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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Why most cable companies suck

[Image: Charter Logo]I am one of many people who hates my cable/internet provider. My provider is Charter Communications because I have no other choice. Charter is the only cable provider in my area, and I would assume that this is the case in most places around the country.

The trouble lies in the fact that Charter has a gov't-granted monopoly. It is not possible for any other company to legally exist. By limiting the market to only one provider, the government puts the public services in the hands of corporations. Corporations exist to make money, which is why Charter has recently implemented dirty little tricks to make money.

Not only is there the exclusive control of corporation, but consumers have no choice at all when their service sucks. In my case, the only options for internet are: dial-up (never) or cable with Charter, which has a maximum speed of 10megs (I only have 3MB, which currently costs $55). This is the only service available in my area. If I were to desire something faster, it would require that I pay a ridiculously expensive price. If I wanted something cheaper, I would have to... cancel the account.

When I took a simple economics class this year, the original logic behind this sort of a decision was: allowing multiple companies to service the same area would be too complicated, and would require too many wires (each company has own). Now, telephone companies have proven that it is possible to have multiple carriers on the same wired network. It is within the technology's capability, but there is currently no choice until the government does something.

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7:09 PM | Posted by mike | 0 comments posted below

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