 Corydon
Cultivant son jardin
Premium
join:2008-02-18
Denver, CO
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| Subscribers in other parts of the country are affected too Including in Virginia, New Mexico, Kentucky and elsewhere.
Looks like a plan to rationalize their footprint and focus on rolling out new products in the larger, more lucrative markets just like Verizon.
Sucks if you live in a rural area...
»www.multichannel.com/article/CA6563613.html
»blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdail···li-says/
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My opinions are my own. No-one else would want them! | |
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ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium
join:2001-08-02
Michigan City, IN | Re: Subscribers in other parts of the country are affected too I live in a somewhat rural area..but get my service from Chicago Comcast.
Infact, Comcast just upgraded me from 6/384 to 6/1 for free.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYueIC1pjM | |
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herdfan
Premium
join:2003-01-25
Hurricane, WV
| Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!
A couple of years ago, I was an Adelphia customer with a newly rebuilt system. Internet was fast and reliable and part of a well designed, fiber to the node system. Then Adelphia was broken up.
TW took the customers in KY and OH, while Comcast took WV. Comcast broke off the WV parts and did who knows what putting it on their backbone. All I know is speeds dropped and reliability went into the toilet.
Now Comcast wants to sell WV and TW is the buyer? Why did they not do this in the first damn place and not break up a system that was built together and worked great.
Verizon is supposed to have DSL to me by the end of the year and I can't wait. | |
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ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium
join:2001-08-02
Michigan City, IN | Yikes. Good thing I don't live in Maine. | |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Yikes. Most companies want to be in the most profitable markets.
Rural markets typically has a higher cost.
The carriers that take in rural areas typically want all the funding (FUSF/USF, etc) that they can eat.
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Canada = Hollywood North | |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ |  MSOs like to consolidate systems & dump outliers
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DrumAt5280
join:2002-06-25
Louisville, CO | upgrading I think you are right, they looked at the cost of upgrading and said "let's just sell it!" | |
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benc
Premium
join:2007-06-17
Glen Carbon, IL
·Charter Pipeline
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Callcentric
·AT&T Midwest
| Discrimination? Now I wonder if Maine is ever going to get faster Internet anytime soon.
I don't live in Maine, nor do I plan to move there. But, I still feel for those people.
I live in anything but a rural area (suburb of a major city). However, last I checked I can't get DSL. Both of the closest COs are too far, and AT&T just can't seem to bother installing another CO, or an RT. Why can't AT&T just fill in the gaps?
As I have an apartment, I think I may want to move. However, anyone who moves in here next will be stuck with the same problem.
I'm no communist, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better if the Federal Government nationalized all of the phone companies, so no more shareholders' needs have to be addressed. Maybe then rural areas will get more broadband.
Before anyone says something about wiretaps and such, I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that they can already do so. So, what difference would it make? | |
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Cabal
Premium
join:2007-01-21
Boston, MA
| Re: Discrimination? said by benc  :Maybe then rural areas will get more broadband. Or maybe everyone would be stuck with the same mediocre broadband that rural areas have now.
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Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru? | |
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| wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| said by benc :I'm no communist, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better if the Federal Government nationalized all of the phone companies, so no more shareholders' needs have to be addressed. Maybe then rural areas will get more broadband. I don't think nationalization is necessary. Going back to price regulation for what are essentially monopolies or duopolies is a good idea, though. The free market does not work when there are only two competitors. Regulating the price on a cost plus basis guarantees shareholders a reliable return on investment. Low, perhaps, but very reliable.
In many ways, the the Bell System was quite good for us. It worked pretty darn well. There were indeed some things that needed rationalizing, but it was a system that needed to be fixed, not destroyed. (I'm sure I'll get some people bloviating about the lack of innovation under the previous scheme, but they'd be showing themselves to be folks who can't do even the slightest bit of research, instead substituting ideas consistent with their ideology)
Now, if you were to talk to me about cell phones, I'd disagree that strong regulation beyond frequency allocation and a few other mostly technical areas is necessary. There are enough carriers in even most small markets to make the market functional, despite the FCC's best efforts.
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It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word.  | |
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| | Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
·Comcast
·Embarq
| Re: Discrimination?  I was a student of the telephone industry during the 1960's and have made the following observation. It would be difficult to use the same methodology to create a national broadband network as was used to create the voice network. Generally the voice network began to evolve in the 1930's. The Bell System directed it's resources developing large metropolitan areas. Rural areas were developed by independent telephone cooperatives financed by the Rural Electrification Association low interest loans. Most local carriers were assisted through toll separations from AT&T Long Lines. Monthly rates were set to allow almost anyone to be able to afford local service. How can the Broadband Industry create a business model that emulates the evolution of the voice network. It appears that Comcast is following the Bell System methodology by cherry picking areas with high concentrations of subscribers that have a high probability of subscribing to CATV and Broadband Services. How can the nation be wired for broadband using the same methodology used to create the voice network? | |
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| | | wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| Re: Discrimination? said by Mr Matt : How can the nation be wired for broadband using the same methodology used to create the voice network? In the areas where small local telcos exist, they're doing a fine job of deploying broadband. Perhaps not at the over 10Mbps speeds (although some are up to 12 now) that most cable companies have, but 1.5-6 is pretty common.
Many are also deploying FTTH, although they're still constrained in the backhaul, given that they have to pay the ILEC in the nearest big town for the distance between their meet point and the local telco's ISP. One particular example I'm familiar with was easily able to justify (and afford) a DS3 even ten years ago because it cut down on the enormous settlement payments they had begun bleeding to SWB with the rise of dial-up internet. When none of the POPs are in your local area and you have a 20 or 30 year standing offer of unlimited long distance into SWB's nearby territory for $15 or $20 a month and people start using thousands of minutes a month for dialup..
What we need to do is reinstitute the aggressive loan and grant programs that used to exist, only this time for FTTH in rural areas. It's good for the rural telcos, as it significantly reduces maintenance costs, and it's good for the country as a whole in the same way (although to a lesser degree, I admit!) telephone and electric service is.
That and AT&T certainly developed many rural areas. I know of a very good number of their rural operations just within a couple hundred miles of here. Of course, I know of plenty that were bought up by ConTel, then GTE, and now CenturyTel, too.
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It's wierdo, not weirdo. Yes, I know that's not the 'proper' spelling of the similar english language word. | |
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| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Ma Bell reinvested much more of its profits back into the network than any Telco today. Capitolism the right way. And thats why it was able to do all it did. | |
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kleinml
join:2008-04-18
Levittown, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| said by benc :I'm no communist, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better if the Federal Government nationalized all of the phone companies, so no more shareholders' needs have to be addressed. Maybe then rural areas will get more broadband. Before anyone says something about wiretaps and such, I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that they can already do so. So, what difference would it make? Thats not the Answer. Main is a state that is VERY Regulated. PUC rules make doing business difficult to make a profit. That is part of the reason Verizon pulled out. Further Regulation will just make the situation worse. | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Discrimination? Why didn't those regulations ensure $40 a month T1s? | |
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rtp
@ga.us
 from:
Cabal
| Good Job I believe its one of the smartest move ever for a business to do .. cut the expenses because rural arears are never profitable ... who cares about the people .. they just demand and demand and then complain ... They have a choice and its satellite or dial up .. if u dont like it .. then move !!!! .. ortherwise .. TOUGH!!!!  | |
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ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium
join:2001-08-02
Michigan City, IN
·Comcast
| Re: Good Job said by rtp :I believe its one of the smartest move ever for a business to do .. cut the expenses because rural arears are never profitable ... who cares about the people .. they just demand and demand and then complain ... They have a choice and its satellite or dial up .. if u dont like it .. then move !!!! .. ortherwise .. TOUGH!!!! That's a bit over-the-top..
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYueIC1pjM | |
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hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA
| said by rtp :I believe its one of the smartest move ever for a business to do .. cut the expenses because rural arears are never profitable ... who cares about the people .. they just demand and demand and then complain ... They have a choice and its satellite or dial up .. if u dont like it .. then move !!!! .. ortherwise .. TOUGH!!!! LOL
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Religion does three things quite effectively: Divides people, Controls people, Deludes people. | |
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| lvlorpheus
join:2008-02-17
Eureka Springs, AR | I agree with you. We should all move into the cities, and compete for the same jobs. I just hope China has a vested interest, in keeping us all feed, once we all live in the cities. | |
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RR Conductor
RailRoadDude
Premium
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA
·Comcast
| said by rtp :I believe its one of the smartest move ever for a business to do .. cut the expenses because rural arears are never profitable ... who cares about the people .. they just demand and demand and then complain ... They have a choice and its satellite or dial up .. if u dont like it .. then move !!!! .. ortherwise .. TOUGH!!!! Okay, you produce your own food, power, water, coal, lumber to build houses, and other luxuries like that...wait, you say you can't in the city? Those aren't luxuries? Hmmm, oh well, guess you'll have to fend for yourself.
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»www.freightrailworks.org
»www.amtrak.com
»www.amtrakcalifornia.com
»www.metrolinktrains.com
»www.up.com
»www.bnsf.com
»www.aslrra.org/home/index.cfm | |
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| | EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA
| Re: Good Job It's not even like Comcast is denying anyone service, they're just transferring a region over, most likely to Time Warner Cable, which is already heavily in the region and can probably logistically handle it better than Comcast- i.e., potentially improve service. And TWC isn't like Fairpoint- it's a large company (can we call it a company or do we still have to call it a subsidiary?) on it's own. I don't think this would be too bad for Maine consumers.
Now, the Fairpoint deal on the other hand... | |
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rtp
@bellsouth.net | Thanks for the advice but I buy my food from the local farmers market that is located whitim the city limits and its considered a metro area  | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| said by RR Conductor :said by rtp :I believe its one of the smartest move ever for a business to do .. cut the expenses because rural arears are never profitable ... who cares about the people .. they just demand and demand and then complain ... They have a choice and its satellite or dial up .. if u dont like it .. then move !!!! .. ortherwise .. TOUGH!!!! Okay, you produce your own food, power, water, coal, lumber to build houses, and other luxuries like that...wait, you say you can't in the city? Those aren't luxuries? Hmmm, oh well, guess you'll have to fend for yourself. Can you expand on what YOU produce for me in Buffalo?
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
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jebba2005
join:2005-01-13
Portland, ME | get rid of Maine ATT is dumping on us too. No 3G for you!, Mainers. | |
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Lowtarget
Premium
join:2003-12-22
Alger, OH
clubs: | Re: get rid of Maine If TWC does buy the Maine market. If I remember right, currently RR is testing cap bandwidth per month in a couple places. While the rest of us does not have a cap. | |
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swintec
Premium
join:2003-12-19
Alfred, ME | Re: get rid of Maine I am not familiar with any such testing here...Initially it was in Texas.
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BlockNews.Net | |
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mworks
join:2006-06-13
Faison, NC
1 edit | not surprising Instead of bothering to upgrade them to DOCSIS 3.0 ?
Lots of them don't even offer service to rural areas.
I know people that are still on 26.4K modems.
They can't even get a stable 28k connection.
Even cell phone is not an option in lots of these places.
Only option, satellite, and we know the problems with that.
With the economy the way it is, I'm afraid rural broadband will only get worse. | |
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Vorlonesque
@frontiernet.net | Re: not surprising Thats me with 26.4k | |
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dirtnureye
@verizon.net
thumbs down from:
Cabal
| poor time warrner poor time warrner is being fooled and needs not to buy knowing there luck fios will show up and take over. | |
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| EPS
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA | Re: poor time warrner Not in Maine... Maybe someday Fairpoint will deploy new fiber, but it'll probably be long after even at&t has figured it out- with their debtload, even if they wanted to deploy FTTH they likely couldn't afford it. | |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| Re: Inevitable result of deregulation and statewide franchises said by KrK : Seems like nobody wants to bring you anything. What needs to be brought here? The #1 cable company MAY sell its assets to the #2 company. If you are so concerned over ppl that have no BB start your own company...and you do it.
hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Surfinusa
Premium
join:2001-02-08
|  Profit
If they are going to make more in different markets such as acquiring other Profitable markets from other providers looking to sell. Then I am sure they would be more than happy to offload (cherry picker or nose picker ...whatever) you want to call it.
Profit is the name of the game with shareholders and with general business.
Nothing new here. Business decisions. Survival of the fittest in the financial world.
And I seriously doubt a Comcast Disney is anywhere in the future, maybe in Comcast dreams that would be Comcastic for them.
Disney made it clear.
So we are back to Profit. | |
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ruralbbholes
@verizon.net
| Broadband Black Holes Some rural communities just won't be wired for broadband.. not now, not 2025, not 2050.. although it may be feasible to do BPL broadband (essentially the theory is wherever a power line goes, so can broadband.. when properly retro-fitted). Wireless networks can fill the rest, provided there is a PROFIT motive for covering the geography.
One question.. if Comcast want to sell, who would be willing to buy UNPROFITABLE cable system.. thats as tough a sell as a 40 gallon to the mile Winnabego with $4 & rising gas.
-- Maybe Walmart can make it work.
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| moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Broadband Black Holes said by ruralbbholes :
although it may be feasible to do BPL broadband (essentially the theory is wherever a power line goes, so can broadband.. when properly retro-fitted). Oh dear God, not this tired old argument again.
Please educate yourself before spouting off about BPL.
kthxbye | |
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| jacour
join:2001-12-11
Ypsilanti, MI
·Comcast
| BPL will not work for the same reason cable doesn't - the equipment is not free and the ratio of equipment nodes to paying users will not support the service. Economics alone, let alone the fundamental problems with the underlying technology, will kill BPL. | |
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| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Broadband Black Holes Then why do areas have electrical and POTS? | |
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mworks
join:2006-06-13
Faison, NC
| Farmers are organizing Not spending the money on infrastructure for rural areas could end up hurting people in the cities.
I was talking with a local farming organization about what comcast is doing and several board members came up with a workable solution.
The people in the rural area put in their own broadband.
And raise crop prices to pay for it.
If all the rural organizations jumped on board, it very well could work.
Corn demand is already high so companies will still buy even at higher prices. | |
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crlm3
@comcast.net
| Re: Farmers are organizing I understand the idea of helping out rural folks who produce food/wood etc but a lot of rural areas aren't farm areas anymore. I border on what used to be nothing but farmlands. When you drove through the area there was a farmhouse here and there but all of the land was farmed or had dairy cows.
Now most of the farms were split up and have McMansions on 7 or 10 acre lots. If someone wants to be "out in the country" in this fashion I don;t see any particular reason why other subscribers should be asked to subsidize services such as broadband. | |
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ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Enola, PA
·Comcast
·Vonage
| comcast greed lack of profitability or "underperforming" is the sole criteria that comcast uses to gauge 'keep' or 'sweep' of cable systems. it's much akin to the phrase in many small towns that w@llm@rt kills you twice-----first when they come to town & run all of the local businesses out of town then, when they determine that the small town store is an "underperformer" w@llm@rt closes the store & there is nothing left. | |
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NM
@qwest.net
| sell the four corners of NM sell us. I live in the Four Corners of New Mexico. Comcast is the only cable provider. Their is zero HD channels here from them. Their is Zero OnDemand from them....and their is zero High Speed Internet from them. In a county of over 100,000 people comcast brings nothing. For internet all there is here is qwest which is horrible, most people can barely get 1.5mb internet at best. | |
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Comcast Looking To Sell Rural Networks
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