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I have a friend who lives within 1/2 mile of Mecklenburg County off Altura Road. He and ME and maybe you, have to pay Comporium $45.95 for cable modem internet, when YORK, SC and CHARLOTTE can get DSL for $24.95 a month.
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When you see TV ads for Comporium they say, compared to dial up your speed "may be" up to 10 times faster.
I saw an installer next door and went and asked him about this "up to 10 times faster". He said it depends on what neighborhood you live in.
I called Comporium and wanted to know how many customers per modem. They would not tell me. When I had dial up through a Rock Hill independent service the customer to modem ratio was 6 to 1 (only 6 customers per modem).
I wonder why Comporium won't tell us how many customers per server, etc.
I called Bell South and they said, sorry, Comporium owns the under ground wiring system or some story, that basically said Comporium has a monopoly and we "do not" have choices. Wih no choices that is a monopoly.
"Who" controls "who" can enter York County with DSL service?
I think it has something to do with the FCC, actually. When I lived in Ohio, I had to use Armstrong Cable, but the people whose houses backed up to mine on the next block over got Time Warner. I called Time Warner and asked how they could serve that street but not my street. They told me the FCC decides the boundaries of where they can serve or not.
I have never lived in a place that had any choice in cable companies. In every place I've lived, it's always been a monopoly. It's terrible. But I think the FCC is allowing it, or even causing it....?
That being said, I live at the south end of Lake Wylie. We have only Comporium. I have called Time Warner and they say that they offer service in my area. Then why I try to schedule an appointment, they say they aren't here YET but they will be soon.....? I dunno.
Comporium owns the under ground wiring system or some story, that basically said Comporium has a monopoly and we "do not" have choices. Wih no choices that is a monopoly.
That is why Comporium prices are so high. They have no competition!
I think it has something to do with the FCC, actually. When I lived in Ohio, I had to use Armstrong Cable, but the people whose houses backed up to mine on the next block over got Time Warner. I called Time Warner and asked how they could serve that street but not my street. They told me the FCC decides the boundaries of where they can serve or not.
I have never lived in a place that had any choice in cable companies. In every place I've lived, it's always been a monopoly. It's terrible. But I think the FCC is allowing it, or even causing it....?
That being said, I live at the south end of Lake Wylie. We have only Comporium. I have called Time Warner and they say that they offer service in my area. Then why I try to schedule an appointment, they say they aren't here YET but they will be soon.....? I dunno.
I called Time Warner and others a few years ago on this. Cable and DSL lines are in the ground?
right or wrong?
and Comporium controls the rights to these lines.
I even talked to a Rock Hill resident who works for AT&T in Charlotte and she was furious that her only choice was Comporium.
Why can York, S.C. get the $24.95 DSL?
How did it happen that they can get these other choices,
and Rock Hill can not?
DSL thru Comporium is tooooo high.
On cable TV I'm paying for basic and basic plus. It's $57.87 with the SIX different charges added in.
Direct TV, etc. are not an option for me because I must have CNBC
(ch 65) for my income and they do not offer that.
You can contact the South Carolina Public Service Commission ... they are responsible for telephone and cable TV. Our 5th District rep is O’Neal Hamilton.
Site Map: Public Service Commission of South Carolina (http://www.psc.sc.gov/sitemap.asp - broken link)
Comporuim owns all the lines ...RH Telephone, RH Cable TV, Fort Mill Telephone, all became Comporium ... the Barnes family has owned the whole kit and kaboodle ... they have some sort of 'rural rating' which allows this control of our area.
As far as the internet goes you can contact the FCC ... the nearest local office is in Atlanta or you can just call or email the headquarters in Washington.
I guess is my case I'm thinking $24.95 for DSL compared to $45.95 cable modem. I'm no ISP specialist, so I do not know the speeds when comparing cable modem and DSL, other than DSL is dual line?
so should be faster?
Sometimes my cable modem service is very fast and other times not, implying a varying number of users per piece of equipment?
When I had dialup thru Rob's Computer Warehouse, and he went thru Cetlink, 6 users per modem was about as good a ratio as you could even dream for.
My $.02 working in the telecommunications industry
For background info, I've worked as a consultant in telecom for over 13 years, so I've seen and heard it all. Let me address some of the issues.
1. Comporium's actually not a government-regulated monopoly in most services except maybe landline phone to an extent. The government allows Comporium to collect monies from Federal programs like the Universal Service Fund and use them to serve areas so everyone has access to voice services. But there are lots of strings attached and rules to follow to receive that money. I also read someone talking about a rural exemption and that it keeps out competition, which is TOTALLY NOT TRUE. The rural exemption is actually a poor choice of words. It should be called a small carrier exemption. This keeps smaller carriers from having to share their switching equipment with competition. This means that ANY company can offer service, but these small carriers do not have to provide access to their equipment that was paid for with their money. In sharp contrast, AT&T built their network and switches with government funds so they MUST provide access to competitive carriers to switch traffic and lease lines at fair prices. For instance, a competitive carrier in Charlotte must be provided access through leasing and interconneciton agreements to AT&T's network because the government paid a portion of costs. Like any regular business, small carriers like Comporium spent their own money to build a network and therefore aren't required to do anything. These lines are not public property as some are led to believe. They're private property. That being said, Comporium does lease lines to competitors but most of these competitors go after lucrative business contracts because residential is very difficult to maintain profit margins. Time Warner Business is available in certain Comporium areas thanks to this agreement. As for Time Warner, they serve numerous areas in York and Lancaster where Comporium offers service. Sun City is a great example. My uncle got to choose between these two plus DirecTV for TV. So Comporium is not blocking competition. Rather, competitors go where they can maximize their investment. It's actually called "Cherry Picking" where the most desirable, low-hanging fruit gets picked up while the rest is ignored. In short, there is nothing blocking competitors entering our area.
2. Calling the PSC and FCC. It's not their call (sorry for the pun) to tell competition to come in and serve. They create policies that encourage competition. The fact is that the 1996 Telecom Act ended monopolistic behavior. Obviously they will hear folks' complaints but most are baseless and never go anywhere. You can get Vonage, MagicJack, Skype, Time Warner Digital Phone, Comporium or many others. So there are choices. But again, most smart businesses would never attempt to overbuild an area. It's too costly and expensive. Just today, Verizon announced that they were not expanding their fiber-based television service out of the existing footprint after spending $20+ billion in 6 years. It's expensive.
3. Pricing is a tricky thing. Unless you're comparing apples to apples, it's difficult to nail down products by two companies. Most people cite the lowest price they can find. Bad idea. The lowest price is usually a promotion that will end in short time. The best thing to do is find out the regular pricing and then make a decision. The $24.95 AT&T price for Internet is misleading. It's their slowest package. Time Warner advertises $29.95 but it ends in 12 months. After that time the price can jump to $55 if you don't have their TV or voice. Comporium advertises $29.95 for 12 months, which the price jumps to $46 without any additional services. The last two have similar speeds. The first is way off. It's tough. We all must be smart consumers and shop for the best deal for our families. But reading through all of the small print is tough.
4. Local. Let me say this. I grew up in Lancaster and feel very strongly about supporting local business. My father is a small business owner and people drive past his store to travel 20 minutes to get the same product at nearly the same price. These people spend more on gas and time, eventually paying more for the same product. Why? National brands have the ears of the consumer. If these people would stop or give him a chance, they would find that he offers similar prices but superior customer service and convienience. I've had both AT&T and Time Warner. I have nothing kind to say about my experiences with these businesses. I stood in long lines or on hold for way too long. When I moved back home I was excited to see that Comporium was easier to deal with than these other big businesses. I sat down and talked to someone with a minimal wait. They have flaws, but I was generally happy with their services. I was even happier that I could get the services I needed from a business that employed a couple of my neighbors. I grew up in a family business and understand the importance of giving my dollars locally.
5. Irrational hatred of Comporium. After being away for 15 years I was shocked to see that people just have an irrational hatred of Comporium. Let's face it, I've never like the cable or phone company. But the reasons I hear are absurd. Rural exemption. The Barnes Family. Blocking competition. It seems people would rather perpetuate rumors than state fact or just say how they hate a particular family. Really. Some people hate a whole family? I found out some time later that people thought my Dad had higher prices because he was a small business. If these folks would've compared apples to apples they would've saved themselves some time and money. I hope nobody hated my family or my Dad's business for no reason. If so I would love to have all those donations to Dixie Baseball, soccer teams, churches and fundraisers back that my father gave to the local community. I could've used them to pay for college or maybe my "rich" family could've paid off the second mortgage used to finance the family business.
That's it. I'm off the soapbox. I truly hope I didn't offend anyone, that was certainly not my intention. I'm just trying to get people to stop posting the same myths over and over.
well, I'd feel better if none of York County could get the cheaper DSL. Knowing that Lancaster and York and others can, makes me feel worse. I guess Comporium does not want to lease their lines to others or others can not afford the price to do so.
Hopefully the government steps in one of these years. If York, SC can have certain carriers and Rock Hill can not, well that just not seem right.
As I stated when I had dialup I was only one of 6 users per modem. Then when I switched to Comporium for dialup, boy was there a difference. I never could get Comporium to tell me how many users per modem. Confidential I guess.
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My $.02 working in the telecommunications industry
