They are just raising broadband rates as people cut cable. I cut mine in 2010 when my internet was $46. Now it is $73 a month.
You got that right. That is why I am keeping cable. You can’t beat the cable company no matter what you do. It started with hard line phones. I decided not to get one in my new home. Did I save a penny on the bill? Heck no. In fact very soon having cable will be the same as having a hard line. It will be an addition but not cost anything because Broadband will cost 220 bucks a month to have. It’s coming. The cable company will win this “war on cable”.
I cut my cable because 1) they kept raising rates every year, and 2) while giving me nothing but crap programming. One of my favorite channels had always been History, but when they started running all weekend Sasquatch and Ancient Aliens marathons, I found I was watching more and more free PBS historical documentaries. (”free” as in already paid for by my tax dollars.) I got tired of paying for programming I never watched and which I sometimes find outright offensive (MTV, Bravo 24/7 Queer Programming, Al Jazeera, CNN, MSNBC, 150 Spanish channels, ‘All My Bastard Children’ on TLC, etc). Fox News was hard to quit at first, but after the first week away became very, very easy to live without. So why should I pay for all that? I cut the cable in protest. I bought a $39 antennae and Apple TV, I get at least 15 good local channels, including 3 PBS channels (buh-bye Food Network and History!), and MeTV and COSI, which gives me vintage programming. I’ll take Antiques Roadshow over American Pickers any day, and most anything else will eventually show up on Netflix. (Although I am really starting to get annoyed because they still have not uploaded the end of the last MadMen season, or the 2nd season of Turn, one of my favorites.) And, I can usually watch my alma mater’s games on Apple TV through ESPN3, where with cable I couldn’t afford the extra tier that included sports programming, and even if I had, I couldn’t choose the option of watching the games I wanted rather than what they were broadcasting. So even though the recent rate raise sucks, I’m still getting more for my $ than with cable.
I wish I still had my landline. It provides 40 volts DC and would be very useful when TSHTF. But it went away when we went to Comcast phone service.