 
TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
 ·Comcast
edit:
April 6th, @12:02PM
|  ACA wants content price controls no matter what they say
What we are saying is that if broadcasters or programmers want to offer a bundled price, that’s fine. But we also want them to offer -- and what we have asked the FCC to do in the context of retrans and general programming authority -- is to say that broadcasters and programmers also must provide a rate for carriage of that service on what may be a more limited tier or a single-channel basis. And that gets to a lot of the higher-cost sports programming that you see.
Q: But how can you do that without price controls?
A: We’re not asking for price controls. We’re saying that if there is a dispute over price, let’s bring it to the FCC for review and mediation and, hopefully, resolution. The ACA says they don't want price controls. But if they go to the FCC for relief every time they don't like the price from the content providers, that is exactly what they are asking for. Does anyone think that getting the FCC to set prices for content is a good idea?
Although requiring content providers to sell shows unbundled as well as bundled is a good idea, I don't see where the FCC has any authority at all to require it. It would need new authority provided by Congress to make that happen, especially for content providers that aren't also brodcasters like ABC, CBS, etc.
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page | |
| 
Rick
Premium,MVM
join:2001-02-06
Waterbury, CT
clubs: 
| Sorry to say but.. I think the days of the small cable guys are quickly coming to an end. While Martin may be desperately trying to prevent the growth of Comcast (or any company who approaches a 30% market share)..I highly doubt he's going to succeed.
One need only look at how unfair his position has been in allowing Ma Bell to morph back into existence along with it's now outrageous 232 Billion dollar market value
»finance.yahoo.com/q?s=t
And then compare it with what he's trying to stop..namely Comcast and their 61 Billion market value..
»finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CMCSA
and ask yourselves..don't you think the courts will find that a bit "strange"..to say the least...that he thought it was just fine and dandy to let that happen..but yet
now would like to stop a company trading at TWENTY FIVE percent of the value?
I think the short answer is..he won't stop it.
And the FCC is going to get sued..lose..and Martin will drift off into the sunset riding on an AT&T pension someday.
Now..lest anyone think I'm a big proponent of Big companies..cable..telco or otherwise..I'm not.
Anyone who has been around bbr as long as I have knows I was a very happy Insight RR customer and long admired them for their service..and the more local feel about doing business with them. I think the same thing existed here once upon a time in Ct...with SNET. That was our states phone company and for decades..provided great service as well as employing many a local citizen and seeing them through to retirement.
What I am however..is a realist. And realize that especially in this day and age of technology that seems to change by the month sometimes..Small does not equal being able to have the resources to compete. Programming..labor..and infrastructure costs simply prevent many from being able to stay on the leading edge of the technology curve.
And many simply decide to sell themselves off to the highest bidder.
The number of small isp's in this country that never made it could fill a book of been there..tried that..and failed.
Why? Because we all moved on to the next best thing when it became available..demanded that at the lowest cost possible..and, that's just the way business goes sometimes.
To be sure, there will always be pockets of exceptions in this country. Just like some small grocery stores and retailers manage to survive. But...let's not kid ourselves.
The world belongs to Time Warner..Comcast..Verizon and AT&T.
And, it's a battle of the giants that will capture our attention and dollars in the years ahead.
--
The Coyote captured the RR! Roadrunner Rick is now Comcastic! | |
|  | jdracer47
join:2005-10-16
Auburn, PA | Re: Sorry to say but.. I am actually OK with the battle of the giants as long as I am getting quality service.
What I am not OK with is paying a small company a lot of money for service that is a complete joke, and being told that it is the only service available. | |
| | | | hottboiinnc
Kyle
join:2003-10-15
Toledo, OH | As far as the smaller cable co's i'm surprised they're not trying to merge together to become more of a power machine. They could benefit a lot more i believe if they started to merge. | |
| | 
funchords
Robb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Hillsboro, OR
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·Skype
·Comcast
edit:
April 6th, @05:42PM
| said by Rick  :I think the days of the small cable guys are quickly coming to an end. I agree with you there. Hang in there, guys!
said by Rick :While Martin may be desperately trying to prevent the growth of Comcast (or any company who approaches a 30% market share)..I highly doubt he's going to succeed. What is the largest TelCo market share?
That Comcast cannot "grow" beyond 30% is simply a misconception. It can grow to 40% (or more). It just can't gobble up other cable companies to do it. It has to lay cable or figure out a way to increase their current metropolitan footprints. My mom lived on the wrong corner in Chandler, Arizona for 10 years, unable to subscribe to Cox. Their lines ran to the northwest corner of the intersection. Her house was on the southwest corner.
In addition to growing outward, they can grow upward. As of May 1st, my Comcast DVRs will talk to one another! I can watch a program recorded in the living room using the DVR in my bedroom! I'll pay an extra $12 for the second DVR. I'll probably do it!
Comcast has been a terrible actor in this whole Internet thing. They've arrogantly made a great case for limiting the size of broadband companies. I don't want to see them buy their way into owning all the gateways to the Internet.
And the TelCos haven't been any better. They sat on their individual and then collective asses as the Internet took hold, and failed to reinvent themselves until it was too late.
But even though everyone else invented the Internet, the whole thing seems to be gated by TelCos and CableCos now.
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- Hillsboro, Oregon
FCC Public Hearing on the Future of the Internet - Thursday, April 17th - Stanford Univ., Calif. | |
| jdracer47
join:2005-10-16
Auburn, PA
| You bet he is an ally Case in point, Blue Mountain Cable in Schuylkill County PA.
Blue Mountain has been providing horrible service for years with no competition whatsoever. No HD programming, and pathetic "High speed internet". This small company has used 2 T1 lines to provide internet to at least 400 customers, needless to say the speeds dropped even below the 200K limit the FCC used for years. The only reason they are still around is due to duping my community into a 30 year agreement back in 1989 (well before I was ever a resident). I went both the FCC route and the PA office of the Attorney General with no effect from either of them. The only way I have been able to hold this company accountable in the last 3 years has been to get a satellite dish and use the BFRR program to get Verizon DSL into the community.
If the FCC wants real competition in all areas, they need to make the "handshake" agreements between the cable companies 100% illegal and let the communities decide on who they want as a provider. I was personally told by a representative from Comcast that they would NEVER violate Blue Mountain's area even if I paid for the Comcast line to be run to my house.
A community should be allowed to de-certify a franchise agreement if a majority of the consumers are unhappy with the quality of service. With the current policy of the FCC, my community will be stuck with Blue Mountain Cable until 2019. I challenge anyone to actually come up with a worst cable company than Blue Mountain Cable which is a disgrace as Schuylkill County PA is the BIRTHPLACE of cable television. | |
| | hottboiinnc
Kyle
join:2003-10-15
Toledo, OH
·buckeye cable
·Time Warner VOIP
 ·1and1
| Re: You bet he is an ally in many states now it is not up to a community/town/ or city or anyone else to decide who enters an area. Its up to the State. If PA has a State franchise agreement thats all that needs to be done. File with the state, and get approved go from there. most companies won't over build though due to the price. YOU could get many people together and form a co-op cable company or ISP of some sort. | |
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Small Cable Guys See Ally in Martin
