is great because it goes to the house, but cable wouldn't have to do that since they are using coax. They could get away from running fiber to the house by deploying fiber to feeder. Basically after the node you only feed tap strings, at that point going out to 3ghz+ is much easier.

On the other hand if they still had concerns about coax, they could use the RF over glass(RFOG)solution. That could use existing fiber thats being used for HFC plant to deploy it and also keep the existing headend.

Cable has many option to compete with telco's without the need to spend as much as them.
You forgot the main reason for switching from copper to fiber optics. This is the first major upgrade Verizon has done to their infrastructure in decades. Some of the copper lines have been around since before many of us were born. It has a finite capacity and it is affected by changes in weather. Fiber is an upgrade and part of the rationale for it is high speed data (includes voice, video and data.)

All Verizon did was upgrade everything at one shot and the upgrades would have been needed in the future anyway.

mikepd
Discovery
Premium,MVM
join:2000-10-26
New Port Richey, FL
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
·Verizon Online DSL
·Verizon Online DSL
·Verizon Online DSL

Verizon's cost to install FIOS is going down not up:

»telephonyonline.com/home/news/ve···_092706/

They are almost done wiring up Florida as I got notice a couple of week ago that the contractor would be along to mark off the utilities prior to the burial of the underground fiber and that work has just been completed.

Here is where they stand in Florida, along with speed offerings and prices:

»www.foxbusiness.com/story/market···ridians/

I currently have Brighthouse 7/512 as well as 3/768 Verizon DSL on a dual WAN router since both the wife and I use the Internet for academic research and need redundancy in case one ISP goes down.

We still have not decided whether we will keep cable or go with two ONTs even though by doing that we lose redundancy.

Both DSL and cable have been reliable but the 20/20 speed for a reasonable price is very tempting.

As for technology updates, Verizon can go to GPON simply by changing out the electronics which is a cost-effective solution and will not require a major overhaul of the network.
--
Always Reach Beyond Your Grasp
rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA
·Comcast

Re: Comments?

the main reason verizons cost for installing fios isnt really the reason they want you to believe. they started out running ALL the lines and as time goes by they are skipping by lines and only running them if and when a customer orders the service. they started that around 2 years ago and the practice continues. the only thing it accomplishes is is they dont have to run it when nobody orders the service. i know because i was running it.
mglunt

join:2001-09-10
Fredericksburg, VA
I looked into the Comcast triple play and after the contract is up, it jumps to about $140+ in my area (not including boxes). Fewer channels are included in their base triple play package as well.
rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA
·Comcast

Re: Comments?

i compare contract to contract and since im 6 months into my second contract with the same terms i have no reason to believe they wont give me a third. if they wont then i will change to what fits my needs then. if i go by what i was paying ide have to consider the fact that i was paying verizon 85 dollars a month for phone service. but why compare prices to that when i know what i can get today.

TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast

Qtrly presentation:
»media.corporate-ir.net/media_fil···des1.pdf

Earnings tables:
»media.corporate-ir.net/media_fil···Q208.htm

Good news for investors:




MrSpock29

join:2008-02-09
Hammonton, NJ


edit:
July 30th, @04:34PM

said by Rick See Profile :

Yea..I have a couple.

FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE THOUSAND NEW PHONE CUSTOMERS IN 3 MONTHS TIME.

They are obliterating the telco industry.

It is unbelievable how such a monumental shift in someones core business is taking place.

And, judging by the # of new TV customers..the telco's are making basically zero impact on this companies tv business.

And heck..while they're at it..just throw ANOTHER 278,000 broadband customers into the mix as well.

This is ALL coming off the backs of the telco's. The landlines they're losing..DSL customers..they're losing.

All this in 3 months time? From a business perspective..it really is incredible.
Bundling IMHO is benefiting them on the phone side, and frankly, they don't have FiOS competition in most parts of our area at all. However, since their phone service has gone down at least 8 times this year that I know of (from family that still has them because of bundling), eventually that will wear thin. People want their phones to work.
Some of the outages have been for multi-hours as well.

As far as DSL, no one wants it, and in NJ if you can't get FiOS, you get 3 Mbps which isn't competitive with their speed, even though it is capped. Their numbers SHOULD be good, in fact, they should be much better.... they are shooting fish in a barrel......for now.
And since they act in an anti-competitive manner down here with their RSN by not sharing it with satellite cos, again, the numbers should be even better.

Notice on the tv side they are churning their own book.
Hound

join:2006-03-08
Princeton, NJ
·Verizon FIOS

Comcast 2Q earnings were below analysts
forecasts. Verizon's 2Q earnings exceeded
analysts forecasts.
Comcast added 555,000
VOIP subs. Verizon added 1,500,000 wireless subs. Verizon' s DSL and landline losses include subs lost in the Fairpoint sale.
Verizon added 176,000
FIOS TV subs in a footprint less than 20 percent of Comcasts. Comcast lost 138,000 video subs. When was the last Q that Comcast added video subs except by acquisition? Comcast has 5.6 million VOIP subs. Comcast announces about one in five subs have triple play. That means that virtually all VOIP subs are bundled. Average revenue per VOIP sub
dropped $3 per sub due to bundling. Will VOIP turn a profit after bundling expires? When is Comcast going to start adding video subs? Verizon Wireless is a symmetrical offset to
landline losses. What
is Comcast's offset to video losses? Comcast claims to have the most video experience. Why is Comcast last in HD?

netcool

@comcast.net

Re: Comments?

They lost basic subs which is to be expected, they are adding digital subs which are more profitable anyway.

At this point basic subs are becoming a liability since they make it harder for Comcast to phase out analog channels.

Basically analysts thought VZ would wipe the floor with Comcast with their Fios product. It turns out Comcast has stolen not only landline customers from them but DSL subs as well.

VOIP is very profitable even after bundling expires thanks to its low upkeep costs.

ultracooldave

@verizon.net

The "answer" to the phone companies- MagicJack! I have 3, they all work perfectly and I no longer have any regular telephone except dry loop dsl. You cannot beat $20 a year unlimited and I am sick of looking at my phone bills with all the bleeding heart tax add-ons. I have even given up Vonage-I can get a year with MJ for a month with Vonage and it tasks less bandwith and is better quality!

jimbo48

join:2000-11-17
Hayward, CA
·EarthLink

Comcast offerings?

I'm not quite in love with Comcast as some. It seems strange that they can offer 16/2 on the East coast for the same price I can get 6.0/768 here on the West coast where there is no competition from AT&T or Verizon and DSL is still at 1.5/256
I had Comcast cable but grew tired of their constant rate increases, outages, failure to respond to service calls and without a single upgrade to quality and offering in what I was receiving. Every rate increase was to provide for better service, offering and quality or so they said.
I am now poised to give them a chance to prove that they are a good provider and provide TV cable and Internet that is reliable, well-maintained and provides enough bandwidth to run VOIP on two lines.We'll see if they can walk the walk and live up to their talk!

dadkins
Land of Confusion
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast

Re: Comcast offerings?

Hey neighbor!
I'm here in Hercules with only AT&T(SBC) DSL as an alternative... guess what!
Yeah, I have 16/2 Blast @ the same price as what was 8/768 - $52.95 per month.

HSI has not had a price increase($10 extra for speed excluded) in the ~5 years I have had Comcast HSI.

The 6mbps service will not get a freebie upgrade to 16/2, sorry!
You should have 1mbps upload speed though(I think).
Pay the extra $10.00 per month and you likely can get 16/2.

»Blast! Tier Availability in California
--
Think outside the Fox... Opera

Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs:

I'm on the east coast and don't get 16/2.

Their are pockets of customers who do throughout New England, namely where fios is competing. But that sure isn't here in Ct.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic!

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:

Re: Comcast offerings?

No 16/2 here either.

hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA

yeah, right

Do you really believe what these companies spew in their PR releases?

See 8 replies to this post

Catmando
Catmando
Premium
join:2002-10-22
Montgomery, IL
clubs:
·AT&T Midwest
·AT&T DSL Service

Comcast Beats Back Telcos In Q2

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2007, AT&T's reported fourth-quarter revenues totaled $30.3 billion, up from $15.9 billion in the year-earlier quarter. AT&T's 2007 reported results reflect the Dec. 29, 2006 acquisition of BellSouth Corporation and the accompanying consolidation of wireless results. AT&T's reported net income for the fourth quarter totaled $3.1 billion, or $0.51 per diluted share, compared with $1.9 billion, or $0.50 per diluted share, in the year-earlier quarter.

mustang46

join:2005-05-06
Roseville, MI

Telco

So lets see..I could drop Comcast for TV and internet ...
Get U-verse for them...more HD's..lower price..less compression

I could keep Comcast for my phone..nah that would be silly

BUT...... WHO'S THE TELCO NOW?

meh37

@verizon.net

I just canceled my Comcast service...

I'm a trend-setter: they'll take a hit next quarter.

You can get a landline and long-distance now for less than half of what Comcast wants for CDV.

dtv09

@nauticom.net

Re: I just canceled my Comcast service...

Where? What company? What technology? In otherwords, I call BS!

Cheapest Verizon landline package I found was $29.99 for unlimited calls to US/Canada and barely had any bells and whistles (3-way, CW, CW-CID, CID). Comcast charges $39.99, $34.99 if you have TV service, and isn't lacking on any feature. My Verizon bill totaled $52.97 after taxes and fees. My Comcast phone bill totaled $41.97 after taxes and fees. Yep, your right, looks like Verizon is half price to me!

"Telco" is dead, it will just take a few more years before this website catches up. They are all providers and are now competing on all three fronts: Phone, Data, TV.

Fios is an attractive competitor when it comes to data, but their TV and phone offerings are horrid. I can't find a Fios package that beats Comcast's Premium Tripple Play for TV offerings. I have Comcast TV and Phone, Fios internet and TV. Mixing up packages gave me the most for a few dollars more than going all with one or the other.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Putnam, CT
clubs:

Re: I just canceled my Comcast service...

What is the cost of CDV without the TV service, etc.

meh37

@verizon.net

Re: I just canceled my Comcast service...

The last time I looked (over a year ago) it was well over $50/mo. to get only CDV.

allamaeeter

@tds.net

said by dtv09 :

Where? What company? What technology? In otherwords, I call BS!

Fios is an attractive competitor when it comes to data, but their TV and phone offerings are horrid. I can't find a Fios package that beats Comcast's Premium Tripple Play for TV offerings. I have Comcast TV and Phone, Fios internet and TV. Mixing up packages gave me the most for a few dollars more than going all with one or the other.
Who wants tripple play? Not me. Fios' TV picture quality and channel selection is much better than Comcast's soft, marginal HD offerings. I guess it's all about what you want. I prefer quality service, not silly bundles.

meh37

@verizon.net

Comcast charges $33/mo for CDV if you get their triple-play bundle, but that's only for the first year, after which it goes up to--what is it now?--$39 (though you could probably haggle yourself back to triple-play prices if you tell them you're going to leave them for someone else). If you don't need long-distance, then you could get their local-only service for $25 (if you bundle it with their Internet service, HSI or LSI). You also have to pay $3/mo to lease their eMTA. For the sake of argument, I'll use the $25: $25 + $3 = $28/mo.

A no-frills landline from Verizon costs under $11/mo ($6 for the line, the rest in taxes/fees). Pick a long-distance provider that doesn't charge you anything unless you actually use their service. (Having a Verizon landline will also knock $5/mo off your FiOS Internet bill, but I'm not figuring that into this.) For real long-distance usage (and some outbound local calls) I have magicJack (which works very well for me), even though I don't make many long-distance calls. I have GrandCentral (still free for the immediate future) and I use the GC address book (because it's simpler) for most of my "outgoing" calls, which really makes them inbound calls to my line(s) (though magicJack could take over outbound calls should future GC fees prove to be "excessive"). So, that's $11 + $2 (mJ rounded up) = $13/mo. Half of 28 is 14, and 13 is less than 14... ta-daaa!

I haven't even mentioned that most of my incoming calls I take using GC to Gizmo via ATA (very good voice quality). I also have an Alltel prepaid plan (though Verizon will undoubtedly kill that once they've acquired Alltel, sending me to T-Mobile at $100/yr for 1,000 minutes) that currently costs me about $5/yr in usage; if nothing else, my cell phone makes for a good CallerID device (with GC routing calls to all of my numbers). CDV is fine for what it is; it's just over-priced--it's a cash cow for Comcast: it costs them virtually nothing to add it to their network and they rake in tons of money for it... it's quite a rip-off with respect to value (but some people really want that all-in-one, no-muss/no-fuss billing/setup). The only thing really wrong with CDV is that from Day One I got more calls from telemarketers & charity beggars (for which PhoneTray works very well to "filter" out) than from anyone else--I won't miss them.

Do I "need" the landline? No, but it does give me a price break on FiOS Internet, and "real" 911, and a working line when Internet access is down in addition to my cell phone--it's not line-powered copper but that's why I have so many UPSs; so I get an excellent voice-quality line for a few more dollars per month than I'd pay without it. Works for me.

I don't care much about TV; I like movies, which I can get from Netflix or elsewhere to see the ones I really want to see.
Forums » Comcast Beats Back Telcos In Q2


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