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Comcast AT&T Deal Wins Approval
FTC gives green light to the creation of mega-provider
(old news - 11:27AM Tuesday Sep 17 2002)
tags: business · cable
Comcast has announced that the Federal Trade Commission has granted antitrust approval to its proposed deal to buy AT&T Corp.'s cable unit, essentially giving the final green light to the creation of the nation's largest cable provider. The $54.6 billion deal is set to be completed during the fourth quarter of this year. Despite the fact that Earthlink and various consumer groups wanted to hear details of the AOL/Comcast deal before government approval, the company remained mute on the details, and the deal has moved forward.

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Forums » Comcast AT&T Deal Wins Approval
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Minister

join:2002-01-02
Fleeting

That's no moon....

It is a sad day for the rebel alliance....
systems2000
What? You Say It's Fixed. Hah

join:2001-11-29
Cyberspace
·Embarq

Corporations Win Again!!


As long as the Corporate big boys have influence in Washington, true competition and customer service will lose every time. This stinks of the same cr** as Microsoft. Slap them on the wrist when they shaft the public, then award them with bigger growth and less competition. How does this benefit the general public?

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Corporations Win Again!!

said by systems2000:
How does this benefit the general public?
AT&T's broadband customers will continue to have service even though the rest of AT&T is in the toilet. What's better? Having AT&T close down its cable/broadband operations because they lack the money to run them and the brains to manage them properly? Or sell to a company that's been in the cable business for years and knows what its doing?
--
Proud to be an American infidel.
systems2000
What? You Say It's Fixed. Hah

join:2001-11-29
Cyberspace
·Embarq

Re: Corporations Win Again!!

said by pnh102:
Or sell to a company that's been in the cable business for years and knows what its doing?
They may have been in the cable business for years, but how does that equate to them knowing what they are doing? They have been running HSI service for less than a year and AT&T has been networking a lot longer. I'd say AT&T has more experience than Comcast.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Corporations Win Again!!

said by systems2000:
They have been running HSI service for less than a year and AT&T has been networking a lot longer. I'd say AT&T has more experience than Comcast.
True... but keep in mind AT&T's interaction with home-based customers, which are the bread and butter for cable, used to be long distance service, in which an ILEC would pretty much handle everything for them. Aside from credits for wrong numbers, or other LD service problems, AT&T didn't really have familiarity with the hands on approach that cable TV requires.

Additionally, when AT&T bought TCI, they overpaid significantly. They got TCI for $54 billion in 1999 and are now selling it to Comcast for $54.6 billion. Even factoring in inflation this was a horrible deal for AT&T, they had been pushed into the corner and now have no choice but to sell. What I wonder is, and the link I give makes mention of this, is that AT&T spent "$100 Billion" on other cable TV operations. Does this include TCI or not? And is ATTBI their ENTIRE operation, that they reportedly spent $100 to $150 Billion on, that they are selling for $54.6 billion now? I'm not even sure if this factors in the upgrades AT&T had to do to TCI's network to make it up to snuff.

Yikes.
--
Proud to be an American infidel.
jimbos76

join:2002-02-04
Marlton, NJ

Re: Corporations Win Again!!

AT&T did no upgrades to the tci systems. One of the conditions for AT&T buying TCI was they had to upgrade before the sale. So TCI threw together a bunch of crap including using telephone for the return path in order for the sale to go through. As for "more experience" the only thing AT&T has more experience with is losing money and over paying for things.

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance

join:2001-08-18
Naples, FL
·Comcast

Goody

So now it's official; great, I'm sure the consumer is really going to win in this latest meld. Does this mean a Comcast customer who is using a router to share access with their wife or children is going to be labeled a "service thief"? (Per AT&T's terms of service...)

The bigger they become, the further we get to bend over.
--
"I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent
elboomboom

join:2002-01-27
El Cajon, CA

Re: Goody

AT&T will label them a thief............They always do.....

RipRap
Bmw Power

join:2000-08-24
Berlin, CT
clubs:
·Comcast

Get Ready for............................

Price Increases..

NO customer service.

Piss poor tech support.

More SPAM.

Clueless installers.

Oooops. We already have all of that!

Can you say MONOPOLY?
I knew you could!

Boycott ________!
--
The world holds two classes of men: intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence.
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by Boycott RIAA:
Can you say MONOPOLY?
I knew you could!

Boycott ________!

They will always be competing with DSL, Satellite TV, Satellite internet and the phone company. Comcast and AT&T are already the only cable providers in the areas they cover (infact in almost all areas only 1 cable provider is available to choose from), nothing changes.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA

Re: Get Ready for............................

Problem is bloat creats inefficiency and horrid customer service as the peanut heads running the bloated enterprise try to save short term cash rather than look at the long term. Means, longer on hold times, deeper telephone menus, more bloated billing processes and to cover the "costs"...fee increases.

While both of these companies per customer costs will drop because of increased volume...they will just heap on the price increases like ATTBi has done.

Just last year alone average collections per ATTBi customer went from $36 in 1Q 2001 to over $40 by 2Q 2002. More than 10% while their expenses remained unchanged despite turning up new customers (this according to their latest financial report). You don't add customers without spending more money unless you cut services. And ATTBi has done just that. While their peers offer 2Mb, 3Mb and faster speeds for comparable price, ATTBi has elected to double the price for the same service it offered just 18 months ago. 250% increase in customer charges for the same service. Cox is reporting profits in their HSI division despite offering 3Mb service for $36. ATTBi peanut heads just gouge the customers because they can. And this merger will just expose more people to their tyrannical anti-customer practices.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

"Problem is bloat creats inefficiency and horrid customer service as the peanut heads running the bloated enterprise try to save short term cash rather than look at the long term. Means, longer on hold times, deeper telephone menus, more bloated billing processes and to cover the "costs"...fee increases."

Just because a company is big doesn't mean they can't offer good customer service. Just as a company being small doesn't mean they will offer good customer service. Look at em now, they haven't even merged yet and they already offer horid customer service, it can only get better.

"While both of these companies per customer costs will drop because of increased volume...they will just heap on the price increases like ATTBi has done.

Just last year alone average collections per ATTBi customer went from $36 in 1Q 2001 to over $40 by 2Q 2002. More than 10% while their expenses remained unchanged despite turning up new customers (this according to their latest financial report). You don't add customers without spending more money unless you cut services."

Haven't you had enough already with trolling this in the ATTBI forums? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 13:53:27]

jhboricua
ExMod 2000-01
join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN
clubs:

Re: Get Ready for............................

Do you know the meaning of trolling? Cause honestly I don't see it on Hogula's post.
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by jhboricua:
Do you know the meaning of trolling? Cause honestly I don't see it on Hogula's post.
I wasn't talking about the post he made here but all the posts he's made in the ATTBI forum saying the same thing.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by JonIrenicas:
said by jhboricua:
Do you know the meaning of trolling? Cause honestly I don't see it on Hogula's post.
I wasn't talking about the post he made here but all the posts he's made in the ATTBI forum saying the same thing.
How is it trolling to point out the truth? These are FACTS of ATTBi not conjecture. It's shows a pattern of customer abuse by ATTBi and the trend is getting worse.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by Count Hogula:
How is it trolling to point out the truth? These are FACTS of ATTBi not conjecture. It's shows a pattern of customer abuse by ATTBi and the trend is getting worse.

For one, offering 1.5 Mbps speeds for $8 cheaper then DSL it's best competitor for half the speed is not abuse.

And truth or not you've been constantly posting this to no end. Now opinions on what is and isn't trolling does vary but in my view it's trolling. One or two posts is sufficient, you don't need to spam the boards.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA

Re: Get Ready for............................

It's not spamming to continue the point after it's brought up. And again...maybe you aren't getting it. It's not about xDSL versus cable...it's about ATTBi compared to their peers. The technologies have different cost factors...but cable is cable and ATTBi (as evidenced by their books) has shown a pattern of unjustified price increases as a consequence of their monopoly power. Their peers aren't taking 258% increases.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by Count Hogula:
It's not spamming to continue the point after it's brought up. And again...maybe you aren't getting it. It's not about xDSL versus cable...it's about ATTBi compared to their peers. The technologies have different cost factors...but cable is cable and ATTBi (as evidenced by their books) has shown a pattern of unjustified price increases as a consequence of their monopoly power. Their peers aren't taking 258% increases.

Maybe those companies would too if they were in debt and were upgrading neigborhoods all over the country. And ATTBI raised the prices by $6 after @home folded, I'm not very good at math but that's barely a 6% increase.

I know you're reffering to the ultra service that has the old bankrupt @home speeds for $80/month but if people really want those speeds enough they will pay more for it. No one is forcing anyone to order that service and 1.5 Mbps is already plenty of bandwidth.

[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 16:27:26]

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

You're right. Your math isn't very good. When charging $30, $6 is a 20% increase ($6 being a 6% increase of something would have the original price at $100). Then they took another increase. And that's not all they did...they cut the speeds in half (while their peers like Cox didn't) then came back offering those original speeds for 258% higher. ATTBi isn't the only CATV operation expanding...but their books show that their expenses in the ATTB division haven't increased over the last year while they increased their per customer take from $36 to over $40. Now if they are adding all these customer as you claim...but aren't spending a dime more (as their financial report states)...what's happening? They're cutting services. They maintain the same amount of CS agents and tech people to support and ever increasing customer base. On hold times increase and service goes downhill.

As for your second comment...now we see your attitude. 1.5Mb may be plenty for you...how about 768? Would you be upset if they cut your speeds to 768? How about 512? Tell all of us here how much speed is "enough". ATTBi subscribers should be getting what they've originally payed for and these endless price hikes should result in some improvement of services. Cox and Dish Network seem to have learned the lesson.

And again...@Home failed because of their Excite purchase...not bandwidth. Your continuous assertion that it was bandwidth that ran @home into bankruptcy is false.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson

[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 16:40:34]
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

"You're right. Your math isn't very good. When charging $30, $6 is a 20% increase ($6 being a 6% increase of something would have the original price at $100)."

They were charging $36. $36 + $6 = $42 = 6 or 7% increase.

"And that's not all they did...they cut the speeds in half (while their peers like Cox didn't)"

Cox doesn't have near as many neigborhoods to upgrade and maintane as ATTBI does. Even still Cox has already started price increases in select areas.

"but their books show that their expenses in the ATTB division haven't increased over the last year while they increased their per customer take from $36 to over $40."

That doesn't mean anything. The expenses they incured to warrant a price increase could have happened more then a year ago.

"1.5Mb may be plenty for you"

Who would it not be plenty for? Someone who is reselling the connection? Someone who downloads endless porn and warez everyday?

"how about 768? Would you be upset if they cut your speeds to 768?"

Absolutely. Although the difference between 3.0 and 1.5 is slight the difference between 750 and 1.5 would be huge. They won't lower it though, infact I feel they will increase it in the coming years once they start to balance out and get more organized aswell as possibly DSL being able to offer 2 Mbps+ speeds at low prices.

"Tell all of us here how much speed is "enough"."

1.5 Mbps is enough.

"ATTBi subscribers should be getting what they've originally payed for and these endless price hikes should result in some improvement of services."

What they originally payed for was their first month of service with @Home. What they payed for this month is 1.5 Mbps download speeds from AT&T Broadband.

"Cox and Dish Network seem to have learned the lesson."

Might wanna stop boasting Cox after the resent news that they've increased prices by $5 in several of their markets.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

"They were charging $36. $36 + $6 = $42 = 6 or 7% increase."

$6 is 16.67% of $36 guy. $36 + (16.67% of $36) = $42. You must subscribe to ATTBi's math practices.

"Cox doesn't have near as many neigborhoods to upgrade and maintane as ATTBI does. Even still Cox has already started price increases in select areas."

Really? Yeah...there is no development going on in Orange County, CA or any of their other markets. Nice fiction. Meanwhile your comments still don't address ATTBi not spending any more even though they have more customers to support. Per customer revenues have sky-rocketed...per customer spending has plummeted.

"That doesn't mean anything. The expenses they incurred to warrant a price increase could have happened more then a year ago."

Read their financials...they DIDN'T SPEND ANY MORE MONEY THAN LAST YEAR. And they already had an increase last year.

"Absolutely. Although the difference between 3.0 and 1.5 is slight the difference between 750 and 1.5 would be huge. They won't lower it though, infact I feel they will increase it in the coming years once they start to balance out and get more organized aswell as possibly DSL being able to offer 2 Mbps+ speeds at low prices."

Ummm, 50% is 50%. I suppose you are for DL caps too?

"1.5 Mbps is enough."

Really...nice to know that you speak for the U.S. internet subscriber base.

"Might wanna stop boasting Cox after the resent news that they've increased prices by $5 in several of their markets."

Meanwhile they're still cheaper than ATTBi and twice the speed...or is it less than 1/2 the cost for the same speed. I guess it's both. Welcome to ATTBi's new math.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson

[text was edited by author 2002-09-17 17:19:56]
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

"Really? Yeah...there is no development going on in Orange County, CA or any of their other markets. Nice fiction."

I didn't say there isn't any development going on in Orange county. Nice fiction. I said they don't have nearly as many Neigborhoods to upgrade and mantain.

"Really...nice to know that you speak for the U.S. internet subscriber base."

I speak for myself.

"Meanwhile they're still cheaper than ATTBi and twice the speed...or is it less than 1/2 the cost for the same speed. I guess it's both. Welcome to ATTBi's new math."

As I said they can offer that because they don't have nearly as many neigborhoods to upgrade and mantain as ATTB does. Nore the backbone ATT has created. And even with having a cap twice as much as ATTBI does they only average about 200Kbps more then ATTBI in speed tests. Just because the cap is at 3 MBPS doesn't mean users are ever gonna get that speed. ATTB has done alot to create a very stable network, virtually all users see 1.4 MBps where the cap is set at while with Cox it fluctuates and many many people test bellow 1 Mbps, most people test between 2.0 Mbps and 100 Kbps.

I guess you have to ask yourself. Would you rather pay a little more every month and have very stable 1.4 Mbps speeds or pay a little less and have very eratic speeds. Or pay twice as much and have stable 3.0 Mbps speeds. I don't know about you or anyone else but I'd go for the stability every single time.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by JonIrenicas:
"Really? Yeah...there is no development going on in Orange County, CA or any of their other markets. Nice fiction."

I didn't say there isn't any development going on in Orange county. Nice fiction. I said they don't have nearly as many Neigborhoods to upgrade and mantain.

"Really...nice to know that you speak for the U.S. internet subscriber base."

I speak for myself.

"Meanwhile they're still cheaper than ATTBi and twice the speed...or is it less than 1/2 the cost for the same speed. I guess it's both. Welcome to ATTBi's new math."

As I said they can offer that because they don't have nearly as many neigborhoods to upgrade and mantain as ATTB does. Nore the backbone ATT has created. And even with having a cap twice as much as ATTBI does they only average about 200Kbps more then ATTBI in speed tests. Just because the cap is at 3 MBPS doesn't mean users are ever gonna get that speed. ATTB has done alot to create a very stable network, virtually all users see 1.4 MBps where the cap is set at while with Cox it fluctuates and many many people test bellow 1 Mbps, most people test between 2.0 Mbps and 100 Kbps.

I guess you have to ask yourself. Would you rather pay a little more every month and have very stable 1.4 Mbps speeds or pay a little less and have very eratic speeds. Or pay twice as much and have stable 3.0 Mbps speeds. I don't know about you or anyone else but I'd go for the stability every single time.
PER SUBSCRIBER REVENUE...increased from $36 to $40. More subscribers just means more revenue...EXCEPT they aren't spending any more money when they take on these new customers.

ATTBi also takes in more money. Your statement makes no sense. How does the number of customers matter when you have revenue from every customer. Double the customers, double the revenue.

They have the revenue to spend in division...but they aren't spending it. That's the ONLY reason your aren't getting it.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

"PER SUBSCRIBER REVENUE...increased from $36 to $40. More subscribers just means more revenue...EXCEPT they aren't spending any more money when they take on these new customers."

What's with this personal vandeta against ATTBI? They offer some of the cheapest prices in Broadband, Cable broadband even.

"ATTBi also takes in more money. Your statement makes no sense. How does the number of customers matter when you have revenue from every customer. Double the customers, double the revenue."

They have more area's to upgrade and maintain then any other cable provider. I don't care if that doesn't make any sense to you.

"They have the revenue to spend in division...but they aren't spending it. That's the ONLY reason your aren't getting it."

Maybe they do maybe they don't. I personally don't care.

BTW, you registered on June 19th and have made 1558 posts. I haven't met many non trolls who post at such a ridiculous rate. My question is don't you have anything better to do with your time then to endlessly bash a Broadband ISP's prices when they already offer very good and competetive prices?

[text was edited by author 2002-09-18 13:21:21]

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

"What's with this personal vandeta against ATTBI? They offer some of the cheapest prices in Broadband, Cable broadband even."

What's with your shilling for ATTBi? They DON'T offer some of the cheapest rates (most of their peers are cheaper) AND they offer 33-66% less services.

"They have more area's to upgrade and maintain then any other cable provider. I don't care if that doesn't make any sense to you."

It seems to not make sense to you.

PER CUSTOMER REVENUE X NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS = TOTAL REVENUE

Maybe your math is still fuzzy so I will explain it again. More customers means more revenue to support those customers. EXCEPT, ATTB is in the practice of taking on more customers, charging them higher rates, while keeping total expenditures the same. I think your ignorance to this fact is intentional.

"Maybe they do maybe they don't. I personally don't care."

Of course you don't care that you're over paying for your service. Other's do.

"BTW, you registered on June 19th and have made 1558 posts. I haven't met many non trolls who post at such a ridiculous rate. My question is don't you have anything better to do with your time then to endlessly bash a Broadband ISP's prices when they already offer very good and competetive prices?"

Shilling for ATTBi is a better hobby you think? Figures some one who enjoys paying too much for service would also criticize active members of DSLR. ATTBi offers less than mediocre service for the prices they charge compared to their peers. You may be a philanthropist, but others aren't and question why ATTBi needs to continuously raise prices while offering less service when their peers seem to do just fine offering more for less.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson

[text was edited by author 2002-09-18 14:12:25]
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

"They DON'T offer some of the cheapest rates (most of their peers are cheaper) AND they offer 33-66% less services."

They blow DSL away in speeds and price. Cox is cheaper in many of it's markets while in others it's more expensive then ATTBI. Roadrunner is about the same price. Really, ATTBI offers very good and competitive prices. Also as I stated earlier just because the caps are higher then ATTBI doesn't mean users will ever see those speeds. Cox's systems are very unstable and even though the cap is at 3 Mbps most users see between 100Kbps and 2 Mbps. ATTB's systems are very stable and virtually all users test at the 1.4 Mbps the cap is set at while if you want 3 Mbps and are whilling to pay for it you will almost always get the 3 Mbps when with Cox it could be 100 KBps or 2 Mbps and on rare occasions 3 Mbps it all depends. Again, just because the caps are higher doesn't mean users get those speeds because they usually don't get anywhere near.

"It seems to not make sense to you.

PER CUSTOMER REVENUE X NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS = TOTAL REVENUE

Maybe your math is still fuzzy so I will explain it again. More customers means more revenue to support those customers. EXCEPT, ATTB is in the practice of taking on more customers, charging them higher rates, while keeping total expenditures the same. I think your ignorance to this fact is intentional."

Upgrading areas in not cheap and while it may pay for itself in the long run in the short term it is very costly. You can throw this revenue crap at me all you want. I don't care, ATTB is in debt and they have every right to get out of it. Business must be proffitable.

"Of course you don't care that you're over paying for your service. Other's do."

$42 is not overpaying, it's very reasonable and competitive. I'd be very lucky to get this price for these speeds anywhere else. The end.

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA

Re: Get Ready for............................

Every cable operator does new installs and a lot of the "new infrastructure" is actually paid by the builder. You think they'll trench the 'hood for free. Think again.

As for Cox speeds, I get consistent 3Mb speeds from Cox OC. (See speed tests for ZIP 92883). My friends with TW in OC get consistant 2Mb speeds from their RR connections. Sure everyone has their problems...but even with problems Cox and TW are faster than ATTBi on a good day.

$42 is not reasonable and is overpriced when compared to ATTBi cable peers.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by Count Hogula:
$42 is not reasonable and is overpriced when compared to ATTBi cable peers.

Pretty funny statement when you take in account that most cable broadband providers charge more then that. Yes even Cox (though not in all markets) and Roadrunner.

Also, you claim to have Cox yet it clearly shows in this thread »How close is close that you don't have a Cable connection and you're waiting for ATTBI to "roll out' in your area. And your profile clearly says your claimed ISP is Unplugged/Coastinet, NOT Cox plus you've made two reviews »/allrevi···p=,92883 two reviews that aren't reviewing Cox.

Clearly you don't have Cox cable so this statement "As for Cox speeds, I get consistent 3Mb speeds from Cox OC" is a lie. You don't get those speeds because you don't got Cox cable. If you can't get this right why should anything you say be taken seriously? We might aswell assume everything you type is a lie. And you sure do bash ATTB alot for someone who is eagerly awaiting their services. Clearly you are a troll and anyone that thinks you aren't is lying to themselves.
[text was edited by author 2002-09-19 00:23:26]

Count Hogula$
Notorious Dog
Premium
join:2002-06-19
Corona, CA


edited

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by JonIrenicas:
said by Count Hogula:
$42 is not reasonable and is overpriced when compared to ATTBi cable peers.

Pretty funny statement when you take in account that most cable broadband providers charge more then that. Yes even Cox (though not in all markets) and Roadrunner.

Also, you claim to have Cox yet it clearly shows in this thread »How close is close that you don't have a Cable connection and you're waiting for ATTBI to "roll out' in your area. And your profile clearly says your claimed ISP is Unplugged/Coastinet, NOT Cox plus you've made two reviews »/allrevi···p=,92883 two reviews that aren't reviewing Cox.

Clearly you don't have Cox cable so this statement "As for Cox speeds, I get consistent 3Mb speeds from Cox OC" is a lie. You don't get those speeds because you don't got Cox cable. If you can't get this right why should anything you say be taken seriously? We might aswell assume everything you type is a lie. And you sure do bash ATTB alot for someone who is eagerly awaiting their services. Clearly you are a troll and anyone that thinks you aren't is lying to themselves.
[text was edited by author 2002-09-19 00:23:26]

Lameass, I don't claim to have Cox HSI...just access to it. Before flapping your mouth off go to the speed test archive for zip 92883 AS I HAD STATED PREVIOUSLY. Oh yeah...your head is too far up your ass to actually bother reading the thread.

Count Hogula 92883 3126/201 3000/300 11th 23:xx oc.oc.cox.net
Count Hogula 92883 3059/205 3000/300 12th 05:xx oc.oc.cox.net
Count Hogula 92883 2914/211 3000/300 11th 23:xx oc.oc.cox.net

You're just another dumbass lying ATTBi shill.
--
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. -Thomas Jefferson

[text was edited by author 2002-09-19 10:06:17]

Blizzard0

join:2000-06-27
Beverly Hills, CA

first off im gonna tell ya a little bit about some of the crap attbi has pulled in my area since they bought mediaone.

one of my freinds has had cable service since it was first available here and the prices have been hiked yearly since.

so here what attbi does here and you can tell me if you deem this a worthy company to fight for. id rather see the ship sink and another company pull to the bow and take the customers and SOME of the workers.

ok we start analyzing now 4 price increases in 4 years.

First was from 29.95 to 35.95 this was renting a modem from them. Second was 35.95 to 41.95 then to 45.95 now to 49.95 ohhh not bad you say because you got the modem. Well yeah let's see i bought me a modem to knock off $10 dropped me to 39.95 for all of 4 months.... hey no surprise im paying 46.95 now compared to the 42.95 for people who don't own the modem. Wow seems like i got myself a hell of a deal.

Second Tangent Where i live weekly and i do mean weekly our cable service goes down for a day or so. attbi knows of the issue and has yet to fix it. same problem every time a truck takes out a damn node down the road. you figure one tech would move the node from the low hanging position to a spot away from the low wire.

hey amazing all this money to go towards upgrades i have yet to hit my cap consistantly. sure once a month at 180 k a sec is great try using linux and developing open source when you do it for free on your time just to be pissed when attbi goes down and you can't upload 5 or 6 days of work. yeah i hear it just wait a couple days till it's back up. should i really have to wait as it was sold to me always on and reliable. besides this code is helping many and having some one reinvent your wheel is a useless waste of time.

this has been my experience with attbi since i moved and also since my freind has lived in this area. i find it quite amuzing when you harp about how good attbi is when you don't see the trouble spots. i also find it amuzing when people harp about the crappy parts of the network because they have never seen a stable connection. my amuzement with the bad connection is that of i just gotta laugh because it happens to me here also and i know it sucks.

Guys 2 sides to every story. The attbi books probably lie just like enron and most of the others. if they do put out money for upgrades id like my area added to the list. it's pretty bad when you call and the person you talk to 9 times out of 10 knows your voice and name.

AFTER ALL THAT I SAY SINK THE DAMN SHIP AND DON'T THROW LIFESAVERS TO THE EXEC's AND MANAGERS WHO ARE RUNNING IT INTO THE GROUND.
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I too was a attbi hater but now with this new service my connection is to slow to complain ...

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

said by Count Hogula:
Every cable operator does new installs and a lot of the "new infrastructure" is actually paid by the builder. You think they'll trench the 'hood for free. Think again.
Actually Comcast did all of its upgrades in our area without a (recent) fee hike. The only thing they charge you for if you get broadband is if you have a "professional installation." I believe that is $50 if you do that.

What amazes me the most is that ATTBI and Comcast are both able to charge the exact same amount for broadband in most of their markets, even though some customers cost a lot more to hook up than others. I'm sure if I had to pay the "full cost" of my connection, it'd be a helluva lot more than I am currently paying!
--
Proud to be an American infidel.
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

"Actually Comcast did all of its upgrades in our area without a (recent) fee hike. The only thing they charge you for if you get broadband is if you have a "professional installation." I believe that is $50 if you do that.

What amazes me the most is that ATTBI and Comcast are both able to charge the exact same amount for broadband in most of their markets, even though some customers cost a lot more to hook up than others. I'm sure if I had to pay the "full cost" of my connection, it'd be a helluva lot more than I am currently paying!"

Ya there was no pay hike in my area either.

"Lameass, I don't claim to have Cox HSI...just access to it. Before flapping your mouth off go to the speed test archive for zip 92883 AS I HAD STATED PREVIOUSLY. Oh yeah...your head is too far up your ass to actually bother reading the thread."

LOL, I apologize. I read but I'm not gonna do everything you ask.

"You're just another dumbass lying ATTBi shill."

You're just another typical troll that makes 18 posts a day. And what have I ever lied about?

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

said by JonIrenicas:
Maybe those companies would too if they were in debt and were upgrading neigborhoods all over the country. And ATTBI raised the prices by $6 after @home folded
Keep in mind that when they bought TCI, they bought it high, and having no idea how to run a cable company, were unable to perform these upgrades in a profitable manner. I think ATTBI will be under much better management by Comcast, because cable is still their primary business.
--
Proud to be an American infidel.
JonIrenicas

join:2002-06-22

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by pnh102:
Keep in mind that when they bought TCI, they bought it high, and having no idea how to run a cable company, were unable to perform these upgrades in a profitable manner. I think ATTBI will be under much better management by Comcast, because cable is still their primary business.

Ya I remember when they started upgrading my area shortly after they took over for TCI in June of 2000, that was when the economy started to really slide and AT&T got deep into their financial trouble. They ended up not finishing the upgrades in my area until two years later this last June.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by JonIrenicas:
They ended up not finishing the upgrades in my area until two years later this last June.
Wow... I have a bad feeling that if AT&T continues to go into the shitter (as they are because of their sales losses in residential long distance), they will end up taking the broadband division with them. It definitely better to let ATTBI go now instead of letting it sink with the rest of the ship.
--
Proud to be an American infidel.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

said by JonIrenicas:
Hasen't you had enough already with trolling this in the ATTBI forums? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?
Agreed. The way I read some of the posts here, its as if all people here do all day long is stay on the phone with customer support (because their connections never work) and do speed tests, and the second anything goes below what "OOL does", its automatically the fault of some big "evil" mega-corp.

Personally, I am very happy with my Comcast-provided Cable TV service and high speed Internet service. I feel that they have earned the money I pay them for these things. How did Comcast get to where they are today? Its not because they held guns to peoples' heads and said "gimme money", its because they offered services that people wanted to buy. The second they bought up our old cable company they worked to make broadband available to us, something no other company, especially these worthless mom & pop ISPs (and even all of the bigger worthless ISPs, such as Earthlink), ever bothered to do. By the time it was available, everyone in my neighborhood subscribed to it (the newly run cable lines along peoples' lawns show that).

I don't fault Comcast for being as big as they are, they earned it. Maybe if some of these other ISPs had done the same things they did, they would be reaping the benefits.
--
Proud to be an American infidel.

cybermud

join:2000-08-25
Chicago, IL
·Comcast Workplace

Re: Get Ready for............................

said by pnh102:
said by JonIrenicas:
...its automatically the fault of some big "evil" mega-corp.
Sometimes I forget that I am not at 'CommunistReports.com'

JakCrow

join:2001-12-06
Palo Alto, CA
·DSL EXTREME

said by JonIrenicas:
Just because a company is big doesn't mean they can't offer good customer service. Just as a company being small doesn't mean they will offer good customer service. Look at em now, they haven't even merged yet and they already offer horid customer service, it can only get better.

"It can only get better." That's what they said when at&t bought tci, but instead, tci's poor customer service infected all of at&t.

said by JonIrenicas:

Haven't you had enough already with trolling this in the ATTBI forums? Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

Stop shilling for at&t.

skyjock41
Shag Diesel
Premium
join:2001-12-11
Ledyard, CT
clubs:
·Comcast

"Just because a company is big doesn't mean they can't offer good customer service. Just as a company being small doesn't mean they will offer good customer service. Look at em now, they haven't even merged yet and they already offer horid customer service, it can only get better."

You think its bad now and cant get any worse lol? You need to click your heels again and maybe youll leave Kansas! No offense man but ATT customer service is crap now and Comcasts is even worse. So it will get worse. Prices will go up. Connection will stay the same.
--
Fiber Optics is the future of high-speed internet access. Stop by the BBR Fiber Optic Forum.

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skyjock41
Shag Diesel
Premium
join:2001-12-11
Ledyard, CT
clubs:
·Comcast

You guys are killing me! ATT at the moment is YES still a decent company and their prices are still competitive, no doubting that. But, have you noticed that at this time last year i had a 3000/128 connection for 35.95 a month (yes i know @home is different but i still got billed by ATT). At this time last year i received a 10 dollar discount for my own modem now its a 3 dollar discount? Then they come out with this ultrajoke plan for 83.99 a month basically giving you back what you had a year ago for over double the cost. This my boys is what I call a trend. This is what Ive seen of ATT..........UNJUSTIFIED INFLATION. Lord knows what my 1.5/256 service is going to cost me next September. You guys arent listening to Count.... hes not saying they are the worst or they absolutely suck, hes just letting you know that your in for a ride.
--
Fiber Optics is the future of high-speed internet access. Stop by the BBR Fiber Optic Forum.

See 22 replies to this post