Thursday, November 29, 2007

Time Warner Pops Price

We don't get fancy cable; we get the basic package.

And that just popped by 4.89%.

But no NFL channel; no Big 10 channel----

So.....how's that work again?

7 comments:

  1. Three words: Gubmint. Endorsed. Monopoly.

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  2. Sorry, Steve. There's not a community in Wisconsin that has an exclusive franchise agreement with their cable provider. Not one. All are non-exclusive as per decades of Federal rulings.

    What you're observing is the free market. Cable operators would rather enter a new community where they can harvest 70% of the homes, as opposed to competing with an incumbent cable provider and fight to get to 35% share.

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  3. Bummer. I'm paying TWC $18/month for channels 2-20, and we only watch 8-10 hours of TV per week, which includes any football or golf I may watch on the weekend. When TWC jacked the basic package from $30 up to $50, that's when I ditched it.

    Forget TV, It's much more entertaining watching Dad's blog ;-)

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  4. I don't know how much you pay for cable but recently I cancelled my relationship* with Time Warner Cable. I signed up for a new service in the area called AT&T U-verse (it's only available in pockets of SE Wisconsin due to the monopoly of Time Warner Cable).

    AT&T U-verse is an alternative to cable and I'm very impressed. Total digital quality, inexpensive price, great customer service, and I get both the Big Ten and NFL Network with the standard package.

    The change is definitely a positive one however with any new service comes new learning (channels, guide, etc). Either way, I will NOT go back to Time Warner Cable.

    *We all know what "relationship" really means when talking about Time Warner Cable.

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  5. Neo-con, there's no "monopoly". What you have is what the free market gave you, so don't go blaming the government. There's no government exclusive granted to TWC. Satellite exists, off-the-air exists, Internet exists. That's who TWC saw as their competition.

    Where exactly are you located as to get U-Verse? How much are you paying for the package, and what's in your package, as opposed to what you got and paid for with TWC? Whose lawn or alley got the fridge-sized, humming ATT box in their alley or front yard? They install one for every 200 homes.

    Yes, it's only available in pockets, where, according to their own marketing people, they expected to get $120 or more a month from people who want to buy the triple-play of TV, cable, and phone.

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  6. Sorry for using the term monopoly so loosely: http://www.wewantchoicewi.com/

    If you must know, I'm paying $79 for a 200-channel package and high-speed internet (same data transfer rates as Road Runner). If I chose to have the phone option, I'd be coughing up an even $99. Plus, there are noticably less taxes and fees than with TWC as my bill after tax comes out to only $86.41.

    TWC offers that same option (w/o Big Ten and NFL Network) for an inroductory rate of $99 that expires after 12-months.

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