They should force the breakup of content and infrastructure. They were given basic monopolies to do business, that should be restricted to wire service not the stuff that goes on it. This ******** about disallowing unbundling should be an instant anti-trust lawsuit.
Absolute total rubbish. If you know so much, please provide an explanation of technically how they would do this, and your definition of "given basic monopolies".
Before you do, I'd advise you to read the Telecommunications Act, and what they are actually permitted to do. There are SO many misconceptions of this "monopoly" theory from people who have not educated themselves.
Here is a primer to help you understand this.
1) By federal law, since at least 1996 (with the ratification of the Telecommunications Act of 1996) exclusive agreements with a provider are illegal. That is in every municipality of every state and territory in the US. Period.
2) "Franchise Fees" have no impact on cable companies/MSOs. This is because 100% of the franchise fee is passed directly on to the consumer. Period.
3) Since 1966, the FCC effectively even removed the "quality" component from being within the purview of any Franchise Agreement. Frankly the only real issue with municipal Franchise Agreements have to do with support of local TV - meaning local channels such as your school district or city/township local stuff - not local broadcast affiliates.
4) Your Franchise agreement does not - and by FCC rule - CAN not - even discuss internet.
5) The only reason there are not more "competitors" in each area is due to cost.
6) Forcing MSOs to allow anyone else to use their physical infrastructure after they spent billions of dollars installing it and maintaining it is nothing short of government theft. Seizure. There are forms of government that endorse this. I would hope the US is not one of them.
[doublepost=1453981390][/doublepost]
I have the same setup. It's empowering owning my equipment. I think before TiVo (years ago mind you) I was paying something like $21 a month per box for HDDVR service... that's $504 per year for antiquated technology. Shameful. So I got the TiVo and yeah, dealing with Comcast to get everything paired the first time is annoying, but quite simple once you get someone on the line that knows what they're doing.
My gripe with Comcast is I have the Tripple Play. Every 6 months I have to call in because my bill will go from $130 to $180 because "the promotion expired" and I have to threaten to leave then have them dial it back.... and the bill goes back down but usually $5 more per month... then the next six months, repeat.
I have phone\cable\internet... I don't WANT phone, but they say if I cancel my phone line my bill will go up $10... which made sense back in the day when it was pay per use calling, but there's no logic to it today.
I'm at the point now where I don't like the idea of ditching my cable TV and going to just internet, because then I'd have to download and\or stream my shows, which the cable company also is Comcast NBC Universal so they control the TV shows I like too. Makes me insane!
I have 2 Tivo Roamio Pros and 4 Tivo Minis. That requires 2 cablecards. I previously also had Tivos, and other DVRs as well. Cablecard is not easy and presents challenges to both the cable company, the third party device manufacturer, and the owner. And current cablecard is unidirectional - meaning that with a few rare exceptions, "on demand" is not available (meaning for example Verizon FiOS On Demand content).
Let's also be clear, however. With Tivo you have to buy your hardware up front. It's relatively expensive. And you have to rent cablecars per month. And you have to pay Tivo service fees per month - or pay a high "lifetime" cost (which is being discontinued by Tivo, BTW). To put my entire system in brand new, the up front cost - in cash - is
$600 each for Roamio Pro - times two = $1200. Includes one year of Tivo Service.
$150 each for Mini - times four = $600. No service required.
So, I'd have to spend $1800 up front.
Then cablecard rental of $4.99 each times two per month - so another $9 per month.
Then after the first year, it's $14.99 per Tivo Roamio Pro per month for Tivo Service, plus the cablecard rental.
Also, after initial warranty, I bear the cost of any repair and/or replacement of hardware.
it's worth it to me but let's at least be honest about the comparison. Not even considering the warranty and up front cash costs, averaged over 3 years a single Tivo Roamio pro costs the consumer $31.65 per month to use it. $599.99 purchase plus 36 months of cablecard rental plus 2 years of Tivo service fees (first year included).
