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Driven Back to Dial-Up
You know your company is performing poorly when someone cancels your high-speed Internet and opts for dial-up instead.
But that's what Bettye W. Clark from Chattanooga, Tenn., did. In a letter-to-the-editor of Chattanogan.com yesterday, Bettye wrote about her decision to cancel Comcast: "I hung up [with Comcast] and immediately called the phone company to have dial up installed and am leaving Comcast completely."
We've all probably experienced frustration with our Internet providers - whether we're repeating "speak to a representative" to a confused robot on the phone, trying to figure out why a bill is so startling high, or simply getting service turned on.
It reminds e of an old skit from comedian Brian Regan about phone service:
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Regan: Can you turn on our telephone?
Phone rep: OK, it's going to be a problem.
Regan: I figured. How? Why?
Phone rep: It's just going to be a big nightmare. That's our policy.
These days, Regan's joke increasingly reflects reality. ISPs like Comcast - with their near monopolies in many communities - can set nightmarish policies and prices for many consumers.
Bettye expressed her frustration with the Comcast's cartel. "I think it is a horrible thing when one company has a monopoly and treat people in the way I was treated dealing with Comcast."
But here's the thing: Our answer to Comcast's shoddy service shouldn't have to be to simply shut it off or accept a lesser, but less frustrating, service. We need real competition that would not only give us other local options for high-speed Internet service but also pressure Comcast to do a better job. But unfortunately, most people don't have a second or third option in their communities - in fact, 96 percent of households have access to two or fewer wired broadband services providers.
The FCC recently released their National Broadband Plan to help connect all Americans to high-speed Internet. But as we've noted, the plan is lacking in details about how to increase competition to give consumers another option besides forgoing broadband. And of course, Comcast and others are doing all they can to ensure that the status quo remains - high profits for them, terrible service for us.
You can do something by telling the FCC you want a broadband plan that supports the public's needs, not the ISP's.
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Show AllBetween the cable companies and the phone companies, neither one of them do anything right. Going back to dialup could give AT&T and Verizon not only more money but more power to do more dirty business with the government. Usually in my area, people without Internet go to a cafe or a library with their labtops that are cheap to get these days and many buy them used off Ebay and some of them customize the machines themselves. I think more customers need to not only boycott their providers but organize for basic service free of charge from their city, town, and county governments.
"Usually in my area, people without Internet go to a cafe or a library with their labtops that are cheap to get these days and many buy them used off Ebay and some of them customize the machines themselves."
Once my contract with Verizon is up, next September, that is the direction I will take. There are plenty of free wi-fi spots close by. I got my dual processor laptop from eBay for $280 and added a couple gigs of memory (4gb total now) for another $24. So I have a two-year-ago state of the art computer for three hundred bucks.
"I think more customers need to not only boycott their providers but organize for basic service free of charge from their city, town, and county governments."
A friend told me yesterday that Philadelphia provides free wi-fi all over the city. I cannot verify that at this time.
pjd412 mentioned about the wifi service in Philly not too long ago:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/03/31-6
I don't know if there's any "smoking gun" evidence out there, but I tend to agree with the idea that the half-assed and grievously defective imposition of digital TV was intended to drive viewers into the slimy tentacles of major telecommunications corporations.
When I moved into this small suburban house a few years ago, I thought that once I got settled I'd finally bite the bullet and get cable TV.
But I really watch very little TV-- "Democracy Now", some PBS stuff, and assorted junk like syndicated sitcoms or late-night "Star Trek TNG" reruns. Even though I spend money freely (whether I have it or not), I just couldn't bring myself to pay for 200 channels of crap just to pull in "The Daily Show".
Since the digital conversion debacle, not a day goes by that I don't get glossy mailings and/or sales calls from either Comcast or Verizon offering package "deals" bundling telephone, TV, and high-speed Internet. They even send canvassers door-to-door, just in case I forgot to read all that mail or answer the phone!
There's no escape from predatory corporations, here looking for fresh addicts to suck up their overpriced bloatware.
Indeed. They're worse than panhandlers.
Corporations are evil. The larger the corporation, the greater the evil. Forget large mega-corporations for internet access. Instead try a small, local company instead.
De-facto monopolies and lack of regulation and oversight means the US has fallen woefully behind in high-speed internet connections. The US has the highest cost for so-called high-speed internet in the entire "developed" world. Many countries have much higher speeds at lower costs: Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Japan, South Korea etc. and so on...
For more see: www.speedtest.net
Once again 'merkans are gettin royally ripped off for a sub-standard product. Sound familiar?
Like autos, like Internet. In those countries, corporations behave differently for both cultural and economical reasons. Corporations there would treat their customers and employees with some more respect and pay their fair share to the government. That's what I noticed in Japan and the Koreas. I assume that it's similar in Europe. I find America to have been a lost soul of a nation that has yet to bottom out.
getting one's merkan ripped off sounds painful
Oh, yes, "digital television." Call it pixilation TV. This corporate/government destruction of the fine, functional over-the-air analog television broadcasting was another act of greed. Now, after you pay some fifty dollars for a digital receiver and special antenna, your reception range is no longer fifty or sixty miles, it is five to fifteen miles. From my house in Oakland, CA, I can no longer get TV from San Jose, Santa Rosa or Sacramento, with pixilated digital, I get Oakland and San Francisco only. This whole conversion to digital TV broadcasts was just a giant waste of resources, which rendered millions of television sets worthless without using a digital conversion box. Bring back analog. Let the Green Party or another progressive party start advocating a rollback to analog.
Who needs TV signals that break up (pixilate) or just never appear at all? "Weak signal," "or No signal" messages, what a bunch of stupid crap...
Amen!
"Simpsons" star and satirist Harry Shearer has critiqued Amerika's conversion to "The Digital Wonderland" from its inception; he's shared many anecdotes from frustrated victims over the months.
One of the universal bits of useless advice from various digital-TV support sites during the weeks following the conversion was to "rescan" to improve poor reception. Why the converter box doesn't automatically "rescan" is beyond my technical expertise-- but of course it doesn't really help anyway.
With converter boxes and supposedly high-tech amplified indoor antennas on each set, I find that each set and channel has a mind of its own. Some channels are stable, but others are "iffy". And when Channel 29 or 35 is having a "bad day", no amount of antenna-twiddling or rescanning helps. If and when they do "get better", they do it on their own.
OK, I think I've exceeded my venting about the digital TV debacle bandwidth for today... ;)
My mother lost access to CBS after the conversion. Her other free channels aren't crystal clear like we thought they would be. But she doesn't really mind because she hardly watches TV anyway.
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
Comcast is one of the largest regular corporate contributers to the Republican Party. So is AT&T (the largest holder of dial-up accounts). This is brought to you by the Clinton/Gore Telecommunications Act of 1996. People upset with this should contact their Democratic Representatives or Senators (where applicable) and tell them they want to thank the DLC Democratic Party for screwing the country on this issue and helping to enrich the campaign funding coffers of their Republican enemies.
We need a genuine & vigorous public utilities movement to reverse all the privatization/deregulation that have only delivered shoddy service at higher prices. Just EXACTLY like single payer/universal/not-for-profit heathcare, (where everyone knows you get better,cheaper service with that). One can make a list of what would qualify as a P. U.(comunication,public transportation,banking & credit, healthcare,education,public housing,public guarantees/support for farming/food secuity,energy & power generation/distribution...for starters). To the accusation that it's socialism, I say "What? Public Utilities are as American as apple pie".
"To the accusation that it's socialism, I say "What? Public Utilities are as American as apple pie"."
To the accusation that it's socialism, I say, "No shit, Sherlock. You got a problem with that?" Are we all together on this planet called Earth in this thing called Life, or is it to be every woman for herself? That's the basic difference between socialism and capitalism, the way I see it.
Neither capitalism nor socialism is the best or most efficient economic system. The guiding principles in order of importance should be 1) Protection of the inalienable rights of individual human beings as long as they don't infringe on others, 2) providing a minimum level of subsistence to the least fortunate in society and 3) increasing the general level of freedom in society. Pure socialism and pure capitalism both sacrifice one of the above for insufficient gains elsewhere.
Pure capitalism allows those who have accumulated monopolistic wealth and power to use that power to gouge and cheat others. Socialism sacrifices freedom and individual rights in an attempt to provide abundance for all. I learned in K-12 back in the Eisenhower and Kennedy years that some level of "mixed" economy provides the optimum mix of the above three principles, and I still believe that to be the case.
We need to free our small businesses -- sole proprietors and common law partnerships -- from the present excessive levels of regulation, legal mumbo jumbo, accounting requirements and prior restraints. If those proprietors and partners damage a 3rd party, their entire personal wealth is at risk. That's plenty of incentive for them to be responsible.
On the other hand, monopolies need to be owned by government and subject to democratic openness and control. Their management should be paid civil service salaries. Most people would agree that certain infrastructure type investments are natural monopolies do to the cost of entrance into the business. This would include police and fire protection, streets and highways, railway rights of way and traffic control, electric power distribution, water and sewer facilities and communication infrastructure etc. I would argue further that insurance (of all types) is also a natural monopoly due to the nature of risk management.
Limited liability corporations are creations of government. They do not exist naturally or in common law. If government is going to create Frankenstein monsters, give them eternal life and limit the liabilities of their owners, then government has a responsibility to regulate such entities, including the compensation levels of their top managers. Since their liabilities are limited, the uncompensated externalized damages they can cause are enormous. It becomes very important to avoid such externalities in the first place, rather than rely on court suits to compensate the victims.
William Rood, patriotic citizen of the world
K through 12 is not the best place to learn politics, especially about socialism. Try http://socialistparty-usa.org/principles.html
and
http://www.socialistparty-usa.org/sdvrds.html
Social Democracy Versus Revolutionary Democratic Socialism
Well said. Your explanation and proposals seem very clear and reasonable
I am not sure about these facts but I have been told that during the last power outage caused by a storm, Comcast customers who had the 'bundle' lost their phone service. That could be dangerous during times of emergency. I did NOT lose my phone service because it is not Comcast, but a phone company land line.
My office has Comcast internet and phone, and both were out during the last power outage here. I'm keeping my land line phone at home.
Tady sez: "The FCC recently released their National Broadband Plan to help connect all Americans to high-speed Internet."
***
Uh-oh ...
Is this anything like the recently approved "plan" to connect all Americans to high-cost private insurance?
Use free internet and then you don't even have to have a cable tv subscription
Well Morticia,would you please enlighten me.How can I find free Internet.Suppose I have no home or... land line phone,is there a V.O.I.P. WIFI ,solar powered affordable system that a freekin deralickt culvert dwellor like me can use? start from there please.Thanks
peace
After the June 12 conversion to digital from analog, the televisions in whole swaths of hilly southern Indiana went black, entirely dependent on horrible companies like Time-Warner with high monthly cable fees---if their rural area has been wired at all.
I'm still on a land-line modem at my rural home. It is actually faster than Time-Warner's Roadrunner "business class" "High-speed" internet was where I worked in a nearby city.
Telecommunications in the U.S. has become one big Rube Goldberg contraption, although I have to wonder how it is all working out for the NSA (and our taxpayer dollars at work!).
Remember, every time you "bundle" part of that bundle is the NSA... That's our "free market" at work, for you.
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I have found two companies today that will help low income folks with a need for a phone.I also found out about a federal program to help reduce communications costs for poor people.Assurance wireless(Mich,N.Car.,New York,Tenn.Virg.)run by Virgin and expanding coverage and Safelink wireless,and possibly other companies will both give you a Cellular phone and free minutes if you qualify.Anyone collecting Medicaid or Food Stamps or energy assistance should qualify.There are toll free numbers for both.Also a Federal program Lifeline may help reduce your land line expenses if you live at below 130% of the poverty level.For the cell phone program you do need a physical address to accept delivery.You will need to give personal data SS# and X affidavits to qualify.
Other than that I suggest Talking drums (West African),and Smoke signals(Plains Native Tribes)!And of course telepathy(everyone).If you are not in a hurry with your message and it has enduring wisdom try stone pictographs or hieroglyphics ,you never know!
peace
"1.5 mbps...barely more than dialup. "
Dialup I thought was 56k at the most. 1.5 Mbps, while not a sufficient number for today's bandwidth needs, is still technically much faster than 56k
Doesn't that depend on the video being presented?
About 2 years ago we were discussing FREE Wi-Fi provided by local governments.
The big telecoms fought this and they did a good job because nobody seems to remember. Groups fought for this!
Having Internet as part of your towns infrastructure only makes economic sense. The benefit outweighs the cost by far.
FREE Wi-Fi provided by local governments the world around. Except in the USA.
I'm still on dial-up - it beats the USPS most times. Visiting foreign students just LOL.
Big is bad.
I just had to switch to high-speed internet after nearly 10 years of dial-up - the response time now is about the same as it was when I first had dial-up (in this area). The local phone company provided my internet service bundled with my phone, but their high-speed was so expensive I couldn't afford it - and it never changed in price in 10 years !!!
When my pages started timing-out (bank statements, for instance) while waiting for the page to download, I HAD to switch - and I couldn't watch streaming BBC and other newscasts anymore either. I've been told that dial-up is routed differently to free up pipe for high-speed access, so it will only get worse. My internet bill doubled, but at least I have access again (although no better than dial-up was at first) - and there aren't many choices where I live either. I was just lucky that my phone company was based out in the sticks where I live or I wouldln't have had ANY access to the internet (there used to be 'internet cafes' back then - or the library, which was a nightmare-from-hell since you had to make appointments to use their computers. Try that when the library is 10 miles away through winter blizzards!!! (The nearest big city is some 90 miles away.)
sierra7
The "Enron" mentality of the country has forgotten how we so successfully (mostly) "lit up" the country with rural electrification; the building of non-profit, or strictly regulated profit utility companies to bring this country our of the "dark ages."
For most "flatlanders" free urban wi-fi is pretty much the case; for rural, mountainous terrain, it is very difficult. Yes, "sat" wi-fi is available at about twice the cost and then comes with so many rules about how much content you can download; cuts you off if you exceed certain parameters. I do live in the California foothills and our central small business community includes free wi-fi at our local park, public library and at certain small businesses. Those that live (like me) outside AT&T's whim and fancy which is two miles out of town they say, "screw you!" Tough "you know what!" If regulated like in previous decades the large telecom companies would have been forced to supply wi-fi to all....that's how a decent society empowers its' people. Not the way it is done now.
It all gets down to what kind of philosophy we want for our country or the world......If we continue to embrace one that is formed just for the individual at the expense of others, then I think we are doomed in the long run.
One commenter talked about "mixed economies" and he/she is right. Just look at the number of Latin/South American debacles we have construed over the years to crush "mixed economies" which would take power away from the common folk and continue to empower more dictators.
We live in a "Screw-you Country and Society."
Only the people can change it.
So far what is keeping us from financial Armageddon right now is Social Security for the many retirees, FDIC, unemployment insurance for the unemployed and other social safety nets that were instilled during the last Depression.
Continuing a well regulated utility service would have kept us int he realm of "progressive" nations, but greed raised its ugly head.
Both political parties are responsible for the mess we rare in, if it's our messed up utility services to our plunging economy which will make that service even worse.
You want to talk about frustration with a service provider?
My service provider (Verizon), has stopped DSL service one house from mine.. I can see the pole where it stops, a few hundred feet away.. They won't bring it the rest of the way..
And the only reason it came this far, is because state government stepped in and subsidize it..
If government instead of a private companies were responsible, everyone would already have high-speed access. Just like all have roads leading to our homes!
Their are something’s private companies do well, but treating people equally, is not one of them.
That’s where government should step in.