5 ms·

How about Verizon and ATT give us the fiber connections they promised us 30 years ago. We've already paid them for it.

e40 3y ago
Sonic.net moved into my area last year and offered 10Gbps service for $40/mo (now $50). At the time, I was on Comcast. 65/15 Mbps for $130/mo. I had this service for 10+ years and I was unable to upgrade to faster speeds without paying more. I was one of the first people in my area to switch. Once I did, I got a call from Comcast saying they'd lower my bill to $50/mo. I saw their (and AT&T) trucks in my area and got ads in my mailbox for $40/mo 1Gbps connections. The problem is, most places in the US do not have competition and Comcast and AT&T will not lift a finger to provide better service.
- linsomniac 3y ago
  "We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company."
  - dctoedt 3y ago
    > We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company." Hah! Haven't thought of that one in years. (You're dating yourself, BTW.) For young whippersnappers, this is from https://vimeo.com/355556831 https://vimeo.com/355556831 — a Lily Tomlin bit on SNL in the 70s, reprising one of her famous recurring characters from Laugh-In in the late 60s.
- rolobio 3y ago
  There was a similar situation when Google Fiber was rolled out in Provo Utah. Comcast essentially had a monopoly (they're the only ones allowed to put their cables on the power lines), they charge huge amounts for their internet, Google Fiber buries their fiber lines and suddenly Comcast drops prices begging people to stay. I had to use Comcast for years, they lied to me many times and I finally escaped to a place with a different provider. Suddenly, this year Comcast comes and buries fiber lines in my area. I will deliberately avoid Comcast, competition is absolutely required to keep prices down.
  - jxramos 3y ago
    I am beginning to accumulate instances of recording when Comcast lied to me personally. They patently lied straight to my face (over phone, over chat) on numerous distinct points. The most recent was outright fraudulent not canceling my phone plan despite 3 separate requests. They lied about my home having its previous tenant using their services. It did not, the last customer was apparently the original home owner who had RG59 cable installed. The tech who installed the system pretty much point blank said this house could not have had Comcast cable in the last decade or more because we switched to RG6 years ago. I don't get how such a company can tolerate bald face liars working for them in so many segments of their staff, it's mind boggling and makes me think there are scumbags at the top who encourage this stuff or knowingly look the other way.
    - andruby 3y ago
      When have they scammed enough customers to attract a proper class action lawsuit? (I'm asking this as a non-American who is more used to governments passing consumer protection laws)
nonameiguess 3y ago
I laugh so hard at this every time it comes up. I live 5 blocks from AT&T world headquarters and they don't even offer service of any kind at my address, let alone fiber. Spectrum is the only option.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  Why would they? Spectrum's profits aren't even that high, so why would AT&T want to compete with them chasing down pennies, even 5 blocks away from HQ?
  - MrMorden 3y ago
    American ISPs without competition charge double what Norwegian ones do for substantially worse service. That money isn't used for physical plant; if it isn't going to profits, where is it being spent?
    - djbusby 3y ago
      Executive compensation, stock buybacks (which is an extension of the former).
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      You can read Spectrum's annual financial report and see the numbers yourself? I'm not really sure what your asking me, do you want my opinion on whether they're making it up?
  - zardo 3y ago
    If executives that live near the office are embarrassed about not using their own product?
- revlolz 3y ago
  ISPs collude and have deals on which of them are zoned where. It's not a conspiracy, it's just reality. Go to any area in the US and whoever the major isp is, only has dysfunctional att or a crappy satalite provider as their "competition." if Cox, Comcast, and spectrum (pick three big names) had to compete in every area the consumers would have a lot more options. Yes, you can't force business to sercice areas, but I think the collusion of these companies is what should be regulated. We all know it's happening and when they do, if the regulators treated them as a single entity, we'd have the antitrust violations and breakups consumers are so desperate for. When Fiber disruptors like frontier, Google, or local metropolitans enter the picture: suddenly the ISPs have a lucrative deals because they finally have to freaking compete. Suddenly the data caps are non issue and consumers can get blazing fast speeds with no infrastructure changes because they are holding out. Regulators need to prevent this in the USA, but have been captured by the isp lobbies. Cable crooks is what I call them, because that's all ISPs are now, crooks. They'll have techs steal or break your equipment. They'll hide evidence when damage was caused by their techs. They'll lie when outages occur due to their own infrastructure failures despite sending out contractors to repair. They'll say whatever they need to, no matter how fraudulent, to tack fees and monthly charges to your account. They've weaseled their way out of being classified as utilities despite that being exactly what they are. I loathe the ISPs in USA. Of course they will push bills like this. I see no end to the hell of having them the as tollmen of the internet.
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e40 3y ago

Sonic.net moved into my area last year and offered 10Gbps service for $40/mo (now $50). At the time, I was on Comcast. 65/15 Mbps for $130/mo. I had this service for 10+ years and I was unable to upgrade to faster speeds without paying more. I was one of the first people in my area to switch. Once I did, I got a call from Comcast saying they'd lower my bill to $50/mo. I saw their (and AT&T) trucks in my area and got ads in my mailbox for $40/mo 1Gbps connections. The problem is, most places in the US do not have competition and Comcast and AT&T will not lift a finger to provide better service.

linsomniac 3y ago
"We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company."
- dctoedt 3y ago
  > We don't care, we don't have to, we're the phone company." Hah! Haven't thought of that one in years. (You're dating yourself, BTW.) For young whippersnappers, this is from https://vimeo.com/355556831 https://vimeo.com/355556831 — a Lily Tomlin bit on SNL in the 70s, reprising one of her famous recurring characters from Laugh-In in the late 60s.
rolobio 3y ago
There was a similar situation when Google Fiber was rolled out in Provo Utah. Comcast essentially had a monopoly (they're the only ones allowed to put their cables on the power lines), they charge huge amounts for their internet, Google Fiber buries their fiber lines and suddenly Comcast drops prices begging people to stay. I had to use Comcast for years, they lied to me many times and I finally escaped to a place with a different provider. Suddenly, this year Comcast comes and buries fiber lines in my area. I will deliberately avoid Comcast, competition is absolutely required to keep prices down.
- jxramos 3y ago
  I am beginning to accumulate instances of recording when Comcast lied to me personally. They patently lied straight to my face (over phone, over chat) on numerous distinct points. The most recent was outright fraudulent not canceling my phone plan despite 3 separate requests. They lied about my home having its previous tenant using their services. It did not, the last customer was apparently the original home owner who had RG59 cable installed. The tech who installed the system pretty much point blank said this house could not have had Comcast cable in the last decade or more because we switched to RG6 years ago. I don't get how such a company can tolerate bald face liars working for them in so many segments of their staff, it's mind boggling and makes me think there are scumbags at the top who encourage this stuff or knowingly look the other way.
  - andruby 3y ago
    When have they scammed enough customers to attract a proper class action lawsuit? (I'm asking this as a non-American who is more used to governments passing consumer protection laws)

nonameiguess 3y ago

I laugh so hard at this every time it comes up. I live 5 blocks from AT&T world headquarters and they don't even offer service of any kind at my address, let alone fiber. Spectrum is the only option.

MichaelZuo 3y ago
Why would they? Spectrum's profits aren't even that high, so why would AT&T want to compete with them chasing down pennies, even 5 blocks away from HQ?
- MrMorden 3y ago
  American ISPs without competition charge double what Norwegian ones do for substantially worse service. That money isn't used for physical plant; if it isn't going to profits, where is it being spent?
  - djbusby 3y ago
    Executive compensation, stock buybacks (which is an extension of the former).
  - MichaelZuo 3y ago
    You can read Spectrum's annual financial report and see the numbers yourself? I'm not really sure what your asking me, do you want my opinion on whether they're making it up?
- zardo 3y ago
  If executives that live near the office are embarrassed about not using their own product?
revlolz 3y ago
ISPs collude and have deals on which of them are zoned where. It's not a conspiracy, it's just reality. Go to any area in the US and whoever the major isp is, only has dysfunctional att or a crappy satalite provider as their "competition." if Cox, Comcast, and spectrum (pick three big names) had to compete in every area the consumers would have a lot more options. Yes, you can't force business to sercice areas, but I think the collusion of these companies is what should be regulated. We all know it's happening and when they do, if the regulators treated them as a single entity, we'd have the antitrust violations and breakups consumers are so desperate for. When Fiber disruptors like frontier, Google, or local metropolitans enter the picture: suddenly the ISPs have a lucrative deals because they finally have to freaking compete. Suddenly the data caps are non issue and consumers can get blazing fast speeds with no infrastructure changes because they are holding out. Regulators need to prevent this in the USA, but have been captured by the isp lobbies. Cable crooks is what I call them, because that's all ISPs are now, crooks. They'll have techs steal or break your equipment. They'll hide evidence when damage was caused by their techs. They'll lie when outages occur due to their own infrastructure failures despite sending out contractors to repair. They'll say whatever they need to, no matter how fraudulent, to tack fees and monthly charges to your account. They've weaseled their way out of being classified as utilities despite that being exactly what they are. I loathe the ISPs in USA. Of course they will push bills like this. I see no end to the hell of having them the as tollmen of the internet.

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