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well..............this was in the news and since "AT&T and cable companiies in general" were mentioned maybe someone will find the article informative.
I did edit alot of it to remove un-informative parts.
FCC set to reconsider broadband regulations - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100617/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_internet_rules - broken link)
WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are reconsidering the rules that govern high-speed Internet connections, a bitter policy dispute that could be tied up in court for years.
The FCC is scheduled to vote Thursday to begin taking public comments on three different paths for regulating broadband. That includes a proposal to define broadband access as a telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally.
The plan has the backing of many big Internet companies, which say it would ensure the FCC can prevent phone and cable companies from using their control over broadband and important to determine what subscribers can do online.
"There is a real urgency to this because right now there are no rules of the road to protect consumers from even the most egregious discriminatory behavior by telephone and cable companies."
The plan faces stiff resistance from the broadband providers themselves, including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. They say it opens the door to onerous and outdated regulations that would discourage them from upgrading their networks.
"This FCC proposal could call into question the business assumptions underlying multibillion-dollar broadband investments."
The FCC currently defines broadband as a lightly regulated information service. But in April, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that this approach does not give the commission the authority it needs to adopt so-called "network neutrality" mandates, which would bar broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against traffic traveling over their networks.
Supporters of network neutrality say such rules are necessary to prevent phone and cable companies from blocking or degrading online calling services, Internet video and other applications that compete with their core businesses.
Comcast and other broadband providers insist they need flexibility to manage their networks and ensure that certain applications don't hog too much bandwidth.
Another top priority includes a proposal to expand high-speed Internet access by tapping the federal program that subsidizes phone service in poor and rural areas.
The new regulatory framework would allow the FCC to move ahead on both fronts by placing broadband connections firmly within the agency's jurisdiction as a telecommunications service. At the same time, he has pledged to impose only narrow telecom rules on broadband providers, avoiding burdensome mandates such as rate regulations and network-sharing obligations. He has also stressed that his approach would not impose regulations on Internet content and services.
In outlining his proposal last month, Genachowski called it a "third way" that respects "investment and innovation" and protects consumers and Internet competition.
If the FCC ultimately adopts Genachowski's plan, it will almost certainly draw legal challenges from and cable companies that fear any shift away from the current deregulatory approach adopted under the Bush administration.
As an employee, I must say that I am constantly amazed at things that I hear, or read using words like "monopoly", "no choice", etc. First I will say that Comporium is NOT a monopoly. The ONLY service we provide that no one else is allowed to offer is land line telephone. But, as most people know, that is a dying service, with many people dropping it for wireless, & voice over IP, or VOIP, is available many different ways. Everything else we offer (wireless, TV, High speed internet, security, etc.) is available from any number of competitors. We can not stop anyone from coming in our areas and building a coax (CATV) plant, wireless towers, or a fiber plant. The reason no one has done it, is that larger companies want a quicker return on investment, so to them it isn't worth the money to build an infrastructure to serve such a rural area as we are. The Barnes family has spent millions of dollars, and decades of time to build the existing plants that are here now, and now are enjoying a return on that investment. As a matter of fact, the CATV service lost money in the beginning because of the cost of building it. Many people don't realize how fortunate Lancaster & Rock Hill are to have the technology & high quality equipment that Comporium has compared to most smaller telcos in rural areas.
Secondly, we are not "high priced" like some would like to suggest. Our rates are pretty much the same as the state average. Do some research, this is public info. The cheaper DSL rate that is quoted so many times above, is for a SLOWER speed. Comporium is looking into offering a similar package soon.
Thirdly, according to annual surveys completed by our customers, we receive an overall rating of A- to B+ for customer service. Obviously not everyone is unhappy with the service. With us, you can talk to someone on the phone that works & lives right here in the community, or go an visit one of our 15 or so offices and talk face to face. Also, our installers and repairmen are also local and members of the community. Their kids go to the same schools as yours, and attend church with your family. We come for repair work MUCH faster than the national average. Usually within hours, not days as with other companies. Rarely is there ever a charge for repair work done at customer's homes, regardless of whose at fault. (see if you get that with Satellite or TWC). Our repairmen & installers are also generally more professionally dressed, and knowledgeable than the industry average as well.
And lastly, I don't know of another for profit company in Rock Hill, Fort Mill, or Lancaster that does more for the community than Comporium and it's employees. Whether it is monetary donations, vehicle donations, volunteerism, scholarships, etc. (there is MUCH MUCH more) no one even comes close - local or national - to community support. Just pay attention, you will see it (red cross, united way, american cancer society, come see me, marion sims foundation, girs & boys homes, york tech, USCL, winthrop, and many more, receive donations every year from Comporium. When you pay your bill to comporium, the money goes to a local company that employs local people, and helps out the local communities.
Everything else we offer (wireless, TV, High speed internet, security, etc.) is available from any number of competitors. We can not stop anyone from coming in our areas and building a coax (CATV) plant, wireless towers, or a fiber plant. The reason no one has done it, is that larger companies want a quicker return on investment, so to them it isn't worth the money to build an infrastructure to serve such a rural area as we are.
Now, let's see how long this post lasts.....
Bingo...........It's not worth their money to build in small rural towns like Rock Hill and Fort Mill but it is worth their money to build in the BIG cities of Clover, York and Indianland S.C. (I think someone said Indianland can get the DSL people in Charlotte can get).
Independent of cost, etc. it a CHOICE thing.
Why can't they afford the Rock Hill - Fort Mill area?
Distance can not be an issue, Fort Mill is closer to the state line than York.
They can afford BIG Charlotte but can not afford Fort Mill or Rock Hill?
If they have to buy something from Comporium to do business in Rock Hill and Fort Mill then sure, if what is being sold or leased like lines, underground cables, etc. is priced too high they won't buy. THAT is a monopoly of sorts. Pricing the competition away.
I'd like to hear from an FCC person and I may write them and ask them why a company offering DSL in parts of a county can not afford the rest of the county. May I give them Frank S. Barne's name?
By high speed do you mean cable modem and DSL or just one of those?
Cable modem arrives at my house with my cable TV. If company XYZ can not deliver me cable TV they can't get me cable modem internet. Not worth the cost. Before there was cable modem the fact that Comporium had the lines to all the houses for phone and TV made it impossible for others to come in and run new lines to all houses.
The interesting question is why they go to York and Clover and Indian land and not Fort Mill or Rock Hill.
WHY doesn't Comporium serve Gaston and Mecklenburg or do you already?
If not WHY? Is someone treating Comporium like Comporium treats them?
One of your service men gave me an insight into it.
You may want to have a seminar and tell them to keep company secrets a secret or lose their job.
That "you'll get up to 10 times faster than dialup" is a bunch of BS on the old TV ad. There is a huge difference between 100% (1 times faster) 200% (2 times faster) 1000% (10 times faster). It all depends on where you live in Rock Hill what you speed is compared to dialup. State that on the TV ad. Sorry X neighborhood, you'll only get 1 times faster. If you move to Y neighborhood you'll get 3 times faster.
Why won't Comporium tell me how many users per modem or server?
They have refused twice.
With dialup through Cetlink, there were 6 people on 1 modem, thru Rob's Computer Warehouse. 6 to 1 ratio. What is the Comporium ratio?
And I called one of your competitors and the person I spoke to was a Rock Hill resident and she was upset about her CHOICES too. She has none becuase she does not live in Indianland, York, or Clover S.C.
The CEO of Time Warner Cable will write me a detailed letter and explain all reasons why they service rural areas of York County but not the larger cities like Rock Hill and Fort Mill. I'll post it here.
The fact that Comporium is formerly Rock Hill Telephone Co. since the early 1900's and has a strong history in the City of Rock Hill and not York, Clover or Indianland, another comment I heard about some city official determines who can and can not. So, you know the City of Rock Hill does not want to see tens of 1000's of citizens abandon a 100 year old local company, so they protect it at all cost.
[quote=billwilljr;14848778]so to them it isn't worth the money to build an infrastructure to serve such a rural area as we are. quote]
I think you have it backwards.
It isn't worth Time Warner's money to build an infrastructure is such a rural area as we are?
WE are Rock Hill and Fort Mill and are not rural.
Time Warner serves York, Indianland and Clover. THAT is rural.
Those areas are so loosely populated it should not be in their interest to invest in those small towns.
They woulld be better off spending their dollars in the highly populated areas of Rock Hill and Fort Mill.
A rep. from the FCC and the CEO's of Time Warner and Comporium could benefit millions of people by holding a public seminar or discussion on the truth of the matter.
It makes no sense for Time Warner to serve a few hundred people in Clover when there are 40,000 around Rock Hill.
I hope you don't work in managemant at Comporium.
Your post is a sales pitch on why we should like your service.
You ever heard of Carl Icahn? NO.
He is a wealthy investor who buys under valued companies. He made a $7 takeover bid for a company giving shareholders a huge premium.
Management refuses to let the shareholders vote to approve his bid. Carl ask them WHY are you scared to let the shareholders decide? If my bid is too low let the shareholders decide. The CEO refuses.
City of Rock Hill or Comporium would not want all the people living in York County to be able to choose between Comporium or Time Warner.
Treat the county population as shareholders who have a choice and let them vote.
Every cable and internet company is going to have interruptions in service.
It's not about customer service, cost, outages, etc.
As you say we do have alternative choices for phone. Go wireless, Dish, DirecTV. But we have no choice for high speed internet, at least until the wireless providers build out their 4G networks(which Comporium will be last to roll out with AT&T). Investment is not blocking other providers, it's the rural service exemption for phone service and the CATV franchise agreements blocking entry of new providers, if it was only investment, Time Warner would be all over Fort Mill.
As for the rest of your points,
1.Dish has always made free service calls and installs at my house.
2.Everyone else's installers live in our community too.
3.If it's the customers fault, why are you repairing it for Free. You could lower rates instead.
4. I hate calling your customer service dept or visiting the stores for anything. I'd rather speak to someone in India that can use a computer than the rude, entitled, bumpkins I normally get with Comporium. Do you hire everyone from the DMV or just cousins?
4. I don't care what you do for or how much money you give to the community, how about lowering our rates or hire new customer service reps instead. Or are alll the corporate donations and goodwill just a way to bribe the city and county elected officials into renewing your CATV franchise agreements?
As you say we do have alternative choices for phone. Go wireless, Dish, DirecTV. But we have no choice for high speed internet, at least until the wireless providers build out their 4G networks(which Comporium will be last to roll out with AT&T). Investment is not blocking other providers, it's the rural service exemption for phone service and the CATV franchise agreements blocking entry of new providers, if it was only investment, Time Warner would be all over Fort Mill.
As for the rest of your points,
1.Dish has always made free service calls and installs at my house.
2.Everyone else's installers live in our community too.
3.If it's the customers fault, why are you repairing it for Free. You could lower rates instead.
4. I hate calling your customer service dept or visiting the stores for anything. I'd rather speak to someone in India that can use a computer than the rude, entitled, bumpkins I normally get with Comporium. Do you hire everyone from the DMV or just cousins?
4. I don't care what you do for or how much money you give to the community, how about lowering our rates or hire new customer service reps instead. Or are alll the corporate donations and goodwill just a way to bribe the city and county elected officials into renewing your CATV franchise agreements?
AH HA...........!!
I have found the internet tech support to be good. They are not in Rock Hill (or India) because they always ask my city. Some are impatient if you are not computer savvy. Others very helpful for long periods of time for diagnosis. Sometimes they blame the problem on the computer. Sometimes that is correct. I've gone to the Rock Hill office with cable or internet questions and I am never turned away.
I've never gone there about the subject matter of this thread.
I think Clover and York are more rural that Rock Hill and Fort Mill is growing fast. I spoke with someone today in the office of the President of Time Warner in N.Y. He said there were multiple answers as to why 3 of the 5 cities or small towns in York County have Time Warner, OR THE OPTION, and the other 2 do not. I am not counting Newport and Tirzah and Tega Cay (no offense)
He guaranteed me I'd get a reply if I wrote a letter.
We'll see what the CEO of Time Warner's opinions and EXCUSES are for why they serve the smallest towns in the county and not the largest 2.
If I had dollars to invest, I think I'd go after the most people per square mile and that ain't York or Clover.
Before the conversation ended I asked him a very pointed question.
WE in Rock Hill and Fort Mill, S.C.....can WE assume that Time Warner wants all the customers "they can get" His answer was YES.
If they could get Rock Hill and Fort Mill they would. All I want to know is why they can not.
My TV and internet cable modem is almost $100.
I'd like to see an idea that I heard on TV. Since I am paying $39.95 for basic plus and I only need 6 of those channels, I'd like the cable industry to offer a basic package for some price. Then let you pick the individual channels you want for some price per channel, $1.00, $1.95, etc.
I do not want to hear that Comporium can not send me 1 channel. My neighbor came over to use my phone and called Comporium and asked for them to give him one of the 600 channels for wrestling I think. He was charged about $45 for that one channel for 2-3 hours.
This forum is only one of the many in S.C. for city-data dot com, as well as dozens of forums for each state, and many dozens of forums for specific subjects.
You robm: deserve to be the city data dot com, star of the day.
I spoke with someone in the Time Warner President's office in New York. The President of the company will personally reply to my letter, and in detail spell out all, not SOME, ALL the reasons they serve Columbia, S.C. and Charlotte, only to shun the two most populus cities in our county in favor of serving the three smallest towns like York and Clover and Indianland. It's time we hear from the competitor's mouth. And the this guy is the "horse's mouth", the President of Time Warner.
The misinformation on this board by Comporium flamers is absolutely stunning! First, Time Warner ALREADY has a franchise to serve any part of York and Lancaster County! They are free to provide service to any part of that region at any time they please. They could certainly obtain franchises for the city of Rock Hill and town of Fort Mill if they wish as federal law does not allow municipalities much choice in granting cable franchise. Time Warner DOES NOT serve the town of York and never has. Comporium provides cable service there and AT&T provides land line telephone. The town of Clover IS served by Time Warner through an extension of lines from Gastonia/Gaston County County (they do not have a head-end in York COunty), thusly, they recieve public access programing for Gastonia and none for York County. Basically, the same is true in the Indian Land. When TW built out the extreme southern end of Mecklenburg County, they extended a line down 521 in Indian Land, at the time very rural and without cable service. To this day, TW has never bothered to extend lines to neighborhoods off 521 (as Comporium did years ago). IL TW customers are served by a head end in Charlotte so they recieve Charlotte public access channels such as CMS-TV. They DO NOT recieve the Local high school football and basketball games or local news aired on Comporium, or any of the other educational/community programs aired on Comporium's Learn TV or other public access channels, even though TW charges are higher than Comporium's. TW is now serving a few neighborhoods in Fort MIll (York County) and provides the same Charlotte package offered in IL (they built a fiber line up Doby Bridge Road from IL to serve these few fortunate areas). TW is classified an "overbuilder" in York and Lancaster County which means they do not have to serve all areas--only areas they want to serve. Comporium, in their original franchases, where required to serve ALL reisidents in areas which reached a certain number of homes per mile of cable. Comporium greatly exceded this requirement in both counties, serving many quite rural areas with Cable TV. TO Naeem5--how fortunate you were to speak to someone in the TW president's office. Have you recieved your personal letter from the prez yet? I'd love to know what luck you'd have speaking to the manager of the Charlotte TW system--now that would be a story!
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I'd go after the most people per square mile and that ain't York or Clover. 
