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norman619Jan 5, 2011
FTA:
"The broader concessions are aimed at easing concerns about hyperlocalism, broadband deployment and adoption and public broadcasting and spectrum, but one particular concession — centered around making broadband available for $9.95 a month to low-income households — could open the door for more users to watch web video instead of TV."
Don't hold your breath. That $9.95 would get you broadband but I'm betting the pipe they give would be pathetic. I tried Timewarner's cheapest offering and I couldn't even stream a damn youtube video. Technically I had broadband internet but it was virtually useless for anything other than basic web browsing and email. Streaming was virtually impossible.
addiktionJan 6, 2011
Exactly. Lets make people watch web video on dial-up like connection speeds.
reddogpapiJan 6, 2011
Buried. Even the lowest is nothing like dial-up speeds.
techbruteJan 6, 2011
I currently have the lowest Time Warner tier in the Dallas area, and I typically get 15-20 mbps. I occasionally have Netflix streaming to two Tivo boxes at the same time, and both come through in HD (well, Netflix's idea of HD, anyway.)
I'm not saying that anyone would get this service for $9.99, I just wanted to give my perspective of TW's current bottom tier in my area. I believe I pay around $40 a month for it.
I also believe AT&T offers .768 down for around $15 in my area.
letherialJan 6, 2011
i am think 5 down and less then 1 up....sure its going to be limited, but 5 down can be effective for basic online stuff.
This is a good thing and kudo's to comcast for being forced to do this,
Closed AccountJan 5, 2011
And they that stupid? the reason why people are still getting cable is NOIT becuase it costs too much to get broadband.
Jesus christ...for at least half a decade peolple have been tlaking about how more and more people are "cutting the cord" but guess what? There were MORE cable subscribers in 2010 than there were in 2004.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
davidtcJan 6, 2011
There is more cord cutters now than in 2004 also. X doesn't need to be greater than Y to say that X is getting more of something than before.
mikedothJan 5, 2011
$10 doesn't go very far these days and to expect Broadband speeds when you'll probably get dialup is just funny. They should probably rename it though.
shwaavayJan 6, 2011
They should probably not be doing s**t like this. I'm not comfortable with government regulators negotiating their regulations with the regulated in exchange for looking the other way when mergers create trusts.
manlymanJan 5, 2011
They will probably handle this the same way the phone companies handle the universal lifeline service for low income customers. They will simply add an unannounced surcharge to all their existing customers to make up for the profit loss. Trust me, benevolence is not at the heart of this scheme.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
vaderite666Jan 7, 2011
Great, so now we get to help pay for low-income people's internet as well as other entitlements they receive.
kylereJan 5, 2011
If you think Comcast is making a concession it merely means you do know what they are planning. I trust Comcast about as far as I trust Fox News and Michael Moore.
shwaavayJan 6, 2011
How do you feel about your government negotiating regulations?!? That's the crime here, Comcast is just being that capitalist entity that it's supposed to be.
kylereJan 6, 2011
I imagine you feel witty, you are not.
shwaavayJan 6, 2011
What witty? I'm actually pissed at what's going on here.
"If you think Comcast is making a concession..."
If Comcast IS making a concession then there is a negotiation going on. Comcast taking on regulations in order for a business deal to go through. Does this not bother anybody else?!?!
vigrocoJan 5, 2011
No one needs to be watching cable TV anyway.
reaper527Jan 5, 2011
i can't imagine ditching cable. for a sports fan, it is just too important. i would however love to be able to have a stripped down package that just had the 5 or 6 channels i watch in hd for a much lower price than what i am paying for the current 300+
just need something for highdef, live access to nfl, nba, nhl, wwe, and sometimes mlb and mls.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
drmangrumJan 5, 2011
There better be a bandwidth cap on that 10 dollar service, or they're going to have a lot of pissed off people. Just because someone is poor doesn't mean they should get a luxury item at 75-80% discount.
norman619Jan 6, 2011
There are caps regardless.
wassamattaJan 6, 2011
Guess you don't know what other deals poor people get. Like subsidized utilities. I had section 8 folks living across the street paying a fixed price for gas and electricity. In the summer and winter my bill was $200 for the combo. They can blast the AC all summer long and pay the same regardless of the amount of consumption.
breadfredJan 6, 2011
In the UK we got coin-meters for those type of people.
vaderite666Jan 7, 2011
It's disgusting. I am quite convinced that the productive are slaves to the nonproductive.
vaderite666Jan 7, 2011
I agree completely. I want a discount for being a productive person that has made choices that have not resulted in other people having to pay to sustain me.
billygreen23Jan 5, 2011
I'm sure that is for their lowest tier which is 1.5mbps. $10 is what people should actually be paying for that. I think full price is about 25 bucks.
fredclownJan 6, 2011
It's only $25 if you have cable. Add $10 if you don't. It's really lame. I have the 1.5 at home because I can't afford their higher tiers, but you are right it should only be $10.
Closed AccountJan 5, 2011
the internet should be free for everyone all the time!
cmon washington, get going on the free national wifi! how to pay for it? well, we got 2 conflicts going on that are pointless now and extremely fiscally irresponsible at this point. although you would have tons of money left over so you could use the rest to do a plan to give low cost solar panels and/or wind turbines horizontal or vertical so that everyone can start using less energy and saving more money and pollution would be less. the cost of electricity would fall and your bill would become much less and so would everyones that didnt get them
if you wanna keep the friggin wars going, legalize cannabis! that will make you more than enough money to do those things. and it will help slow down deforestation and even oil usage, as well as lower health care costs.
the problem is that people are afraid of cannabis until they actually see that legal weed and hemp is actually much more beneficial to society than the prohibition model. and they also see how benign it really is because more and more people come out of the wood work saying they smoke and everyone sees that its not the devils weed, but rather a very good substitution for alcohol and even prescription medications
legal weed in the US helps everything
fredclownJan 6, 2011
And everyone should have free housing, and free gas, and free food, and free medical, and all of this should be paid for by the government ... which really means we should tax all of the rich people to the point that they are no longer rich and use that income to provide a sub par service to everyone.
wkrausmannJan 6, 2011
Why dont we just take everyone's money and then redistribute it back to the people according to their needs? This way the government has enough money to take care of all of us. Think about it: no hunger, no poverty, all equality! A complete utopia!
vicerexciserJan 5, 2011
What will keep Comcast from quietly canceling this admittedly feeble offering a few years after it's deal with NBC Universal is inked?
diktator279Jan 5, 2011
"To be eligible for the CBOP, households must have at least one child that qualifies for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP),"
Lets reward those who can't afford children yet reproduce. I've always used rubbers, where's my $10 internet?
fallenone05Jan 5, 2011
lol, I should be rewarded for pulling out!!!
phillaholicJan 6, 2011
Shut the f**k up. You have no idea what may have happened to that family to need the NSLP. All it takes is a parent getting laid off or ill for a family to crumble financially. Not everyone on these social programs are scumbags that intentionally milk the system.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
eplurbispablumJan 6, 2011
Agreed. People who make comments like that are also the ones who cheat on their taxes, hide their grandparents money and declare them indigent for the state to care for in their "golden years" and generally think the world owes them for all their hard work when they have done nothing extraordinary.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
vaderite666Jan 7, 2011
The worst among us are rewarded all the time for the bad choices they have made with other peoples money. I am waiting for the threshold when productive people finally say enough is enough and are willing to let this human sinkholes lie in the beds the beds they have made for themselves.
deathguppieJan 6, 2011
this is like me promising my GF that I'll work on the house if she let's me watch football all day saturday.. sure that's gonna happen..
susunJan 6, 2011
It is good thing for the world for the internet. It is very useful for the people below the range of good income.
freonchillJan 6, 2011
id pay $20 for 3mbps. oh wait, i already pay $20 for 6mbps...
bigdishJan 6, 2011
If the people can't afford broadband internet access, then how can they afford a computer to access the internet? Seriously?
Also, this talk of "cord-cutting" is ridiculous. No matter what, broadband will always be carried by cable whether or not it goes to your home or not. Wireless can't be done with cables.
wf80diditJan 6, 2011
I hate this company. Last week we called them to fix an issue with their universal remote control in the upstairs bedroom only half-working, literally. So the guy came out and rewired the cabling that comes into through the basement (simply pulling off old coax connectors from a two-way then a three-way spliter and reattach new connectors) then told my sis everything was fixed and left. Unfortunately my sister took what he said at face value. Well, he did absolutely nothing. Both TV's upstairs don't even recieve signal anymore. I'm not even sure this guy read the work-order before coming into the house. As a tech and had I been there, I would have ripped this guy a new one for being an incompetent elephant's arse. He didn't even wear boot covers (like commercial says). I've had it up to here with these people!!!!!!!!1
illustrious333Jan 6, 2011
When will we be able to choose what you want to watch through an "a la carte" system instead of being forced to financially support the scum in bundled packages.
We can make internet access free. We have that ability.
agmlauncherJan 6, 2011
$10 broadband for poor families, and who foots the bill for the rest? Tax payers or existing Comcast customers.
Sorry, but even wealthy Comcast customers already pay too much for the internet they receive, and/or receive more download speed than they need and are forced to pay extra high prices for it regardless.
It's like how phone companies make you spend $40/month for 450 voice minutes, when you might only need 100 minutes.
The whole system is a complete and utter ripoff. I want congress to audit Comcast's balance sheets to find out just how terrible they are at money management that they need to charge you $45/month for 1.5mbps internet.
phillaholicJan 6, 2011
Don't complain about comcast offering low income families an opportunity to get internet access. Complain about the lack of competition that doesn't drive down prices.
veskeykoskoNov 2, 2011
Sometimes when my internet is down, I forget that the rest of my computer still works