Posted on 06/11/2003 10:35:00 AM PDT by Pro-Bush
Comcast's two-tier pricing angers broadband-only customers
Bay Area Web surfers who use Comcast for their Internet connection are finding they have to pay a premium if they do not also take the company's cable-television service.
Internet-only customers have seen their monthly bills jump from $46 a month to $60 recently. By contrast, cable modem (news - web sites) users who also buy cable-television service pay just $43 a month for Internet access.
Comcast says it is simply rewarding customers who bundle services. But Internet-only customers say they are being punished for not wanting or needing cable television.
"I feel taken advantage of," said Jill Singleton of Fremont, whose family does not own a TV. "Being able to have broadband is important to us, and it's not like we really have another choice."
Comcast announced the rate increase in December, shortly after the Philadelphia company acquired AT&T Broadband. Company spokesman Andrew Johnson said the company gave its customers ample notice about the rate change.
The new prices began to appear in customers' bills April 1; the specific date varies with their billing cycle.
"We're rewarding people who take more services from us," Johnson said. "Just like other companies. It's a tried-and-true concept."
Johnson would not say how many Bay Area customers take only cable-modem service, but the number is "very, very, very small," he said.
Natalie Munn of Fremont said she never heard about the increase and did not notice any change until Comcast debited her checking account in May.
Happy with satellite
Munn said she switched from cable TV to satellite years ago because of problems with her former cable provider, Viacom. She is happy with the satellite service, she said, and has no plans to switch back to cable.
"It's blatantly unfair," Munn said. "They're using their monopoly position to force people to subscribe to cable."
Johnson said that even with the price increase, broadband-only customers are still getting a good deal. He said Comcast's pricing is competitive with the only broadband alternative, digital subscriber line, or DSL.
Comcast's $60 cable-modem service, with download speeds of up to 1.5 megabytes per second, is comparable with an SBC Yahoo DSL package offered at $59.95, Johnson said. Comcast customers can save $3 a month if they provide their own cable modem.
"We still believe we have a superior product in value," Johnson said.
The two-tier pricing structure, which Comcast uses nationwide, has attracted the ire of consumer groups.
Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America have asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate what they called "anti-competitive" behavior. They are taking aim not at the higher-priced cable-modem service, but at the low-priced TV-Internet bundle.
Bundled pricing
The groups argue that Comcast's bundled pricing is so low -- less than $60 for both Internet access and basic cable TV -- that it amounts to giving away the cable-TV service for free. The goal, they said, is to "shrink the market" for DirecTV satellite television, Comcast's only real competitor in most markets.
"What they're doing, in my view, constitutes predatory pricing," said Chris Murray, legislative counsel for Consumers Union.
Murray said the bundle could be considered anti-consumer.
"If you're looking for a bundle, it's a great deal," he said. "But what about the person who only wants one service? For some people, this is the difference between being able to get broadband and not being able to get broadband."
No....read on, you'll find that they want those that are benefitting, like me, from bundling the services to pay more so that we're all stiffed equally.
If the gov't needs to do anything, maybe it ought to ensure that there can be as many suppliers for cable as there are for DSL??
Are you serious? I must be gettin' away with something because I have no problems. AT&T made it a point to advertise that you could do just that, share your connection with any computer in the home.
Ah, I was wondering what the deal was. I could swear, though, that AT&T used to recommend Linksys routers and sell them right off their broadband webpage, and then still tell people to call up and order more IP#'s.
I haven't done any such thing, just hooked in a D-Link WiFi router to the cable modem and was immediately in business without telling AT&T jack...
Pretty much the same thing - "Someone's getting something that I'm not... That's not fair!"
I've grown to really really really dislike the words "That's not fair" over the years...
Wondered about that myself when I had DSL. Truth is, my cable and internet connection is more reliable than DSL ever was. Not a problem, IMO, but YMMV...
I'd like to go satelite, but I'm not turning my place into swiss cheese just to wire up the minimum 4 places that I want the service to. Let them upgrade to the 21st century by going wireless, then we'll talk.
The cable TV in that house goes out at least once every other day, for ~1-2 hours at a time. Doesn't matter what the weather is. I suspect I'd have been sucking the hind one on inet service at those times as well. I'm sure it's related to the really cr4ppy cable infrastructure Dallas has.
The house has a homerun from the telco NID to the DSL jack in the computer room (still have a server farm there). The splitter would short for months on end, causing the dial tone & voice service to die, but had no effect on the DSL frequency. The DSL has been rock solid, thru an RT that's a block or so away. Never really cared about the voice line anyway.
Actually it's the MAC address of the NIC that is registered.
Go ahead call me a geek.
If you don't like the prices they charge, just don't use their service. You have no right to use government force to get prices or services that you want.
I have been getting JUST cable internet service for over two years with AT&T. Now that COMCAST has bought them out I either have to pay 60 per mo for 1.5mb service or 60 for basic cable AND broadband internet service. I have had DirecTV for years and also get the locals. I will pay the premium for the broadband connection but will NOT subscribe to the TV service.
You an a couple others who caught me napping.
I thought the phone companies were pretty past that. Nobody pays for every phone unless they have the phone company do the wiring which is really expensive.
But what I have had a problem with is the phone company coming out to do a repair and saying the problem was with my wiring when I know there was no dialtone at the outside box. But if I'm not there, my wife doesn't have the technical expertise to argue with them. And once she lets them in, it's too late.
Even if the router idea works successfully with Comcast which I doubt, you are in violation of the user agreement if you do so.
It would be like stealing cable service back when it was legal for the cable companies to charge you for each TV.
It works.
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