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!!

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

I don't think it is a non-compete, spectrum just didn't put cables in your area. On my street both spectrum and comcast are available.

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.

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.

Having NO CHOICE doesn't sound right. Which village are you in?

This is true!!! We wanted to change, maybe a year or so ago and called Spectrum but were told they're not north of 466a. Perhaps one day they will be. We have Prism/CenturyLink and so far have liked it except for the raising of rates which brings us calling them back to re-adjust the costs, which is tiresome too. They'll give breaks and great rates to "new" customers BUT not to long-time customers! I'm so sorry you're having to go through this!!! :grumpy::grumpy:

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.

We are really happy with our Direct TV and have in the last 8 years only lost service for a few minutes at a time during a heavy storm but it comes right back on. Did you have a service problem? Our reception is very clear and we love the variety.

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?

Bonita

I think you may have gotten some wrong information. Xfinity (Comcast) is available in virtually all areas in The Villages.

The OP doesn't want Xfinity/Comcast. She wants Spectrum, but she was told Spectrum is not available in the Village she lives in, and she is not happy about it.