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HissyFitWatch: Cablevision Delivers Customers Cap Free Blazing Speeds; TWC Says Forget It

Phillip Dampier April 28, 2009 HissyFitWatch 14 Comments

Challenge: How do you, the second largest cable company in the nation convince people you cannot afford to complete needed upgrades of your network without rationing usage and massive rate increases, while the fifth largest cable company just pulled it off with no drama and has announced the nation’s fastest residential broadband service, at fire sale pricing with no caps or limits on usage, starting May 11th.  Cablevision even doubled the speeds of their free wi-fi, offered as a public service to their broadband customers at no additional cost in many public locations, to three megabits per second.

Angry young business man on white backgroundTime Warner wants to ask customers to pay $150 a month for 15Mbps service while Cablevision rolls out Optimum Online Ultra, priced at $99.95 per month for both consumers and business customers, offering 101Mbps service.  You read that right.  One hundred one megabits per second service.  Cablevision has no caps or limits on its customers — doesn’t need them, never wants them.  Cablevision’s new broadband package even blows away Verizon Communications FiOS highest tier, which offers 50Mbps priced at $139.95 a month.

How can Cablevision pull this off while Time Warner has a hissy fit and yanks back their own vaguely-promised upgrades because customers rightfully said no to a 300% rate increase?

Integrity, honesty, real commitment to the communities they serve, and a recognition that a credit-card-like-pricing model at a time when the economy is hurting is about as low as you can go, all might have something to do with it.

Cablevision didn’t whine when it saw broadband growth.  It simply reached inside the broadband division’s profits, and made an investment in the future needs of their customers.  They completed upgrades to DOCSIS 3.0 without a lot of fanfare, without the need to impose rationing plans and without any caps dumped on everyone from the lightest to heaviest users.  In other words, they chose treating their customers with respect instead of considering them crooks, bandwidth hogs, and freeloaders that needed to pay more… much more, for the exact same thing.  That “other company” saw the same growth in Internet usage and felt their best option was to cut investment by 11% last year.

“Optimum Online Ultra firmly solidifies Optimum as the fastest Internet service in the home, at work and through the air over Optimum Wi-Fi,” Cablevision chief operating officer Tom Rutledge said in a statement. “This is a perfect complement to our existing high-speed data products, which are fast, reliable and far superior to anything available from our competitors.”

You bet it is.  Standard service customers who receive 15Mbps/2Mbps service will also reap the benefits of less congested bandwidth pipelines, made possible by the technology upgrade.  For Cablevision, it means reaping the rewards of an easier-to-manage-network, happier customers, new profit-making possibilities afforded by higher speed premium tiers, and an assurance they will retain their 75% market share for broadband services in their service areas.

That “other provider” continues to stomp its feet and decide the real problem isn’t their rape and pillage pricing plans, but the fact customers weren’t “smart” enough to see the genius of turning you upside down and shaking you for every dollar that happens to fall out of your pocket in the process.  You cannot Re-Educate an informed and empowered consumer that can see right through the PR campaign:  not yesterday when you shelved it, not today while you ponder how to market it, and not tomorrow when you bring back the same rejected plans with a new coat of paint.

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Megan
Megan
14 years ago

And I just moved up here last year from LI where they have Cablevision, to Rochester RR- *sigh*
TWC should be ashamed of themselves.

Greg
Greg
14 years ago

A friend of mine just got a visit from a TWC rep and he was once again using the salad vs steak argument. The funny thing is steak costs less by weight than salads do. Good luck getting a 1 dollar salad…

It makes me sick there is no competition here in Charlotte, NC for ISPs. I would switch to cablevision as fast as I could possibly dial their number. I just hope I get a visit from a TWC rep, they won’t be able to justify their actions with me. Not at all.

DTK
DTK
14 years ago
Reply to  Greg

The “salad vs. steak” argument is so tired and pathetic, I wish TWC would retire it and move on to some other argument. Neither food item is charged on a “per bite” basis, where you are capped at a certain number of bites of the food, and then you pay $2 for each additional bite. Food is sold everywhere in the world under an “unlimited bites” pricing model.

Wes D
Wes D
14 years ago
Reply to  DTK

Not to mention the analogy of “if you order salad and your friend orders steak do you split it?” does not make sense. The real analogy is, we both ordered the same thing, paid the same thing, I just happened to eat more of my meal than you.

Michael Chaney
14 years ago
Reply to  Greg

The better analogy is that TWC is trying to sell you a steak for $150 and a salad for $20 when BOTH cost TWC $0.50! We should all be eating steak and paying a lot less for it!

Tim
Tim
14 years ago
Reply to  Greg

I too am in Charlotte Greg. Have you tried AT&T Uverse yet? I am on it and I like it. The only beef is that some of the bandwidth is allotted to the TV but you can cancel your TV service once you get it from what I have read.

Dan
Dan
14 years ago

It just seems as though we’ll never really have a choice until we get some kind of re-regulation and some old fashioned trust busting. It’s not only a problem with internet, it’s a problem with cable TV, it’s a problem with cell phone providers, it’s a problem with telephone providers, it’s a problem with local utilities, and it’s a problem with Rochester politics. I’m wondering how much better the cable services are with these other providers that aren’t in our area. TWC’s interface with digital cable is terrible compared to DirecTV or Dish Network. They don’t seem to care about… Read more »

Greg
Greg
14 years ago

I am so sick of it I’m actually looking for jobs now in other areas. I love the internet, a lot of people already take it for granted, but to me it’s so amazing. I will probably move out of TWC’s service area if I can find a job elsewhere. I had been toying with the idea of moving and this is just one more reason to get out of Charlotte.

DOWN_with_TWC!
DOWN_with_TWC!
14 years ago
Reply to  Greg

I’m in Rochester and between the bad economy, bad weather and now this among other things I would like to move. But my wife and I just bought a house, and had a baby so were gonna be here for a little bit longer. Dan, I know what you mean about the interface of digital cable. I got to check out direct TV the other day and i’m considering switching to that. I’ve had TWC for the last 6-7 and other than the addition of HD and DVR nothing has changed. I’ve been to the retail center to switch my… Read more »

Dan
Dan
14 years ago
Reply to  DOWN_with_TWC!

I’m not certain that this is your case, but if you live close to the city, they probably won’t provide you with new equipment because of where you live. They base whether or not you are eligible for new or refurbished equipment on your zip code. Their rationale is that equipment in some zip codes has a higher likelihood of being returned damaged. So even if you take perfect care of the equipment they give you, you may still not be eligible for top-notch stuff. Also, when I was with them, I was told that some of the signal dropping… Read more »

Jeffrey_Bays
Jeffrey_Bays
14 years ago

So their test was not to see what a the fair market results of capped billing would be, but rather if they and AT&T could get away with price gouging. Here’s your options: Let us rob you. You don’t like that, then you can let AT&T gouge you. Don’t Like that, suck it. CEO and CFO report to investors. Our test in Texas has shown that we can gouge our customers. Profit is up since 14% of the customers go over their limit, paying about $19 more a month. That means 14% have had a 38% increase in their bill,… Read more »

waiting and watching in NC
waiting and watching in NC
14 years ago

Funny thing for over a decade I had Cablevision, then it disappeared quietly and all the bills and such including the office in my area were labeled Time Warner Cable. I thought TWC had bought out Cablevision. 🙁 So 15 years ago when something happened that caused TWC to take over Cablevision service area outside of Greensboro, here I am today looking down the mouth of some sort of return to AOL pricing schemes/scams of old.

ralfvin
ralfvin
14 years ago

Does anyone know the status of Congressman Masa’s proposed legislation?

Corrine
14 years ago

“Cablevision appears to have struck a nerve at Verizon with its launch of a 101 megabits-per-second broadband service.”

See Verizon dismisses Cablevision 101 Mbps claims; Price war looming?

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