How a Comcast-Time Warner Merger Will Make Your Cable and Internet Wor

[BrightBlessings]

In February, news broke that cable and Internet giants Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Comcast would be merging, placing a new mega-company in charge of services rendered to their 30 million customers. And neither the Obama administration nor Congress don’t seem to be raising many red flags. David Carr in the New York Times recently wondered aloud about Comcast’s $45 billion bid for TWC,“How can the largest cable company in the country bid to buy the second-largest and gain control over 19 of the country’s top 20 markets — corralling a 30 percent market share in cable and a 40 percent share in broadband — and there be no serious questions?”

How a Comcast-Time Warner Merger Will Make Your Cable and Internet Worse and More Expensive » OccuWorld

 

[TVeblen]

An interesting related story:
Author: When It Comes To High-Speed Internet, U.S. 'Falling Way Behind' : All Tech Considered : NPR

 

[ThrashZone]

Comcast is evil,
I'll never deal with them again,
At&t has flaws no doubt but are angels compared to Comcast in billing,
Speed is subjective,
If you notice all of the speed tests they are sponsored by Comcast
Browser test = sponsored by Google
I personally can't see a difference in internet speed between Comcast and at&t and that's what counts in my book = real word tests,
Cheers.
Kind of odd see Al Franklin pointing out hypocrisy on a real subject

 

[techtitan100]

i am so pissed with Comcast right now because all of a sudden i am starting to have internet troubles with my laptop not connecting directly at startup or after sleep mode and it usually results in me restarting my modem which makes me angry i don't know if they are messing with the lines outside our house or what the hell is going on, but whatever it is they better fix it seriously

 

[ThrashZone]

That is an issue with their crappy used equipment/ wireless routers...
Then you get into areas where cables are not so great or being worked on,
An irritating situation I have not had once using u-verse,
Cheers.

 

[techtitan100]

our cable TV seems to work fine for now, but the wireless router sucks i have been having problems since Sunday, i called them Monday and still not fixed and i am just fed up with it

 

[TVeblen]

I think you are better off buying and owning your own modem and router. You can get much better devices and for only 14 or 15 month's "rent" on the ISPs crappy stuff.
The reason I did not like Verizon FIOS was that it was not feasible to do so.

 

[ThrashZone]

Might - might not be practical,
But hook the laptop up wired and test,
Cheers.

 

[margrave]

That is an issue with their crappy used equipment/ wireless routers...
Then you get into areas where cables are not so great or being worked on,
An irritating situation I have not had once using u-verse,
Cheers.

I only wish I could have AT&T Uverse again. After moving from Florida to NC, we got stuck with The Worthless Cable. The only thing AT&T has here is 6 Mb DSL and a "partner offer" from Direct TV. Just "NO" to that and to that.

But AT&T expects to be here with Uverse by next year. Let's hope!

 

[matts6887]

I think things will get interesting when google fiber gets to more markets. It supposedly has speeds up to 1gb/sec. Which is stupid fast. I know i for one will more than gladly ditch inet access with my local cable co and go with fiber for way faster speeds and less $.

 

[BillDing]

I think things will get interesting when google fiber gets to more markets. It supposedly has speeds up to 1gb/sec. Which is stupid fast. I know i for one will more than gladly ditch inet access with my local cable co and go with fiber for way faster speeds and less $.

Yeah, there's already been a company (TWC I think?) that is planning on upping their own speeds in response to Google in an attempt to keep customers. I've heard it costs a ton for Google to set it up, though, so I doubt Fiber will leave the few "chosen ones."

Honestly, I don't see the problem with Comcast and TWC merging. They already don't compete and have never planned on competing with each other. What we need to do is what Google is trying to do - put in some competition so they actually have to try to give a decent service.

 

[margrave]

It's more than just cable company A and cable company B. It's all the media outlets attached.

Honestly, these mega mergers are worse than big government. Evil plus evil makes super evil.

 

[andrew129260]

my comcast internet was just updated for free from 50mb down to 105 mb down.

 

[TVeblen]

Me too!

 

[nottaclue9]

I absolutely despise AT&T. They are so predatory, as is Comcast. Not very fond of Google, either, but will happily get their internet access. The real problem is with cable TV. Aero?

I have TWC now, and have no complaints. Really! But when they merge with evil Comcast, I'm outta there.

 

[python134r]

I just cut the Comcast cable cord, purchased my own Surfboard SBG6850 or 6580 wtf.....bill went down from $130.00 a month to Under $50.00, 57meg Dl/14 u/l. purchased a roku usb for 45.00 and still have all the comcast content via internet.

I hate them all....but in south Florida where I live its the only show for fast internet, Uverse does not come close...

 

[nottaclue9]

Are you able to get HBO, too?

 

[TVeblen]

Would love to know how you are getting "all the comcast content via internet". You don't mean you can flip channels, do you?

 

[MilesAhead]

Seems like the concept of cable tv will die out soon. Just have broadband with a 3rd party box for "on demand" entertainment content. The Govt. should probably do what they did with Ma Bell and make them let the competition use their backbone. This "no compete" in an area BS originated back when cable consisted of a big antenna on a hill with a bunch of copper connections running to houses in the valley. No geosynchronous satellites back then. It's just a grandfathered in sweetheart deal.

 

[TVeblen]

In the US a lot is going to ride on the decision of the Supreme Court concerning Aereo.