SubscribeI have been carefully contemplating the last 48 hours of roller coaster riding, and I hate roller coasters.
I wanted to reflect on and consider all of the information, announcements, public statements, press releases, and industry reaction to yesterday’s announcement that Time Warner was withdrawing its Internet rationing nightmare. I’ve talked to a number of players, folks in the media, some of the groups in other cities, and have been in touch with many of you. The one thing that seems fundamentally clear: nobody is picking up what Time Warner is putting down — this fight isn’t over.
I am convinced that Time Warner is stalling. They haven’t really changed their minds about anything. They still think they’re right: the problem isn’t draconian usage caps, it is that people weren’t properly conditioned to accept them first, and after a mind-numbing “education campaign” with the gas gauge, the OPEC of the Internet will be back by the fall, probably with almost the identical plan they “shelved” yesterday. They hope that with a summer of their gauge, you won’t stay engaged in this issue, if you don’t hit their caps… yet.
They crumbed the play in their press release. One of my favorite films, David Mamet’s House of Games, says it all:
Oh, you’re a bad pony. And I’m not gonna bet on you.
So we resume the battle. It’s time for more competition. This would have never been tried had the company not felt confident their customer base wouldn’t evaporate. We need to see an end to “exclusives” in this marketplace. It’s time for regulation when there is no competition. If you want to act like a monopoly, get regulated like one. And it’s time to start helping push, where appropriate, municipal broadband solutions run in the public interest, to ensure equity of access and an end to the limbo dancing to see how low caps can go while your bill goes up.
I continue to appreciate the efforts of Senator Schumer and Congressman Massa. Both are watching this company very closely, and I think further action needs to be taken, and a watchful eye kept. I truly believe they are on our side and will drop the hammer if this company comes back with the exact same plan dolled up for resale. But I just do not believe they can do it all. Time Warner has still not gotten the message from its customers yet. They need to understand that another definition of Cap ‘n Tier is CANCEL.
If they run an “education campaign,” that is what we need to do as well, to educate our friends, families, and neighbors that a profitable company is advocating a ridiculous rationing plan that costs too much, offers too little, and thinks that you’ll be their biggest advocate if they get you to believe you are going to save money.
As I’ve said over and over again, when is the last time your cable bill ever went down from year to year? How much more do you need to know?
Here are the comments from the Ogden Supervisor I received today and it didn’t sound good to me: TO ALL WHO E-MAILED ME REGARDING TIME WARNER ISSUE: As you all know, Time Warner has reconsidered and is not going forward at this point in time with the consumption based billing. At the Supervisors’ luncheon today, they did come to explain their philosophy which was: “Those who use it very little should not pay as much as those who use it a lot.” Since hearing from so many of you, they have elected to not proceed with implementation of additional tests… Read more »
We have time to correct any misinformation they may have gotten. It sounds like pretty standard text to me.
My problem with the reply is that they are using Time Warner’s phrases and wording….
The replies coming from the news outlets and officials do seem to always end on TWC’s side. This is exactly why we cannot give up.
“Those who use it very little should not pay as much as those who use it a lot.” They seem to forget that’s what they have road runner lite for, they act like they don’t have that tier. I think we need to educate TW and remind them that they have RR lite and the people who don’t know it exists. The reps who answer the phone should ask the person what they are going to be doing on the net and offer them the right service for their usage. If it’s just browsing and email, they should offer RR… Read more »
I agree. My original letter to the Ogden Supervisor pointed that out. There is a $30, $40, and $50 tier already. If TW is not selling the $30 tier to lite internet users, they they are theones making people pay more than they need.
For a test, I had a friend call up (he has DSL) TW and all they talked about was the middle tier. No mention of lite, or turbo. Finally, he had to ask them if there were any less expensive plans to find out about the lite service.
Actually TW/Rochester has 4 tiers already, that they almost never advertise nor mention. Lite/Basic/Standard/Turbo in ascending order of speed->price, of course. All the lighter users complaining about the heavy users, YOU ALREADY HAVE a less expensive option! Use it if you think you’re paying too much, don’t let TW make the decision FOR you!
I went to their site and went through the process of setting up service and only option they give you is the standard with or without cable TV or digital phone service, no mention of RR Lite or Turbo.
This is something we should make people aware of.
I agree. They are acting like that there is currently no plans that are less money for people who use the internet less, when in fact, they do.
The notion of an “education campaign” puts one in mind of “re-education camps” that were/are run by totalitarian regimes. TW obviously doesn’t have that kind of power at its disposal, but what it does have are persuasive techniques, AKA as propaganda, which will only continue to be developed. Like other corporations, TW obviously can call on an army of PR consultants for a PR campaign to try to persuade customers that up is down and hot is cold. I agree, regulation and busting of monopolies, and municipal broadband are the only long term alternatives. Piecemeal efforts to legislate specific behaviors… Read more »
Mike O Brien on USA Network in between every ad break. Imagine the horror.
When I first read Time Warners reply I immediately though of the book 1984. The idea of rewriting history so that less is more and every reduction is sold as an improvement. I can’t recommend this book enough, especially now. I also totally agree that its time to pull back the curtain and find out why we only have on cable company in a market of our size. I would like to see Senator Schumer take this the full way and call to abolish ANY laws that prevent companies from being able to freely enter the market (if they desire… Read more »
We need to keep the pressure on Time Warner. Blitz every down! We need to contact Verizon every day to make them get the butts in gear to bring FiOS here. Complacency is our enemy. It would help if everyone would print up business cards with stopthecap.com on them. We need this site to he the local moveon.org
Oh yeah, lets implement the gas gauge, in the summertime, when people are outside away from their computers the most. When they see that they only used 10GB’s in July, 40GB will sound fantastic. The kool-aid is red my friends, do not drink it.
Complaining to town supervisors won’t accomplish anything. Time Warner is using their monopoly as an internet service provider to squash competition to their cable TV service and their home phone service. We need to contact the state attorney generals, the department of justice, and FCC. Their anti-competitive actions seem to be in clear violation of federal anti-trust laws. We need to get some people on our side who will take action.
Many of us have already contacted the State Attorney General. The response is not very promising. Do not expect much assistance on that end. The form letter I received back could be summarized as the following:
Thank you for writing us, your comments have been noted. Please address your concerns with your Congressional representative, blah blah blah…
I agree, I got the same letter. However, I don’t think we should discourage people from contacting the AG. Once the receive enough of a response, it may make them take further notice on the situation.
It is truly a shame that so much apathy still exists. TWC WILL roll this out to every place they now own and this has got to change. As I said before there are so many that just do not have a clue what caps will do until they get their next internet bill. Im still looking for hard numbers from TWC…. I think ill be waiting for a long time….Time I no longer have. Yes Phil I went in under the cover of darkness and it was what I thought it was and it is spreading quickly. Pain is… Read more »
Thanks for fighting the good fight and it is amazing what results have been achieved in such a short time. I am Australian (unfortunately) but have not lived there in almost a decade but that is apathy is exactly what caused the capping situation to happen there first and the current regime continues to this day and will for at least another eight years. This issue is very dear to me as well and I have been spamming your website and informing everyone I know about it, especially Americans as I do not want to see the USA turn into… Read more »
Thank you Munly Leong: As I understand oz is putting in a major pipe of their own. That may help but I find it interesting just how far the rules change in the world. For you to move back to the US your welcome to come back for me I would like to move to oz as im getting sick of looking at the same old houses in all four direction where the average age of a person around here is about 237 years old.
Thank you. And you’re absolutely right – we need to educate ourselves, our friends and our families to make sure we don’t get taken advantage of by a greedy corporation who seems to think we’re too stupid to notice.
Ummmm TW made 4 billion in proft just from their internet side of the house. TW is doing more than stalling, their tactic is simple, let this issue die down for now. By the time the issue comes up again, more customers will be desensitived to the issue and the fervor that we all saw recently will not exist.
My hope is that Congressman Massa’s bill becomes law.
TW needs to be treated like a monopoly in this area. I agree it is time for real competition!!!!
This was possibly the shortest victory celebration I have ever been a part of. While I was temporarily blind and thought Time Warner Cable had finally come to their senses, that little voice in the back of my head started clamoring to be heard. Somehow I knew it was just a smoke screen and sure enough after an hour the TWC Official Statement was released. I should have followed my instinct’s not to read it but I did. Let me just say it made me angry all over again. In the neighborhood I live in we have no other choice… Read more »
Wish I had an alternate Broadband ISP in my area. I also wish I had the funds to start my own Broadband ISP.
TWC may bring their cap at a later date. I certainly will not pay for it, alternate ISP or not. It is a matter of principle.