As part of our move, I’m also going to have to move scissors, the little computer that powers this web page. I’ll try to keep down time to a minimum, but I can’t guarantee anything. So expect the page to die for a few days sometime next week. Yes Kenneth, this means you’ll need to find something else to do at work for a day or three.
I was a little shocked when I called Comcast to inquire about transferring my service. Right now I pay $13.09 a month for basic cable channels and $42.95 a month for cable modem service. To transfer my service I’d have to pay $24 for a new hookup to our new house (even though I’m fairly certain we already have a hookup, I should plug in the TV and see if it’s live). On top of the $24 fee, I’d still have to pay the same rate I’m paying today.
Seeking to be completely honest, I asked what would happen if my wife signed up for a new account, would she get the discount? The answer was yes. I then asked a clarification question: “Let me see if I understand. If I do a transfer, I continue to pay $56 a month and need to pay a $24 transfer fee, but if she signs up we pay $44 a month for a year and just pay a $27 installation fee?” “Yes” “So what’s to keep me from doing that?” “Well, you would loose all of your comcast email.” “I don’t use comcast for email.” “Then nothing I guess”.
While it’s not what I could call a complete sanctioning of my activity from Comcast, it makes me wonder about the viability of such business models. Mobile carriers realized a while back that to keep customers they need to provide better benefits to existing customers than they provide to new customers (my low rate from Sprint is evidence of this). Why is it not the same with high speed internet? It probably has something to do with the lack of competition.
In Pittsburgh, we have our choice between cable and DSL, just like most places in America. Cable is provided only by Comcast. DSL is mainly verizon, although I’ve read that I can also get it through SpeakEasy with their nifty OneLink service (but I’m not entirely sure). In any case, what it comes down to is that all of these options are more expensive for a lesser quality link. The biggest issue is the huge infrastructure costs in getting to folks. Unless someone has the money to sink in infrastructure, they can’t do anyting, so we see no real innovation. Sigh, so I’m stuck with comcast. Well, at least unless I want to pay more. Here’s hoping for WiMax.