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Naively Surprised - now angry over cable in TV
We moved to TV from New England. Having had horrible experience with Comcast we decided to try satellite service for television. After having both Direct and Dish and also being tired of the "small" print we decided to change to Spectrum. We have many friends who are REALLY happy with Spectrum. Well...imagine my surprise when, after 4 phone calls and three different sales people, I find out that we can NOT get Spectrum at our address because we are in Comcast's territory!!! Am I the only person living in TV that didn't know these two companies have a "no compete" policy which means I HAVE NO CHOICE!! I am REALLY angry about this. The satellite companies can compete until we are all nauseated but you only have ONE choice for cable and that is dictated by your street address!! I like to have a choice - I detest having the choice taken away!!
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We have had Comcast since 2010. Just left their office (great staff)with new cable boxes, ours were 2 years old, they recommend we update. No charge. Still cheaper than dish and when it rains I can still watch tv
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We would love to have ATT's U-Verse cable service but it is not available in our area. Not all cable companies have cables in all areas. |
At your prior residence up North did you have multiple cable companies to choose from ?
In most of the communities where I have resided the " cable franchise " for that community was awarded by the local government for a number of years . They picked a single provider due to a desire to minimize the number of delivery wires to be strung across their neighborhoods . I lived in one community in Northern NJ back in the late 70`s where you had a choice of two different cable companies . However those two companies eventually merged . Satellite and Cable are migrating to deliver solely via the Internet. Within about 5 years the " Satellite " services will no longer come to you home to install a Dish Receiving Device they will be delivering everything via the Internet . Just guessing but it would be easy to predict that the " Hard Wire " services such as Comcast will move in that direction as well . Ultimately competition will force them all to change their delivery model . |
I believe it is an infrastructure issue, rather than a no-compete one. There are other non-cable alternatives available in the villages.
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Not a fan of regulation, however, given the necessity of these services I am beginning to think they should be regulated the same as other utilities. Customer service among the different Cable/Internet companies is poor at best.
I believe Spectrum (formerly Brighthouse) is only available south of 466A. |
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Certain areas and even inside some villas (CYV good example) are not wired for all services. Example is my villas (up north, way up north) half have Comcast and some have spectrum/brightside/what even they're are calling themselves now. Basically fiber optics are not in all areas, where coaxial cable is. I've heard the horror stories from both services. I got Comcast bundle and haven't had any problems, sure we always want better deal or cheap, but, usually after your deal time runs out the all up charge.
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You have plenty of choices, and they cost far less. You can install a roof antenna, aim it at the Orlando towers, and get TV for free! (What a great concept!):D
Or, you can just get internet from Comcast for around 30 bucks. Then, you can subscribe to stream you choice of TV packages - YouTube TV, Direct TV Now, Hulu, Playstation Vue, Philo, Sling TV, etc. You can get all the "local" networks and anything else you want (including a cloud-based DVR recorder). WAY cheaper than any cable or satellite package that they offer. Stream what you want and change services every month if you wish. No contract; no equipment fees no "cable guy" showing up at your house. Cable is DEAD. |
One of the Spectrum sales people said it absolutely is a non-compete and that the two companies agreed where the lines would be drawn. It is possible to live right next door to the competition and NOT be able to choose to have their service! Why doesn't this bother anybody else?
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Bonita
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Not really true. Virtually all of The Villages has Comcast and all of The Villages south of 466a has Spectrum. That means a very large chunk of The Villages has access to both Comcast and Spectrum. In addition, virtually all of The Villages has access to CenturyLink, with a large chunk via fiber optic cable to the house. Where I live, there are 3 choices for Internet access and 5 choices for TV, plus TV streaming services and over-the-air antennas. In the northern parts of The Villages there is some limitation on choices but the southern half has lots of options.
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Let's talk bottom line. If you want network channels, HiStory, Golf, HGTV, PBS and Discovery, can you cut the cable???? AND save money every month.????? |
Spectrum use to be Bright House and then 2 or 3 years ago they were bought by Charter and changed the name to Spectrum. They had a salesman on TOTV all the time about two years ago. It was pretty well known back then, if you didn't live below 466A, don't call them. Comcast and Century Link are just about everywhere.
Personally I've had Directv since 2008, three years in Maryland and seven years here. I've never had a technician come to my house to make a repair. The only time I had a tech come by was three years ago when I switched from a regular HD box to a HD DVR box. It can store 1000 hours of HD programming. I believe Directv is better than sliced bread, if you don't have Directv, then you're missing TV. |
The YouTubeTV streaming service has DVR in the cloud. I suspect the other streaming services also have cloud-based streaming services. If you look at what programming you actually watch, you may be able to ditch cable/satellite services for a streaming service at lower cost.
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I hardly watch football so it is really not an issue. I prefer to go out and play sports myself instead of watching others. To each his own.
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This THurs.my Prism crapped out--was told they could not get a tech to me till June 30, my contract with Prism was due to expire on July 26--fired them just got Xfinity--Prism will no longer be supporting tv,they wanted us to go with Direct TV--after being without internet & tv for 4 days , and I own Centurylink stock,I would not recommend them @ all
The voice controls and picture quality with x-finity and I hope reliability will put CL out of business in TV |
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Per the FCC, that restriction cannot be enforced: Q: What types of restrictions unreasonably delay or prevent viewers from using an antenna? Can an antenna user be required to obtain prior approval before installing his antenna? A: A local restriction that prohibits all antennas would prevent viewers from receiving signals, and is prohibited by the Commission's rule. Procedural requirements can also unreasonably delay installation, maintenance or use of an antenna covered by this rule. For example, local rules or regulations that require a person to obtain a permit or approval prior to installation create unreasonable delay and are generally prohibited. Permits or prior approval necessary to serve a legitimate written safety or historic preservation purpose may be permissible. Although a simple notification process (e.g. post installation) might be permissible, such a process cannot be used as a prior approval requirement and may not delay or increase the cost of installation. The burden is on the association to show that a notification process does not violate our rule. More:Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule | Federal Communications Commission |
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Not true. Unenforceable due to federal law. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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How to Get NFL Sunday Ticket Without DirecTV |
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I've only missed seeing one Baltimore Ravens regular season game since their inception in 1996 either on TV or in person. Baltimore is a small market that is wedged between Washington (40 miles south) and Philadelphia (100 miles north) and in 1995 when Baltimore put together the best sports package, the NFL awarded franchises to Carolina and Jacksonville instead and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said, Baltimore go spend your money on a museum. He said that to the wrong people. In the end, Cleveland lost their team for 3 years and has never fully recovered and LA had no pro NFL team for 20 years because he ignored St. Louis and Jacksonville has to cover a 1/3 of their seats to get a sellout on ocassion. Baltimore is a football town, and even though I live in Florida I'm one of them. The Ravens get 71,000 people to every home game, there has only been one blackout game in 21 seasons. Some people don't care for football, I don't care for a few sports, mostly pro basketball, but NFL and especially the Ravens and before that, the Baltimore Colts for many years, and also College Football, golf and hockey I watch most of them religiously. To each their own. |
That's fine but I have never seen much entertainment value in watching others play sports.
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Both are offered in our area.
Not a non compete issue.
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cut the cord and use a jailbroken amazon firestick, just need wi-fi only. Hacked Alexa Amazon Fire Stick with Terrarium & Kodi (clean or xxx opt.) | eBay
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We have used Prism/Century Link for 5 years and negotiated a great rate with all their services except phone for a year long rate. we have 4 wireless set top boxes their service was only out once for a short period of timeCin 5 years. I left Comcast because it seemed every two months I had to renegotiate a rate.
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We are in the process of purchasing a CYV in the north end. Spectrum and Centruy Link is available as is Satellite. We like to be able to watch the tube when it rains so it’s either Spectrum or Century Link. Looks as though Century link is a better deal by about $18 per month for TV/internet. Spectrum charges extra for a DVR CenturyLink does not. I was quoted $100 plus taxes and fees from Century link. In my opinion all the TV/internet/phone providers are holding holding us up without a gun.
It’s no different in Rhode Island where I’m from you have Cox Communications or Fios from Verizon. After the initial 2 year contract they raise their rates. I left Fios because Cox offered a more competitive price. In another year from now when Cox raises the rate I’ll migrate back to FIOS, I’m sure they’l offer me a special new customer rate. |
Ohiobuckeye
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