Time Warner issues AGAIN

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

So this explained how Metrocast got away with telling the Laconia council they have received no complaints. We need a change on Capital Hill!

....the powers what be get in the habit of reading what they are signing. If they see a section like that, then demand it be eliminated or amended. They refuse...Ok Next!!!!

[Lakegeezer]

Originally Posted by upthesaukee

....the powers what be get in the habit of reading what they are signing. If they see a section like that, then demand it be eliminated or amended. They refuse...Ok Next!!!!

How does this refusal thing work? TWC or any other provider owns the cable plant. If the town refuses terms, the provider can threaten to stop serving the town. Then what? There may not be others willing to buy the infrastructure or string their own cable. They have us over a barrel and if Comcast and TWC merge (seems likely with the the new FCC chair on board), the monopoly will be mostly complete, except for you lucky Metrocast folks. A looming problem is that internet neutrality is evaporating and towns won't be able to do a thing about it. Content delivery speed will be based on how much the content provider is willing to pay. Citizens lose out this time. The state PUC can't do much, because cable internet is not a regulated service. If you want to change the government to fix this, you'll have to vote for those promoting more regulations, but in reality, Time Warner contributes much more to the major political parties than you do. They get their way.

[Crusty]

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

If the town refuses terms, the provider can threaten to stop serving the town.

We've had TWC here in Columbus since the early '70s. About 15 years ago the phone company (Ameritech) decided to compete and installed cable through most of the city alongside TWC's lines. I got better rates as soon as the new cable went past my house. Just before the system was complete, Ameritech was bought-out by SBC. The SBC folks made a big point of stating that "they were in the telephone business" and were not interested in cable TV. They announced that, absent a buyer, they would let their system "go dark".

The city --and this is the key point-- told them that if they went dark, they would need to remove all of their equipment from the public right-of-ways and restore them to their original state. Since this would have cost many tens of millions of dollars to unstring and dig up wire, etc., they kept it going until they were able to find a buyer (Wide Open West (WOW), at less than 5 cents on the dollar). BTW, the first thing WOW did was start offering digital phone service

The point of all this is that it may not be all that easy or cheap for a cable company to pull-up stakes and leave an area.

[patman]

Originally Posted by Lakegeezer

They have us over a barrel and if Comcast and TWC merge (seems likely with the the new FCC chair on board), the monopoly will be mostly complete, except for you lucky Metrocast folks.

In 2010 when Comcast was trying to acquire NBC/Universal, Comcast told the Senate that competition from TWC would prevent Comcast from arbitrarily increasing prices. Fast forward to today, and Comcast is telling the Senate that the merger with TWC is OK because they don't actually compete anywhere but in a few areas.

Makes your head spin...