Time Warner, Embarq Fight to Outlaw 100 Mbps Community Broadband in Wilson, NC

[Jason]

Wilson is about an hour from where I live. I wish the local county and city gov would do something like this. But onto the article. (http://www.dailytech.com/Time+Warner+Embarq+Fight+to+Outlaw+100+Mbps+Commun ity+Broadband+in+Wilson+NC/article14934.htm)

The cable companies aren't happy that they've been one-upped in both price and quality of service

[J Arcane]

Sucks for the cable companies.

If the city can afford to do it, then I say by all means.

[pomeroy]

God, Time Warner is so effing shady. And they really are the only game in town for a lot of people.

[Goronmon]

The internet providers refused to update the lines, then bitch when someone else does? I'm shocked. More proof that providers like TWC are just trying to fuck over as many people as they can.

[Spockrocket]

Damnit Embarq, not you too

[Krispy]

Here he is, the CEO of Time Warner.

http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/10912_TWC_Bewkes.png

I just want to smash his face in so bad.

From what I can gather, the argument is that the cable companies have a right to make a profit and by selling the service at near cost, the city is taking that right away from them. Or something equally absurd.

[Jason]

From what I can gather, the argument is that the cable companies have a right to make a profit and by selling the service at near cost, the city is taking that right away from them. Or something equally absurd.

From what I understand of how much or should I say little it costs the cable companies for internet service for each customer, it's several hundred percent according to a couple of the Suddenlink supervisors here btw, they shouldn't charge no where near as much as they do. Embarq has been putting in new fiber lines all over the county here, but will not run fiber to the homes. If they would run fiber to the homes, they'd increase their customer base big time.

Damnit Embarq, not you too
Most people don't like Embarq, at least around here. They have fairly crappy service and charge way too much for it.

[BLeeP]

If the government "sold" the business to the people of Wilson, NC, would TW and Embarq still be able to fight this?

[J Arcane]

If the government "sold" the business to the people of Wilson, NC, would TW and Embarq still be able to fight this?
Spin it off as a non-profit charity. There's a number of them like that out there. Portland used to have several free wireless providers.

[Ancalagon]

Here he is, the CEO of Time Warner.

http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/10912_TWC_Bewkes.png


"And then we get the customer in a death grip, like this..."

[Shadowstorm]

/. article summary:

"The good people of Wilson, NC pay $99/month for 10/10 Mbps internet service, 81 TV channels and telephone service. How'd they manage that, you ask? Well, the city-owned and operated cable service called Greenlight (http://www.greenlightnc.com/) came into being when the City of Wilson approached TWC and local DSL provider Embarq and requested faster service for the area. 'TWC refused the request. And so Greenlight was born (http://www.itworld.com/business/66863/time-warner-cable-wants-legislation-eliminate-competition),' says blogger Peter Smith. 'Now Time Warner Cable and Embarq are upset that they've got competition (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=14934), and rather than try to go head to head with Greenlight on price and service, they've instead been lobbying the state government of NC to pass laws to put Greenlight out of business (http://savencbb.wordpress.com/about/). Apparently they're having some success, as the NC State Senate has proposed bills that would do TWC's bidding.'"

Bitches.

[Deadend]

Fuck the ISP cartel.

Hell, I think they may be a cartel most of the time, as competition is nearly non-existent.

[Talanvor]

When I was shopping around for ISPs, I was a little hopeful I could get some FIOS goodness. So I called up Verizon, and they asked me for my address. Right after that the operator told me that Verizon does not offer internet connectivity to my area, and never will, because it's an AT&T owned area.

WTF?! Why the hell do telecommunication companies get to have government sanctioned monopolies? Who thought this was a good idea? Who thought it was even ethical? Gah!

Godspeed Wilson, I really hope you can beat this because we need something to break the stagnant stranglehold that's gripped America's internet structure.

[Jboy001]

When I was shopping around for ISPs, I was a little hopeful I could get some FIOS goodness. So I called up Verizon, and they asked me for my address. Right after that the operator told me that Verizon does not offer internet connectivity to my area, and never will, because it's an AT&T owned area.

WTF?! Why the hell do telecommunication companies get to have government sanctioned monopolies? Who thought this was a good idea? Who thought it was even ethical? Gah!

Godspeed Wilson, I really hope you can beat this because we need something to break the stagnant stranglehold that's gripped America's internet structure.

Did you call AT&T about U-verse then? It's not as good as fios but it is definitely better than cable providers

[Hexxagonal]

They brought it on themselves by refusing to upgrade to DOCSIS 3.0 after the people refused to take their rip-off tiered internet scheme. The government is the only thing keeping these oligopolies in place. They collude with each and expect the government to continue helping them out like they always have.

[Wraith]

From the Save NC Broadband blog:The bills would:
[/list]
Prohibit cities from moving money between broadband and other divisions. So, Wilson citizens can’t expect to see any of their subscription fees go to pave streets and build basketball courts. Does that make sense?
Ban cities from pricing service below the cost of providing the service. We don’t use this practice.
[/list]While I agree that it's pretty terrible for TW/Embarq to try to squash small competition like this, how do those bills "outlaw" Greenlight? Especially since it doesn't use tax dollars to run the service - customers pay for the service just like customers of the big ISPs do.

[Goronmon]

I inquired about switching to a local DSL service. They offer speeds of 20Mmbps/1Mbps, but apparently due to the distance from the node, I can only get 10Mbps/1Mbps and it's less than $10 cheaper than I am paying for cable from TWC. Not sure if it's worth switching at the moment.

[Talanvor]

Did you call AT&T about U-verse then? It's not as good as fios but it is definitely better than cable providers

The main thrust of my rant was completely dodged I believe!

Anyway, ATT is not any better than TWC. They have (or had, maybe) the same plans for caps, just the internet rage has probably put some caution into them.

Plus, I'm not interested in phone or TV service, I just want the internet connection. Which means they'd have to run a dry loop to my home, and that's a pretty iffy proposition from what I've heard. I'm not about to fight with some CSRs because they have no idea what I'm talking about, even if I'm right, because I don't think I should have to argue with a company to give them money.

Right now I subscribe to Earthlink cable internet, which is leasing the last mile line that TWC owns. I might, maybe, have a buffer if TWC decides to do the caps anyway, but I kind of doubt it.

There are a couple other companies in the area, but they basically do the exact same thing as Earthlink is doing, just with higher prices and lower speeds. So it's either ATT, or TWC; both blue pills IMO.

[NoName]

TWC and Comcast both make me sad.

I wish I had FIOS in my area. :/