iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| reply to marigolds
Re: Yay Opelika! btw it appears as though, for a ten year, 6% bond Opelika's payout per month would be $366,367. For a fifteen year bond at 4.8% it's $257,536. The best way to finance that bond is via triple play packages that are maybe a little cheaper than Charter, but with much better performance.
Now, that may be a little hard to do depending on how Charter runs their promotions versus Opelika. Right now Charter offers a $70 triple play package...for the first twelve months, on a twelve month contract. The bundle appears to include basic cable (like, broadcast basic), 8/1 internet service (I think it's 1 Mbps up) and unlimited VoIP. It appears as though the price skyrockets to $110 per month after the twelve months are up, meaning that a $100 triple play might be just the thing...or maybe not.
So let's say there's a $75 triple play, because people will switch to Opelika fiber over Charter even if it means paying a couple bucks more than the promotional price. Let's say the bundle includes unlimited VoIP, basic cable and 10 Mbps symmetric internet service. That should win a few customers 
Or take Charter's $95 triple play. For $25 more than the $70 one, you get digital TV but MUCH slower (1 Mbps) internet. Plus, in all likelihood, a big price shock at the end of your contract. $110 per month gets you Express (8/1) internet and a few HD channels. At that point, there's enough overall margin that providing competitive services won't be an issue.
On the internet side, six-month starting prices are cheap, but after that things get more expensive. 8/1 starts out at $30, then jumps to $55 after six months. 25/3 "Max" starts out at $55, then jumps to $80. In between, 16/2 ends up being $65. So if Opelika came in and offered 10/10, 20/20 and 30/30 for $50, $60 and $75, respecitvely, they'd be making enough money to keep the ship afloat and be outdoing Charter in the process.
What about the poor basic internet customers, constrained to their $20 per month existence? They should get DSL, to be honest. You don't get those kinds of prices in the US until your infrastructure has been paid off. |
