Comcast’s Black Hole of Service
In our last episode, Comcast had screwed the pooch on the rollout of its inanely branded X-1 “platform” [1] —an overhyped DVR/set-top box so bug infested it should never have made it out of beta phase—and was suffering a shitstorm of complaints about its apparent role in widespread service interruptions.
Today, widespread outages returned to the I-95 corridor from DC to NY.
To review why Comcast’s continuing inability to (1) reliably provide cable and uninterrupted internet service, or (2) properly manage customer service calls and inquiries about interruptions and outages is more than a mere consumer annoyance, in our last posting we outlined five principles:
- Cable and especially internet service should be treated as public utilities[2]
- Providers enjoy regional monopolies
- For folks who telecommute or rely on internet for business need reliable service
- Consumers of any product or service must be protected from abuse by businesses who take money but systematically fail to deliver
- Internet porn surfers, intellectual property pirates, and Judge Judy addicts have rights too![3]
Let’s add two more items to that list:
- Comcast is currently in the midst of a lobbying and PR blitz to win approval for its planned takeover of Time Warner Cable (TWC)–the most egregiously monopolistic merger in telecom history[4]
- Comcast is the biggest of the mega-predators throwing their weight and muscle around Capitol Hill to block net neutrality legislation.
Thus the cable industry’s biggest oligarch, Comcast, and its ongoing mess of massive, unexplained system outages and failure to provide minimally adequate customer service response is more than an annoyance. It is a huge public interest issue for consumers and taxpayers and a huge potential PR bat with which to bash Comcast’s reptilian brain out.
Telecom regulation is a notoriously hard topic to engage much public interest in. (Admit it: You almost passed out before completely reading the words “telecom regula…THERE! You did it again. …Yes, you did! You were practically snoring for a moment there… Now, wipe the drool off your chin, sit up straight and pay attention…) But every broadband user can relate to their anger over expensive yet shitty service they already receive.
In that context, the notion that we would go ahead and allow the cable industry to further consolidate its unaccountable hold over something so many people rely on so heavily in their day-to-day activities is a palpable public issue. One that can be easily grasped by anyone who has tried to speak to a cable company “customer service” representative about a service or billing issue.
So, seriously now…
If you are a Comcast customer, CONTACT THE FCC and FILE A COMPLAINT about Comcast’s poor record of service (Link to FCC Consumer Complaints: http://goo.gl) Tell them they need to investigate why Comcast charges money for services it cannot reliably provide and yet maintains regional cable monopoly status in communities across the country. (For example, though Cox is cheaper and provides more reliable service and does far better in customer service surveys, people in my community cannot switch to Cox because Comcast has an exclusive monopoly in our area.)
CONTACT CONGRESS AND TELL THEM TO END REGIONAL CABLE MONOPOLIES! Use Comcast’s execrable record to illustrate the danger of further market concentration. Express outrage that Comcast and TWC would try to further dominate the broadband market even while they provide unacceptably expensive and poor service to their customers. INSIST THAT YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY.
Use the FCC PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS to oppose the COMCAST-TWC merger and to support “PROTECTING AND PROMOTING THE OPEN INTERNET” (this is the FCC’s official title for “Net Neutrality” rules) [5]
The FCC makes it very easy to engage in the public comment process for pending rule changes and cases: Simply go to the FCC ‘s “Send Us Your Comments Page” where you will find a list of proceedings. Every proceeding open for public comment is listed with a short title and proceeding number.[6] The proceeding number for the proposed Comcast-TWC merger is 14-57; the number for the “Open Internet” proceeding is 14-28. Clicking on the proceeding number takes you to the form for public comment. If you use this method, the proceeding number will already be entered in the required field. Be sure to fill in all required fields.
REPOST, REBLOG, TWEET, SHAMELESSLY PLAGIARIZE this article everywhere!
NOTES:
[1] Reader: Please add “platform” to “system” and “solution” to your list of bullshit words that will be purged from the approved vocabulary come the revolution. “Gadget” and “gadgetry” will more than adequately serve for the crap that currently gets labeled with these marketing bloat words.
[2] That’s right, Mr. Andashes was a good ten days ahead of Obama’s pronouncement of his identical position on how regulatory agencies and law should treat ISPs and cable providers. As usual, YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!
[3] GODDAMMIT!
[4] The merger would create a too-big-to-exist communications corporation that would control about 40% of the entire US wired broadband. Adding to the monstrosity of this proposed market concentration is the fact that it would combine the incompetencies of the two worst rated cable/internet service providers in the industry.
[5] If you’re a little sketchy on the Net Neutrality and Open Internet stuff, read up on it in this short FCC Fact Sheet or read this broader article in Wikipedia.
[6] Next time one of your Ayn Rand libertarian fanboy friends starts slobbering on about the usual litany of reasons private businesses are always better than public/government agencies, ask them to compare this transparent, accessible avenue to his last attempt to resolve a billing or service issue with a telecom company. OH, and you can use the same FCC page to easily look up other folks comments on FCC proceedings. Transparency and access: It’s only a democracy if you USE IT.
Back to the Root 