 chesney09
Premium
join:2004-07-26
Redford, MI
clubs:
edit:
February 8th, @01:32PM
| Hmmm.... I'd bet he'll find a different result in the long wrong if he is running a company with that attitude and those 'perceptions'. | |
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 | puresugar
join:2006-02-08
Sunnyvale, CA | Re: Hmmm.... Lately I notice poor router delays > 200ms, seems related to how this CEO thinks.. The customer is "not" KING.
Business 101: listen to your CUSTOMERS or die. | |
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| | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: Hmmm.... said by puresugar  :Lately I notice poor router delays > 200ms, seems related to how this CEO thinks.. The customer is "not" KING. Business 101: listen to your CUSTOMERS or die. That statement could not be further from the truth. Customers tend to be lazy and non responsive. People have had and always will have the power to vote with their money - history has shown they don't.
There COULD be a churn rate away from cable to other providers, but in the case of FiOS? it won't be an over night thing.
Don't assume that "the average peson" will follow the angriest of people. These news stories act as if they have "the heart of every American" and that they represent the masses. Sure, people may be angry, but you have to remember that people are also very lazy.
There is a small percentage of people in this country that spend their time being offended, angry, and upset about something... it's the American way!
I do want to agree that you DO have to listen to your customers... I would disagree with the statement of the customer is always right - BUT, the customer is always still the customer.  | |
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| | | nozzer
join:2004-06-25
Waltham, MA | Re: Hmmm.... I agree with that. In our town we have had an overbuilder (RCN) that is faster and cheaper for a number of years. Comcast STILL has twice as many customers, yet far more complaints per customer. | |
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WileEC
mindtaker, macky cat, etc.
join:2002-02-07
Yonkers, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
| I completely disagree... people will flock to products that offer more value, better service and/or better price points as time goes by and people become more familiar with their choices. VoIP is a perfect example of that. More and more people are taking package deals from their cable co inclusive of VoIP phone services. Why? Because it's cheaper and everything comes nice nice on one bill. Me, I already have FIOS in a move from Optimum Online (Cablevision). I am so satisfied with FIOS that I can't imagine ever going back to OOL, no matter what deals or enticements they offer. FIOS service has been so superior that it infuriates me that I was forced into dealing with OOL for as long as I was. I am waiting anxiously for the FIOS TV rollout in my area so that I can kiss Cablevision goodbye for TV service (okay, less a kiss and more like a slap in the head, really). Technology marches forward. People will vote with their wallets and the companies that stand to lose the most are the ones that are standing still and "are not worried." The companies that forge new roads will stand to profit (or lose) the most. In the case of FIOS, the competition should be very concerned.
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Experience one of the most beautiful women on earth at PetraCentral! (yes, I work there!) | |
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LinuxJunkie
join:2005-01-19
Cyberspace
edit:
February 8th, @07:43PM
| I also disagree. If Verizon offered service in my area (unfortunately, i'm in the "armpit" of the SNET, I mean SBC, I mean AT&T! area -- formerly served by SNET of Connecticut) and if FIOS were offered in my area, there's no way in hell I'd stick around on a $42/month 6 Mbps / 384 Kbps Comcast HSI connection if I could get a 15 Mbps / 2 Mbps FIOS connection for less money. The fact of the matter is, Roberts isn't sweating FIOS yet because he knows that our lovely (and uncorrupt -- HAHAHAHA YEAH RIGHT) local governments have essentially killed any chance of national competition. Franchise agreements are what limit our options and limit any sort of competition -- people can't choose to go with a cheaper or better alternative if it doesn't friggin' exist!
If we want anything to change, we need to petition our government at the local level to kill franchise agreements altogether, once and for all. Only way that will happen is to vote out all the old fart, corrupt bastards that are currently in office taking kickbacks from big business. | |
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| 
Boricua65
Oye, chico
join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico | Their arrogance will be their undoing, ask Bill Gates (even though the U.S. Justice Department was pathetic with the settlement on Microsoft's monopolistic behavior). | |
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Matt
Running Free
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
 ·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Hmmm.... said by Boricua65 :Their arrogance will be their undoing, ask Bill Gates (even though the U.S. Justice Department was pathetic with the settlement on Microsoft's monopolistic behavior). Terrible analogy, Microsoft is light years away from being "undone". | |
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LinuxJunkie
join:2005-01-19
Cyberspace
edit:
February 8th, @07:44PM
| Re: Hmmm.... Unfortunately, you're correct. Until stupid people wake up and realize that Microsoft's "products" aren't worth the insane amount of money they charge for it, the status quo will never change. Only a jack ass pays $500 for Microsoft Office when you can use OpenOffice.org 2 for FREE, which does the EXACT same stuff and even saves in Microsoft formats.
Microsoft has proven that capitalism in this country is broken. They're exactly the reason why the government needs to step in and flex it's muscles by setting price ceilings on software, specifically Microsoft's. And I hope nobody has the balls to say they're charging that much money to "recover development costs" -- if that were true, how come MS makes billions in PURE PROFIT every single year? Answer: By charging WAY TOO MUCH for their software. Then they have the nerve to wonder why WinXP and Office has been pirated so much. | |
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kdandaoc
join:2003-10-13
608052427 | Arrogance..... Once again we see the complete arrogance of another data provider with regards to price, necessity, and their own involvement. Know this comcast, once the competition comes, I'm gone! | |
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| 
Iridium
Premium
join:2003-04-02
Los Angeles, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Arrogance..... Right now the only reson I see to use cable over sat is that you can get data and vod, if you don't need that you save 50% on sat over cable.
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Start the Revolution, download Opera, »www.opera.com | |
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Dezbend
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-20
| Perception is reality? Interesting he didn't say that cable has the best product only that the perception existed hmmmm.
Now I am not trying to start a flame war about which is better; his choice of words is just interesting.
As is his (paraphrased) statement "we are doing fine if you ignore wall streets analysis"
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If it is not recorded, it simply does not exist. | |
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Kansas City, MO
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Perception is reality? said by Dezbend :Interesting he didn't say that cable has the best product only that the perception existed hmmmm. Now I am not trying to start a flame war about which is better; his choice of words is just interesting. As is his (paraphrased) statement "we are doing fine if you ignore wall streets analysis" Exactly.
He indirectly admitted that the technology is lacking.
The fact that Verizon and the telcos are leading the charge in development, while Cable is STILL waiting on Docsis 3 (while not even implementing Docsis 2 in most markets) shows that telcos want to control the market more. Comcast should always be looking for things to improve upon, not sit back and revel in the fact that their customers stay only because they have no better options.
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|-In a fascist government, National Security ALWAYS overrides Personal Freedoms.-| |- »www.lp.org/issues/issues.shtml -| | |
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AthlGrond
Premium,MVM
join:2002-04-25
Aurora, CO
·Comcast
| Re: Perception is reality? Once I can get FiOS it will be a competitor to Comcast.
Which of course means for me FiOS will never be a competitor to Comcast, and all the talk about how one is better than the other is reduced to irrelevance.
--
You are now free to paint your hair wild colors and run around naked. -dg2 | |
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AJ023
join:2001-12-25
Forest Hills, NY | Comcast Laugh this OFF, I just cancelled! Come on folks in Comcast, just cancel and tell Comcast to screw off! I am not in Comcast area otherwise I would have immediately done what the topic said, which is Comcast Laugh this OFF, I just cancelled! | |
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| nozzer
join:2004-06-25
Waltham, MA
·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Comcast Laugh this OFF, I just cancelled! I do live in a Comcast area, and I did cancel. They begged me to stay, and even offered me 50% off for 6 months. I still cancelled, and I'm never going back. Not unless RCN goes belly up of course | |
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Geminimind
Premium
join:2003-12-20
Sacramento, CA | Re: Comcast Laugh this OFF, I just cancelled! That's right just cancell. | |
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| | Zorglub
join:2000-11-18
Fremont, CA
| They have changed their attitude quite a bit I see. When they started penalizing non cable subscribers $15 to use their high speed internet, I called them and threatened to ditch them, along with their phone service, if they wanted to keep me as a customer (I had moved to Dish 3 months before). The answer from the customer service rep was: do you want to turn off the service now? I was amazed how little they cared. Needless to say, within a few weeks, I had replaced them with SBC phone and DSL service, and I haven't looked back since. Screw them. | |
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| | | jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL | Re: Comcast Laugh this OFF, I just cancelled! That's okay, at precisely the same time your neighbor got pissed at SBC and dug out the Comcast internet/phone mailer the mailman brought earlier. It's a wash for both of them... | |
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a
@rr.com | haha what did you expect him to say? we suck and we're going to lose to FIOS? that would sure make the shareholders happy. | |
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ArchAngel21x
MacFan Pro
Premium
join:2001-10-28
Lincoln, NE | Just Wait In a couple years, that will turn into nervous laughter. | |
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N3OGH
Will it all be Obama's fault now?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL
| Only 1 way to describe that stock's performance PLUMMET! PLUMMET! (A la the game show the Simpson's go on in Japan to win plane tickets back to the states).
I had no idea Comcast's stock had taken such a hit of late. I knew Verizon's stock had dropped due to the money they were spending on FiOS deployment, but Comcast hasn't been laying out the cash Verizon has.
I know Comcast's chief was laughing this off in public, but I don't think any executive at large company like Comcast is laughing in private when the stock is down almost $10 from last year's value, with no good reason.
IMHO, he's probably sobbing softly in the dark of his office, curled up in the corner, waiting for the board of directors to send him out on his ass.... | |
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| 
Cleric4
join:2002-03-31
00000
edit:
February 8th, @02:06PM
| Re: Only 1 way to describe that stock's performance I don't know what the #'s are but to say Comcast has not been laying out the cash Verizon has may not be totally correct.
Comcast has their CDV (phone) service they recently launched and it is continuing to become available in more and more areas.
I'm sure that kind of launch is not a cheap one. | |
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| | NoOneButMe
join:2001-08-24
TX | Re: Only 1 way to describe that stock's performanc 39.95 for VOIP aint my idea of a good deal CDV is over priced i think by at least 10 are so bucks | |
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX
| Re: Only 1 way to describe that stock's performanc pfft nobody sends CEO's out on their asses.. they get a golden parachute as part of the job. Ruin the company and we still pay you! It's friggin stupid. Course I dont own enough shares in any one company to get other shareholders to see things the same way.
Pay based on company performance with no golden parachute is the way I would want things.
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FIOS chat »www.fioschat.com | |
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rkrocha
join:2000-09-23
Garland, TX | Re: Only 1 way to describe that stock's performanc Right on NOCMan, I was thinking the same thing while reading BRs comments, the dude is walking around with rose colored lenses... | |
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N3OGH
Will it all be Obama's fault now?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by NOCMan :pfft nobody sends CEO's out on their asses.. they get a golden parachute as part of the job. Ruin the company and we still pay you! It's friggin stupid. Course I dont own enough shares in any one company to get other shareholders to see things the same way. Pay based on company performance with no golden parachute is the way I would want things. Point well taken.
I agree, you run the company down, you should get NOTHING. | |
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ChicagoSid
join:2001-04-17
Aurora, IL
| Reality.. I am a realist. The fact right now is this. Comcast is the fastest thing I can get. In Reality if there was something faster I would jump ship and go.
If they (Comcast) would focus more on the customer rather then the profit margin they might be able to survive the long haul. | |
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tapeloop
Light, sweet triceratops.
Premium
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One
| Great moments in Corporate Wisdom "Everything that can be invented has been invented."
--Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899
"Who in the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
--Harry Warner, Chairman, Warner Brothers, 1927
"Guitar groups are on their way out Mr. Epstein."
--Head of Decca Records, 1962, to Beatles' mgr. Brian Epstein, on why he wouldn't sign the band
and most apropos:
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no use to us."
--Western Union internal memo, 1876
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Copyright infringement is illegal. Murder is illegal. Therefore, file sharing is murder. | |
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MadDog3057
Ex Astris, Scientia
Premium
join:2002-02-26
Miami, FL
| To be a CEO... apparently you have to be able to say a lot of things and still keep a straight face. That reminds me of Jim Carrey in Fun with Dick and Jane where everything is falling apart and he's still talking as if nothing is happening.
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"The only thing that’s worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." | |
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kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY | Re: To be a CEO... Do you remember the good-ol' Iraqi Information Minister? "There are no Americans in Bhagdad" and our tanks were rolling in the background...  :D:D | |
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Quake110
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON
edit:
February 8th, @02:08PM
| He won't be laughing in the future Doesn't he know to NEVER underestimate a person or a competition?
He may be laughing at Fios now but arrogance can lean toward self-destruction if you let your guard down. | |
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| techman01
join:2001-05-06
Bohemia, NY
edit:
February 8th, @02:10PM
| Re: He won't be laughing in the future VOD will be available with DirecTV very shortly...
Just one less thing that cable companies can claim they have over them
My cable company cablevision has been taking Verizon very seriously and has boosted standard speeds to 15mbps down and 2mbps up and offers for $10 more a month 30mbps down. | |
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| attsbcisgay
join:2003-03-18
Beverly Hills, CA
| CEO is laughing cause he think many who subscribe to CC cable are suckers. What a clown... CC sucks, DSL maybe a little slower but ya can max out your download 24hrs a day. 3.0/512 smokes 6.0/384 not because it is faster but because it's a lot cheaper!!! 42.95/57.00 w/out cable vs 17.99 | |
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rideboarder
welcome to the social
Premium
join:2003-07-28
Snohomish, WA
clubs:
| Re: He won't be laughing in the future 3.0/512 smokes 6.0/384 not because it is faster but because it's a lot cheaper!!! 42.95/57.00 w/out cable vs 17.99
Heck, I pay ~$32 (incl tax) for my 3.0/768 DSL, which is even better than that! So depending on the area, DSL can be A LOT cheaper. | |
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dadkins
Merry Whatever
Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
·Comcast
| The reason is... Telcos are lowering prices because they are wanting customers, they still cannot compare to what Comcast is currently offering. My HSI price hasn't increased in three years... yet the speeds have quadrupled. Hmmm...
VZ FiOS has a LONG way to go before it is any threat... all the while Comcast gets more and more subs.
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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See 14 replies to this post |
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homers
join:2002-02-05
Santa Clarita, CA | Mr. Reports, I laughed also I use to be a long time Comcast cable and HSI for about $100/month. I recently switched to DirecTV and DSL (yeah, it's only 3mb/512 instead of 4mb/384) but I cut my price drastically and have better TV. I'm laughing all the way to the bank. | |
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oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA | Re: Mr. Reports, I laughed also Same here, better quality, superior reliability...better service for significatnly less money.
--
WAR HAS NEVER SOLVED ANYTHING, except ending slavery, facism, communism, Nazism.... | |
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littldoesheknow
| Slow to change... On the TV front, I'm afraid he's right.. Verizon will limp along like satellite does on broadband, (virtual life support). However, on broadband, clearly Fiber to the home is nothing to laugh off with competition. Verizon has yet to really compete in this area and they are more concerned about laying the groundwork and deployments than cutting prices/offering more for less.. which is good for them as a company and a double edged sword for keeping customers happy vs. chrun rates back to (who else) cable. Fiber is a better product precisely becuase of the QOS 10+megabit services which comcast, among others dont' really want to spend the extra money to go from 1-3mb up to 15mb just to compete, as the current 'triple play' of 3-8mb (8mb being where some areas are at now) plus voip phone, plus hybrid digital cable is a better value than fios services.. unless you want 15mb and a slice of qos flavor of internet and that is the most important thing-- in the consumer's mind.
Now, the kicker: for some it is and for others, no or more to the point: not yet (as video over internet--ip infrastructure has a leg to stand on, telling every and any franchise cash register what to go do with itself)
Things working against Verizon and newcomers, franchise rights... between the old machinery of growing fat on fcc 'give-me' and the franchise negotiations to 'copycat' the cable-like product over fiber (make no mistake that's what it IS otherwise why would Verizon pay-to-play in the first place) Video will be a laggart, and cable companies have nothing to worry about because Verizon will face big problems if they cut prices. Much like car companies, if they end up with the fact that people could have more for less from competitors, this will be a no-sum (more to the point no-earnings game) in the long run even if fiber went to 100mbit per sec with no content to justify getting those speeds.
Remember: AT&T tried and failed to say iptv doesn't warrant having to pay franchise holder's cold hard cash and other goodies that compete with their 'monopoly' infrastructure.
Which is to say the whole game of franchise rights really needs to be looked at, for anything truly innovative to happen, as is the case with Verizon:
You can't just paid red on a pig's lips and call it the 'new cable-tv', as they must already know that the second-day UPS letters are reaching garbage pails or paper shredders for precisely this reason (would be nice if they spent the money on deployment vs. advertising).
To sum up if you don't want to read all this babble, the state of competition SUCKS! Each side is beating a differnt kind of drum. | |
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| DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| Re: Slow to change... said by littldoesheknow :
On the TV front, I'm afraid he's right.. Verizon will limp along like satellite does on broadband, (virtual life support). What makes you say that?
Broadband on satellite has extreme technical issues, namely a lack of bandwidth, excess latency and no simple upstream mechanism. On the other hand, FiOS is perfectly placed to provide top-notch TV service. The current RF overlay system used by FiOS TV is virtually identical to the way cable works, just with the HFC node moved, while the high potential data bandwidth of fiber will allow an eventually shift to 100% IPTV with little pain. Furthermore, Verizon have proved that they have the clout to negotiate deals with the vast majority of content providers, and negotiate franchise agreements. | |
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richardpor
Fur it up
join:2003-04-19
Portland, OR
| Brian Reports is right He is right about one thing, FIOS is not much threat as the dish. It is all about access and cost. Mr. Reports is right about the huge cost of deploying an expensive fiber network only to single occupancy home, and at the same time skipping over whole blocks of apartment complexes. Comcast, Direct TV and other company trump card is they can go where FIOS will not.
As for rising prices, I would caution Mr. Repots. As prices increase, the amount of money you get from me will decrease. I am considering dropping most of my cable package in order to save money. At the most extreme, I drop cable go back to verizon DSL and jut buy DVD of the shows I am interested in. There is so much increase I can take before I start cutting back. | |
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Iridium
Premium
join:2003-04-02
Los Angeles, CA
edit:
February 8th, @02:26PM
| nm
nm | |
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oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA
edit:
February 8th, @02:35PM
| Hmmm... ...sounds like something Nintendo would have said in the mid-90's.
And of course he's scared shitless...he wouldn't be mentioning FIOS if he wasn't. This is spin and damage control at its finest. | |
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| 
RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Hmmm... Precisely. If he wasn't worried about it there would be no reason to keep bringing it up. Ivan is no prize, but at least he's betting his ass and Verizon's infrastructure money on a future-proof technology. Brian, on the other hand, is spending all his energy trying to get Wall Street to believe him instead of the reality that if Verizon's plan works, he's in deep doo-doo.
As for Comcast and Verizon's stock performance...
...neither of them have anything to be proud of. Verizon, however, has a solid reason. What's Comcast's?
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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jdracer47
join:2005-10-16
Auburn, PA
| Yeah, OK This is just politics, they are scared out of the pants right now and won't admit it of course. I will say this of Comcast, I know of people who live in areas with no other choices other than Comcast and have great service, the same as everyone else. Comcast doesn't cherry pick areas to service with broadband, everyone gets it whether you have DSL in your area or not, and everyone gets the speed upgrades too. If Verizon would service all their customers like Comcast does already, we wouldn't be in the predicament we are right now with little choice. Don't get me wrong, when I see FiOS in 2015 I will switch to whoever is better at that point, but currently I can't even get DSL. | |
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Chi-town
@comcast.net
| Re: Yeah, OK Reason why Comcast is not worried now – first off most of Comcast outside cable plant is already fiber up to the node where its convert back to an RF signal - they can easy extend that fiber to the door step lot faster than Verizion can build a whole new fiber network and offer all the content you already get from Comcast – what Brian don’t wont is to get into a price war if and when Verizion become a serious threat - worst case scenario you have two giant telecommunication company fighting over the same customers – which of course is good for the consumer. However my money is with Comcast right now - I'll be making video telephone calls over my TV set with Comcast way before I see any sign of Verizion in my neighborhood. | |
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EGeezer
Summer is passing
Premium
join:2002-08-04
Country!
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T CallVantage
| I think that's called ... said by article :
Roberts says he doesn't think it shows "economic promise", and believes Verizon will spend "gobs of money" only to be a "fourth tier" video player. As for cable's continued reluctance to cut prices on broadband or TV, Roberts says "There is a perception that cable companies have the best products so we can charge the most."
It's called whistling in the dark. If you say something often enough and loud enough, people will eventually believe it until the competition and their customers speak louder.
--
Insert catchy sig line here | |
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| fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: I think that's called ... said by EGeezer :said by article :
Roberts says he doesn't think it shows "economic promise", and believes Verizon will spend "gobs of money" only to be a "fourth tier" video player. As for cable's continued reluctance to cut prices on broadband or TV, Roberts says "There is a perception that cable companies have the best products so we can charge the most."
It's called whistling in the dark. If you say something often enough and loud enough, people will eventually believe it until the competition and their customers speak louder. Would this competition be SBC's project Pronto? or Project light speed? You are right, I guess if you say it long enough, people will believe what they hear... for the record, we're still waiting, SBC.  | |
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ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17 | competition good for us consumers | |
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Comcast CEO Laughs Off Fios
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