Gone

After more than a decade of “beep, beep,” Time Warner Cable is retiring Geococcyx californianus, the ground foraging cuckoo better known as the Greater Roadrunner.

It’s all part of a “brand refresh,” Time Warner’s Jeannette Castaneda tells Fortune.  The idea is to “create excitement around the eye-ear symbol.”  For now, the “Road Runner” name will remain — just the mascot disappears.

When Road Runner was first introduced in 1995 in Elmira, N.Y., it was designed to be a localized high-speed online portal, originally called the “Southern Tier On-Line Community.” Portals were all the rage in the 1990s, designed to serve as a unified home page to help users find content more easily.  When the cable modem broadband service finally spread to other markets, it was branded ‘LineRunner.’

But Time Warner’s marketing people decided the company’s best strategy to convince users that paying at least double the price they were paying for dial-up was worth the investment when you considered how fast cable broadband service was, and how it would outperform any dial-up connection.  The cable company spent months negotiating with Warner Bros. to license the use of the roadrunner in the old Wile E. Coyote cartoons.  The company even changed the name of their broadband product to Road Runner to drive home the speed message.

The "eye-ear" branding that replaces it.

Over the years, Time Warner has blanketed customers in postcard mailers, advertising, and billboards showcasing their broadband mascot, but no more.  While Time Warner Cable would not provide exact reasons for the brand change, we suspect there are several factors involved:

1. The cost to license the roadrunner character from Warner Bros.  In 1998, regional Time Warner representatives shared that the licensing agreement with Warner Bros. was costly and complicated.  Warner Bros. maintains strict control over their licensed characters and how they are used.
2. In the past, emphasizing speed was essential in convincing consumers to drop their old provider for the cable company’s alternative.  But broadband penetration in most of Time Warner’s markets has already reached a high level and most of those still refusing to take the service are not going to be convinced by speed arguments.  For these holdouts, lack of interest and the cost of the service are the most important factors, and the roadrunner character does not speak to these concerns.
3. 

   Canis usagecapus

   The telecom industry, notably cable, has spent years trying to retire the phrases “Internet access” and “Internet Service Provider.”  They don’t even like the word “broadband.”  For them – it’s High Speed Internet (HSI) or “High Speed Online.”  They have put the words “high speed” in the very term they use to describe Internet access.

4. Time Warner Cable believes in their unified bundling of services.  They aggressively pitch all of them together at a discounted price and have de-emphasized the branding that used to be associated with individual package components.  For example, Time Warner didn’t retire the name “LineRunner” when they rebranded their cable modem service Road Runner.  They simply re-used the name for their telephone service.  Time Warner tested LineRunner in the Rochester, N.Y. market before ditching the product for a Voice Over IP service they now like to call “digital phone.”  Today, most of Time Warner Cable’s most visible ancillary branding is done for their triple-play packages.  Remember “All the Best?”

Fortune thinks the retirement of the roadrunner may also have something to do with the company’s desire to implement an Internet Overcharging scheme:

TWC, like other big ISPs, is a leading proponent of imposing bandwidth caps on its Internet users. Imagine the possibilities for illustrating articles about this topic – Wile E Coyote (perhaps wearing a TWC ballcap) tripping up the Road Runner with piano wire, or finally getting his revenge and hurling the obnoxious bird off a cliff.

One of the conditions Comcast had to agree to as part of its multi-billion dollar deal to acquire NBC-Universal was to throw a bone to some of America’s poorest households by offering discount Internet access for three years.  Comcast agreed and is rolling out low-speed Internet at a discount in time for the upcoming school year.

“Comcast Internet Essentials,” is the ultimate in bare-bones Internet.  For $9.95 a month, customers in Comcast service areas will get 1.5Mbps download speed and 384kbps upstream, with the usual 250GB usage limit Comcast applies to everyone.  But not just anyone can qualify.  Comcast has limited the program only to households with at least one child qualified to receive free (not discounted) school lunches under the National School Lunch Program.  So if your income-challenged household doesn’t include children, or you pay for your own school lunches, you are out of luck.

Comcast is also denying access to anyone who has had any level of Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days.  So if you’ve scraped enough money together to pay Comcast’s regular prices, the cable company is not going to give you a break.

If your kids graduate or are removed from the school lunch program, your inexpensive Internet service goes with it.

If you have been late on a Comcast bill, or owe the company for unreturned cable equipment, you also cannot receive the service.

The company will also provide vouchers for a “discounted laptop” for $150 — a computer that turns out to be a netbook.  At least it comes with Windows 7 (Starter Edition).

Comcast requires would-be customers to start with an application, available by phone, at 1-855-8-INTERNET (1-855-846-8376).  The merger approval agreement required Comcast to provide the service for three years.  Guess what happens to it when the requirement ends.  No matter — Comcast is turning the entire affair to its public relations advantage, showing up on various media outlets promoting the program as if Comcast thought it up on its own.  Not quite.  We have three questions:

1. How many consumers would sign up for the service if Comcast offered $9.95 1.5Mbps to anyone who wanted it?
2. How many might consider downgrading their current service for something less expensive, especially if they are only interested in occasional web browsing?
3. Will the “digital divide” Comcast decries today be magically gone at the end of three years, when they quietly drop the program?

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KRIV Houston Comcast Internet Essentials 8-8-11.mp4[/flv]

KRIV-TV in Houston explores the various conditions Comcast places on its Internet Essentials program.  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”512″ height=”308″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CNN Low Cost Internet 8-10-11.flv[/flv]

Comcast’s David Cohen appeared on CNN promoting Comcast’s Internet Essentials as a way to “bridge the digital divide” — a disparity of access American ISP’s originally created with their excessively high-priced Internet services. (3 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KOMO Seattle Man Loses Internet for a Year 7-14-11.mp4[/flv]

Last week, Stop the Cap! shared the story of Andre Vrignaud, a 39-year-old gaming consultant in Seattle who found his Comcast Internet service shut off for a year for twice exceeding the company’s arbitrary 250GB usage cap.  The story continues to draw media attention, including this TV news report from Seattle station KOMO-TV.  Cloud computing is implicated, but Vrignaud’s cure — paying more for additional usage, strikes us as the wrong answer.  Monetizing broadband usage is a provider’s dream come true.  The better solution would be to fight to remove the cap or at least ensure residential customers can upgrade to business service, if they choose, without the year-long “ban” in place.  (3 minutes)

Comcast customers looking for some savings off their broadband service are getting some decent discounts when threatening to take their business elsewhere.  Depending on the competition in your area, customers are paying as little as $19.99 per month for Comcast Performance Internet, which delivers around 12Mbps download speed.  While the best deals often go to new customers, current customers can get some nice discounts just by using the word “cancel.”

Stop the Cap! has collected some examples from our readers about recent experiences with Comcast’s retentions and promotions departments.  Any customer can try any of these numbers and ask if promotions are available.  Comcast pricing can vary regionally, as do their offers.  If you don’t like the first one you hear about, ask them if they can do any better.  Very often they can.

Chicagoland

Call 1-800-934-6489, select option ‘4’ for downgrade or disconnect, then option ‘2’ for disconnect

Tell the operator you are considering dropping your broadband service because it is too expensive, but a friends of yours is getting a promotion for current customers offering $19.99 a month for Comcast Performance Internet.  Can I get that offer?

They will check for qualified offers for your area and may attempt to offer promotions for triple play packages.  In Chicago, the current Performance promo is $19.99 a month for six months, then $46.95 for the next six months.  But your pricing may vary.

San Francisco Bay Area/Seattle

Call 1-800-970-6405.  They will usually answer asking if you are calling about a special promotion.  Ask them about the Internet offer priced at $19.99 for first year, $34.99 for second year and verify what level of Internet service this provides (it should be Performance).  Some people report this offer is available to new customers only, others say it works for existing customers.  It is provided by an authorized reseller for Comcast.

Tennessee/Mid-South

Call 1-877-395-5388.  Ask about current promotions.

Expect at least five minutes of bad deals.  Hold out for 6Mbps service at $19.99 for six months or 8Mbps at $29.99 for 12 months.  You can often get them to extend the 6Mbps service pricing for 12 months.  Ask for any activation/installation fees to be waived.

Business Class Service (Usage Cap Free!)

Commercial (Business) HSI 12/2Mbps service is available for as little as $60 per month without TV or $65 with basic TV.  All installation fees can be waived.  Expect a 1-2 year commitment.  You may want to Google around for any third party Comcast Business Class resellers who can provide 12/2Mbps service for as little as $44 a month with a six month commitment and $35 activation fee.

General Advice

All promotions with Comcast are strictly “your mileage may vary.”  If a particular representative is not giving you a good offer, thank them, hang up and try another phone number shown above or call later.  You should get used to asking “is this the best you can offer” and “can this fee be waived?”  You won’t get it if you don’t ask.

With Comcast, you will also do much better buying your own cable modem and avoiding the monthly rental fee.  Perhaps some of our readers can join in the discussion in the comments with some modem recommendations.

When your promotion ends, getting an extension requires more work.  Many representatives will not want to offer you back-to-back promotions but some will when pressed.  You can also cancel service and then start a new account with the cooperation of a family member.

Some of the best pricing promotions require some level of cable television service.  If you want broadband-only service, let the representative know you want offers for that level of service only.

At least 20 percent of Canadians lack Internet access, according to a new survey published by Statistics Canada.  That means one out of every five homes either cannot afford, don’t want, or can’t get online.

The lack of access is most acute in low income households, where only about half with incomes of $30,000 or less access the Internet.  The income and access disparity was readily apparent when comparing broadband rich, income poor New Brunswick (70% have broadband) with service-deprived British Columbia, which has an 84% penetration rate.  In NB, you can get it but you can’t afford it; in BC if you can get it, you already have it.

Although cities in southern Canada are well-wired, smaller communities further north are often not, and the access some get is slow and unreliable.  But few are willing to live with dial-up access.  At least 96% of Canadians rely on broadband or simply go without the service.  The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has set a goal to deliver at least 5Mbps broadband service to every interested Canadian by the end of 2012.

Some statistics, starting with those without Internet service:

• 56% lacked interest or need;
• 20% cited the cost of the service;
• 15% don’t have access to a computer;
• 12% don’t understand enough about computers or the Internet to use it;
• 93% of households with children had Internet access while just 58% of single-person homes had the service;
• 81% of urban homes had access to broadband, just 71% of rural homes do;
• 71% of Canadians access the Internet from a traditional desktop computer, 64% use a laptop, 35% use a tablet or smartphone for access, and just 20% rely on a video game console to get online.

Statistics Canada surveyed 30,000 Canadians as part of its research.