FYI: Comcast buying Time Warner

[Puddle Jumper]

Just when I thought my Internet service couldn't get any worse.

 

[KeithP]

To my knowledge, could be wrong, there isn't a single place where a consumer has a choice between Comcast or Time Warner. They aren't competing against each other.

The problem with these companies is how the industry is being treated by government. Ideally, ISPs would be classified as common carriers however even that might not be enough given that the Feds are more or less run by commercial interests.

-KeithP

 

[jpiniero]

They're not ISPs though. They are cable companies who happen to also sell internet access. The day they become a common carrier is the day they go out of business.

 

[drbrock]

I have UVerse and love it. I came from Comcast and they were too expensive. Uverse is fairly new about 2 years old and Comcast is suddenly introducing new services and lowering prices because everyone has bailed on them. If it weren't for my family who is addicted to news channels I would cut everything out besides internet. Or go the sleazebag way and steal neighbors internet.

 

[TraumaRN]

Well suddenly I'm even more happy my internet/cable comes from my city's municipal department.

 

[z1ggy]

If my roommate wasn't obsessed with betting on sports I'd cancel cable and just have internet. It's ridic that we are paying $168 a month for HD TV + internet. I think we have 3 boxes?

 

[13Gigatons]

Every area should have fiber owned and maintained by a non-profit. Having a monopoly or duopoly is NOT working.

 

[Thump553]

I swore years ago that I would pay extra if necessary to avoid paying a dime to AT&T, and that is still my viewpoint today. A friend has Uverse and pays more than I do for Bright House (Road Runner from TW) and has slower internet and less channels. Plus, AT&T's "customer service" makes Comcast's customer service look like Amazon by comparison.

I wish Uverse was available in my home area, I have it at work and it's fine. My two experiences (install and an email problem) with Uverse went fine-except for their silly phone-in service password requirement), better than I've ever done with Comcast (usual response is you are imagining your internet is out, no one else has called it in).

Last month Comcast slapped a new fee on my bill $1.50 for "over the air local broadcast." WTF?? I pay about $180 mo. for cable TV (one digital outlet and no premium channels) and basic internet cable.

If only there was competition in my area.

BTW don't hold your breath expecting the DoJ antitrust division to do anything. The only substantial action they have taken in the last fifty years was the ATT breakup, and that was decades ago. Antitrust regulation is a total joke now.

 

[Dulanic]

The corporate monsters continues to feed and grow.

P.S. I hate Comcast with a passion, they have screwed me over so many times it isn't funny. I have them for internet only (only choice) that my company pays for. I have business class... which is "supposed" to have better customer service. I had to file in small claims court to get them to fix a problem they made when they "moved" my service and had 2 accounts open even though I had a signed contract moving the service. Worst part of it all... I STILL have them as service because I have no real choice.

 

[88keys]

This is wonderful news for consumer choice and the free market.

The free market fixes all if our problems because people are good natured and when there are no rules you can count on everybody to get together to do the right thing.

Since so many people are ditching cable TV, I think the cable companies want to make the internet like Cable TV by making you pay extra to access certain websites in the same way you pay extra to watch HBO.


'Murica.

My only other viable broadband option here is Century Link. I should get service comparable to cable since they have a DSL switching station about a mile from my house.

 

[sze5003]

Yup I read another article on this. I also hate Comcast. They lie and don't hold up their end. I had to call 4 times to get the services for a promition I was given.

If it were up to me I would only need internet. In my area they are the only option unless you can deal with slow dsl.

Buying time Warner was expected. They are growing into a huge monster. Fios needs to become available in apartments more and Google fiber needs to also be rolled out in more areas.
The fact that I live in a big city and Comcast is the only option for internet makes me really mad.

 

[Dulanic]

Yup I read another article on this. I also hate Comcast. They lie and don't hold up their end. I had to call 4 times to get the services for a promition I was given.

If it were up to me I would only need internet. In my area they are the only option unless you can deal with slow dsl.

Buying time Warner was expected. They are growing into a huge monster. Fios needs to become available in apartments more and Google fiber needs to also be rolled out in more areas.
The fact that I live in a big city and Comcast is the only option for internet makes me really mad.

Verizon won't rollout anymore FIOS... it doesn't have short term profits that shareholders want.

 

[88keys]

I really can't believe how so many people in the U.S. only have one broadband option.

What really sucks about this is that the internet isn't really a luxury as much as it is a necessity for so many people and businesses.

 

[jpiniero]

Verizon won't rollout anymore FIOS... it doesn't have short term profits that shareholders want.

Verizon lost billions on the FiOS rollout (and took a multibillon dollar charge a couple years ago). They wouldn't have done FiOS if they had known Cable TV was going to implode like this.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Waiting for Spidey to come and tells us, "this is a good thing".

 

[Lifted]

BTW don't hold your breath expecting the DoJ antitrust division to do anything. The only substantial action they have taken in the last fifty years was the ATT breakup, and that was decades ago. Antitrust regulation is a total joke now.

They filed suit in the ATT - T-Mobile purchase in 2011, but in that case they obviously have overlapping markets.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I wish Uverse was available in my home area, I have it at work and it's fine. My two experiences (install and an email problem) with Uverse went fine-except for their silly phone-in service password requirement), better than I've ever done with Comcast (usual response is you are imagining your internet is out, no one else has called it in).

Last month Comcast slapped a new fee on my bill $1.50 for "over the air local broadcast." WTF?? I pay about $180 mo. for cable TV (one digital outlet and no premium channels) and basic internet cable.

If only there was competition in my area.

BTW don't hold your breath expecting the DoJ antitrust division to do anything. The only substantial action they have taken in the last fifty years was the ATT breakup, and that was decades ago. Antitrust regulation is a total joke now.

If it were up to me, I'd drop everything except internet from Bright House. I just dropped their phone service in favor or Ooma and basically, the "discount" they gave us was zero. I think we're going to be calling again soon and threaten them with switching to Uverse to see if they'll budge, though I have NO intention of going to Uverse.

I've been a customer of AT&T in both my personal life and in business -- they are the most screwed up, arrogant organization I've ever seen.

 

[lupi]

As I'm not a customer of either I like this news. Comcast doesn't use those SDVs and will probably dump TWC from them. So hopefully market pressure would then put that crap out to pasture.

 

[cbrsurfr]

Isn't Comcast called Xfinity now? Or did they finally realize they couldn't fool people into forgotting how bad Comcast sucks?

 

[sze5003]

Isn't Comcast called Xfinity now? Or did they finally realize they couldn't fool people into forgotting how bad Comcast sucks?

It is called xfinity but it's still Comcast. That name is a marketing term for their devices and bundles.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

This can only end in a mostly comical way. I predict internet now costing $100/mo for 3Mbps/1.5Mbps with a 500MB cap. After all that is "high speed". If you want fast internet you need to pay $250/mo. That will give you 20Mbps/5Mbps with a 1GB cap.

Lmao, that reminds me of the internet I had back in college....

Forget the exact speed, couldn't have been more than 2-3Mbps with a 250MB rolling cap.That SUCKED.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

It is called xfinity but it's still Comcast. That name is a marketing term for their devices and bundles.

Exactly, just like Uverse= AT&T.

 

[smackababy]

With a merged company having 75% of the national market share I've got to hope that this would be shot down from a monopolistic standpoint.

The only good that can come out of this approve merger is laws banning their geographic monopolies. But, with a large super corp that TimeCast will be, I think they have a lot more bribe money... I mean lobbying money, so that won't likely happen.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I bet their customer service will improve greatly now that they have so much more resources to put towards it. Being two of the most hated companies in America has got to hurt their feelings.

 

[Sonikku]

More Liberals waging war on Capitalism. If you all don't like it, then don't use either of them. Send them a message by making do with dial up.