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80 Comments
- eiczko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The problem with cable is that there are no competitive forces in play. If you need the connection you have to pay whatever they charge. There is no alternative in most cases. These are localized monopolies which probably need some regulation.
- Col_Jessup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"I'm from the government and I'm here to help"
Swell. I'll be hiding under the mattress. - Threephaserebel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This has been an odd day. I've now seen two articles that say the government is doing the right thing with technology. Scary...
- ewgx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Ever notice that Congress only takes up this issue in election years?
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My cable bill is not only high, my cable doesn't even work half the time. That's after numerous visits from techs.
The problem is no competition! Broadband/telecom monopolies have captured all the territory and are excluding all competition through nefarious means, including outright sabotage.
Look at it this way. The infrastructure they're using today is practically the same as the one originally put up. They've added new hardware internally to deal with demand, but the lines put in are still the same old copper. They've had YEARS to begin the transition to fiber, yet they have done NOTHING. Why are we still paying the same prices for service that is now obsolete compared to what is offered in several other countries? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yet I still can't get cable ran to my house...
- Prontech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Big friggin' time is mine to high .. I have 1 cable modem and regular cable service ... NO PREMIUM channels and Cox here in Phoenix charges me 140 dollars a month!
- Pontificator, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You guys need to realize that Ms. Arrison works for a think tank that is funded by the telcos who want to eliminate local franchise agreements. She's paid to spread PR. It's really just political spam.
She also writes long articles talking about how communities shouldn't have the right to build broadband networks even if they vote to do so. While there may be some merit to creating a state-wide franchise system, this woman is paid to convince you of only one side of this discussion. - Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd rather see them working on getting better transmit rates... I shouldn't have to pay $75 for a 6MB/768k line....
- rodball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is high, but I still pay for it. When it becomes too high, I will stop paying for it. Simple.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1and when commodities become utilities they need to be regulated.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My cable bill is crazy high. Its $150.00 a month! Why? I don't quite understand how having cable, phone, and internet on one bill from one company actually costs me MORE than if I paid for them seperately.
It's ridonkulious the prices my cable company is charging. $50 for phone, $50 for TV, $50 for Internet, yet I am using the same copper wire for all three. On top of that, the service is constantly going down. My connection craps out all the time, and my phone is sharing the same stream, but i am paying double the price.
Anything the government can do to fix ths gouging would be welcome, and while they are at it, they should CANCLE the 9 BILLION dollars they are about to give awa.y to the oil companies this month - bickelj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1rodball has the correct idea: "When it becomes too high, I will stop paying for it. Simple."
geterix has the correct idea: "Watch less TV and cancel your cable."
powercow does not: "and when commodities become utilities they need to be regulated."
Since when did entertainment become a "utility" as if it's water? Cable TV is not a need. It is worth 55 dollars a month to me to pay for my DSL. If DSL were not available I may be "forced" into getting Cable Internet. E'en so, high speed Internet (like cable TV) is NOT a necessity so if the price were more than what it was worth for me, I just wouldn't get it. No one's pointing a gun to my head and telling me "get 200 channels of crap and high speed Internet". - humpingmonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Welcome to marmaduke's police state!! Leave your guns and freedom at the door.
- g30ph, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have all the channels and premium internet from adelphia. With 2 boxes my bill is around $125 a month. Because I have the premium cable package, my premium internet costs $25. But If I decide I don't want all the channels, my premium internet costs $60. That's how they are gonna ***** us all over when the channels go a la cart. I guarantee if they have to sell cable a la cart, they will make it more expensive to pick and choose than to take everything. And then we'll have to subsidize the channels no one gives a ***** about for the same reason we had to bail out the airlines after no one wanted to fly anymore.
- DisposableRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Their plan worked. While they raise taxes, increase pork, eliminate social security, aquire personal property for big business, etc, you'll think that they are doing the right thing by lowering your cable bill and vote the same crooks back in.
Don't get on me about cable being a monopoly, because a monopoly on entertainment distribution isn't exactly a threat to my civil liberties. - Guder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We get charges around $55 for basic cable, and if I wanted ANYTHING else I'd need to pony up another $25-30 for digital cable PLUS the cost of whatever I wanted. Considering Satellite hasn't changed prices in a while I'm seriously debating a switch. $45 a month that I do know is cheaper then the $55 that keeps going up.
FYI 3 price increases in 18 months is a major pain. I remember recently paying $32 a month for the same servers (say 2 years ago). - TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow. I disagree. $26 for Cable TV and High speed internet here. 3 MBS down 256 UP. I know Up isn't too good but hey. I get every channel I would watch SciFi, Foxnews, Fox, KTLV, ABC, Cartoon network, and tons I never watch and high speed Internet. The key with charter, is when your rates are about to go up, you call them up and say you are going to have to cancel next month because you can't afford it, unless they can do something. Then you tell them you know a guy who is getting it for like $20. They will usually accommodate you. In the very least, they will drop $12-13 from the bill.
Eric Wilson
Eric Wilson - MrKite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I pay $150 per month through Comcast. I've got Internet, 2 HD DVR boxes, HBO (and the rest of the regular channels), and digital phone.
I should be able to get all that for $50 these days. I hate the way technology advances and makes it cheaper to manufacture, deliver, and maintain, yet the prices never seem to go down. The same thing happened when the CD was invented. The music industry said that it will cost under $1.00 to make a CD and that people will be able to buy music for less. Did that ever happen? No. The music industry saved the money but they still charge the consumer the same price as they did with vinyl. - plzdiekthx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"we need more smarter people than we need TV watchers..."
With the quality of current college graduates, if any educational revision is necessary it's to deny people from premature graduation.
"Let's worry about lowering heating and power bills,"
There's nothing preventing the government from "fixing" more than one problem at a time of course. Well, except perhaps ineptitude. Not that people that struggle affording electricity and heating don't have cable anyway. I've never known a single poor person that didn't live in a city proper that didn't have cable, even if they needed Section 8 housing and fuel assistance. You'd be surprised at how important entertainment is to people, even if they have to give up a meal a day to pay the electric bill. - WrecksTXP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I dont have a cable bill.
- SIDSI, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0WOW !. All the civil liberties taken away every day. All the people who paid into social security for 50 years thinking when they are retired that everything is gonna be ok, and they can even afford their medications. All the schools that can't afford books for every student. So whats the big issue being resolved, Cable tv. Welcome to America as long as we got tv, and fastfood everythings fine.
- seaner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Does anyone else pay > than $40 per month for 1.5 mb/s internet?
- Amplix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0no kiddin... i pay about 90 bucks a month for basic cable and basic HSI from Comcast, but If i cancel one the other goes to 60 bucks, making it hard to switch to a sat provider.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Where in the US Constitution does it give the government the right to lower your cable bill? Watch less TV and cancel your cable."
well it is a law about monopolies and you can be a monopoly in a group.. when you collude to set prices.. like the riaa and opec
and we do pay way too much in japan you can get a 20 meg connection for $15 american a month.. i pay $50 for a 5 meg connection.. so yeah we pay too much.. would be nice i i could hire aa japanese isp..
But i see this less as concerned congresmen and rather a call for more lobiing money from the telecos.. maybe i just have horrible views of congressbut they really rarely do anything for the people unless it helps one of their big time donors..
I dont belive micorsoft was attacked for being a monopoly as we have lot of monopoloies.. they were attacked because before then they did no lobbying.. got to share the wealth to protect your companies health.
Us adverage americans really have to pool our money and stat more grassroots interest groups.. so we can compete with huge lobby companies... and buy our congressmen back. - diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's very high.
- Linuxrocks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Where in the US Constitution does it give the government the right to lower your cable bill? Watch less TV and cancel your cable.
It's not that people are watching too much tv, it's that the huge corporations like Comcast and Warner are overcharging people for their services. - arem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Nix government regulations, allow free market and all will go well.
- phunlee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I had to cancel my cable b/c of it's outrageous price tag. I am having Daily Show withdrawals lately...bad. I hope some good comes out of this.
- strictnein, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0No, my cable bill is not too high. Thanks for agreeing Senators.
Digg submitters need grammar lessons. - au071, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Comcast charge me almost $70 the digital package with no movie channels; only watch a handful of them but have to subscribe since they are not all in the "basic" package. We should be able to just pick the ones we want and pay for what we watch...
- Bowhunter87, on 12/03/2008, -0/+0Possibly what they are trying to do in this case is attempt to decrease the digital divide. By lowering the price of cable for internet and tv, they are attempting to make it available to more people in an effort to get more of the populace involved.
- striker1211, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You don't NEED cable. It's been stated in the comments but i want to reemphasise it. Let's worry about lowering heating and power bills, and not the tv, eh Gov? How about some regulation on ***** college prices... forget cable... we need more smarter people than we need TV watchers...
- Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I digg it, yes I actually agree with something "the man" said for once ;)
- plzdiekthx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The cable company does *not* have a monopoly on television."
Cable companies however _do_ have State-granted monopolies in regions all over the country. Meaning that there is _one_ cable company in a given region. Meaning that there is no direct competition for their services, and where this includes areas without DSL, that one cable provider is the sole arbiter of broadband net access. Satellite broadband is 1) high-latency 2) absurdly expensive to the point where dealing with the cable monopoly is cheaper, regardless of how much price-gouging they engage in. - Gigadafud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i hope it goes al a carte so i can buy my 8 channels and be happy! f cable providers and their bull$h1t rates. no competition in my area, only comcast.
- madjack3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The cable company does *not* have a monopoly on television. There's always satellite, if you want to put up with the crappy reception, and cut down trees to get a clear shot at the sky. And the reason why it's so expensive is not the cable company's fault, it's the channels they have to pay to put on their line. Not to mention the enormous amount of money spent to lay the fiber through every city, equipment upkeep, franchise fees and everything else. Since all I do when I'm at home is either watch TV or surf the internet, I think $180 a month is not bad.
- diecastbeatdown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I pay $160 for my cable bill.
It includes: 10Mbit internet (1Mbit up), VoIP, Digital Cable, ALL Pay Channels (HBO, etc), On-Demand (HBO, etc) and a DVR.
Hell yes that is too much money in my book. I may watch 5 movies in a month, and they all come from Netflix. My weekly shows that I watch are available on standard broadcast tv (NBC, etc) which is free with bunny ears. I could drop VoIP and internet for a cellphone and DSL and end up saving about $120 a month. Why don't I do this you ask? Well, I don't know - I suppose it is easier to just pay one bill and get all these services handled under one roof of customer support and if ever I need to make use of any other features they are available to me. It is the whole "If I need it I want it to be available to me" type of mentality. - nightsweat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I think $180 a month is not bad"
You sir, are either a spendthrift or a lottery winner. - kanned, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Amen... I pay 224.00 a month.. for Cable TV and Internet..
It's higher than my car payment.. :( - plzdiekthx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"If you believe that a better product can be offered for a better price then by all means please provide it."
Yeah, all you have to do is have the legislation granting a single company a monopoly to provide service in your region repealed. Good luck with that. - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0How many of us geeks actually watch SPORTS? Well, that's almost 1/3 of what you're plunking down - whereas other channels have to pay to be in your cable lineup, ESPN actually gets paid!! So, next time you get that $120.- cable bill, thank that idiot neighbor of yours who's watching the NFL, NHL, etc. every evening.
I NEVER watch that crap and I don't care - god knows why I have to pay for it. - nidude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0In THEORY al-carte cable would/should be the coolest thing to hit TV since color, unfortunately you can be CERTAIN that any execution of al-carte would result in LESS channels at a HIGHER cost and that's a damn shame...
The bigger price gouging seems to be the high speed internet side. Why is it that the japanese can get connections 4-5x faster than ours for around 15$ a month?
At least we've mostly killed one beast with IP phones... - seaner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$40 CDN /month for 1.5 mb/s adsl internet
$30 CDN /month for about 30 bad quality cable stations
$40 CDN /month for phone service - teamgreen02, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have regular cable (63 channels), and 3mbit internet for $88 per month. That is ridiculous. I will be going to directv and qwest 5mbit dsl soon.
- ElevenisEven, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0how does the government have time to ***** with how much it costs to watch tv when there are people that cant afford the gas bill to heat their homes! thank you government for spending my money on a low priority. the government should stick their nose in something useful. ill worry about watching tv when i dont have to rely on it to heat my house
- treed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Depending on your interpretation of the constitution, since it doesn't say that they can't, they have that right."
Does that interpretation happen to include a reason to ignore the tenth amendment?
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively."
Seems to be pretty specific to me. - firekrakcer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I don't have cable because of how much it costs. Rabbit ears work ok for me but its not a really big deal to me either. What does bother me is I have only 2 options for broad band. Bellsouth (hate em) or Comcast (not connected).
If they bring cable down I will sign up for broadband with them too. I wish we had more options. - Rahyl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As bad as the government has performed in other areas, I'm completely amazed at the support ideas like this have. My senator's job is to protect my rights, not dictate the price of goods and services in a free marketplace.
They're looking for a toe in the door to censor and control the internet, much like they censor and control TV. As soon as you let them regulate price, they can regulate everything else, including what's considered acceptable for you to view.
If you believe that a better product can be offered for a better price then by all means please provide it. - driedwater, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you are like me, and hate the high cable bills... there is one thing that consumers can do and that is to cancel cable service!!! Why not someone put together something where many thousands or even a million cable subscriber cancels their cable on a certain given date for say 3 months?? You can live without cable for 6 months or till the prices get lower! you won't die! Sort of like a strike? " we don't like your offers or services, we deserve better!!" especially Comcast! Show them who's boss!!! the customers not them! If we had enough dedicated people who would not be so darn addicted to cable this could possibly be done.
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