Netflix has released figures for January ranking Internet Service Providers delivering the best viewing experience for viewing Netflix’s catalog of online video titles.

At the top is Google Fiber, which comes as little surprise considering Google provides 1,000/1,000Mbps service to its limited number of customers in Kansas City.

Suddenlink saw the greatest improvement. The mostly-rural and small city cable provider jumped five points in January’s ratings, scoring 3rd. Cablevision’s Optimum broadband service jumped ahead of three rivals to score second place.

Time Warner Cable and Cox remained in the middle, while AT&T U-verse demonstrated that the benefits of a fiber network end when the remaining copper wire to the customer’s home comes into play. U-verse performed only marginally better than the DSL services of independent phone companies like Windstream and CenturyLink. Frontier managed some minor improvement, now scoring 14th place out of 17.

The worst performers: DSL services from both Verizon and AT&T and Clearwire’s 4G WiMAX network, which scored dead last.

Time Warner Cable customers in central New York will face paying higher cable bills next month as the company boosts rates.

The cable operator is raising prices on a range of services and equipment. Most customers on double-play or triple-play packages of phone, Internet, and television service will see increases of around $3 a month. Cable TV-only customers will pay $5 more.

Time Warner has been testing its new Navigator cloud-based interactive cable guide on selected set top boxes in Syracuse (and Charlotte, N.C.) The newest software also comes with a significant monthly fee for the enhanced service — $2.79 a month, in addition to usual equipment rental fees. As Time Warner rolls the new set top equipment out to other cities, customers will pay around $11 a month for the boxes, up from $9.50.

A spokeswoman for Time Warner says two-thirds of its customers in central New York are enrolled in promotional packages and are exempted from rate increases until their current package expires.

Others are not waiting for the rate increase to take effect and are departing for Verizon FiOS, where available. Syracuse resident Bill Venson is one of them.

“[When I] dropped off Time Warner Cable’s equipment at their office, I wasn’t even asked why,” he comments to the Syracuse Post-Standard. “The clerk just gave me a receipt and didn’t even tell me to have a nice day. That speaks volumes.”

Unfortunately for many Syracuse residents, Verizon FiOS remains out of reach. Verizon canceled expansion of its FiOS fiber to the home project, leaving service only available in a handful of suburbs outside of the city.

The Man from A.L.E.C. represents premiere members Time Warner Cable and AT&T.

The News & Observer has printed a rebuttal to a guest editorial from Christopher Mitchell and Todd O’Boyle accusing the two of misleading readers about the true state of North Carolina’s broadband.

The author, John Stephenson, is director of the Communications and Technology Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Considering North Carolina’s largest broadband providers — AT&T and Time Warner Cable — are both card-carrying members of ALEC, his response mouths their words.

Nearly 300 million Americans have access to at least one and, in most cases, two or three broadband providers. Moreover, wireless and satellite providers continue to invest in 4G wireless technology and new satellites that can now offer speeds rivaling wired broadband.

By contrast, government-owned broadband has demonstrated mixed results at best and abject failure at worst. Cities’ attempts to build and operate their own broadband networks have been marked by poor results, huge debts and accounting gimmicks that threaten taxpayers.

In North Carolina, broadband “consultants” persuaded cities like Salisbury and Mooresville to ignore basic economics and to compete against private providers. But the broadband networks recorded deficits and were forced to tap other sources of financing. Despite these losses, as many as three dozen North Carolina cities appeared ready to go down the same dangerous path.

Stephenson’s rebuttal regurgitates the usual Time Warner Cable and AT&T talking points — the same ones used to convince North Carolina legislators to ban community broadband (with contributions to their campaign coffers stapled to the back).

Fact: North Carolinians typically have at most two choices for broadband, the telephone and cable company. Only a few cities were lucky enough to construct community-owned alternatives before the hammer fell in the General Assembly. Stephenson’s alternatives include satellite broadband, which delivers slow speeds and a paltry usage allowance or wireless 4G broadband that will set you back a fortune. North Carolina’s largest providers AT&T and Verizon Wireless sell service with a starting monthly cap of 1GB. Anything more costs more. These are hardly comparable choices to wired broadband.

Fact: Community broadband in cities like Wilson and Salisbury dramatically outperform Time Warner Cable and AT&T and deliver a fair deal instead of temporary promotions and endless rate hikes from the cable/telco bully boys. Stephenson uses the case of Mooresville to trash community broadband, which is a weak example. That city bought a decrepit cable system from bankrupt Adelphia Cable and had to spend a fortune to rebuild it. It’s now on track to deliver for local residents. Those communities would have been better off with a fiber to the home system, but the rebuilt cable system still delivers more competition than Time Warner and AT&T ever gave one-another.

Stephenson also ignores the debts the cable and phone companies piled up when they first built their networks. It is the cost of getting into the telecommunications business. Cable companies needed 10, 20, or even 30 years to pay off construction costs. Community providers got into telecommunications with the knowledge it would take time to pay back the initial debt, but they hope to do it without gouging customers.

ALEC routinely pits community providers against private ones as “government funded unfair broadband competition.” But the group ignores the fact cities like Charlotte have doled out tax incentives and other goodies to Time Warner Cable for building its new headquarters there. AT&T is not doing too bad either, securing statewide video franchising and effective permission to drop its ugly U-verse cabinets on public easements all over the state.

The fact is, the only disruptive force in North Carolina’s broadband market comes from community-owned providers trying to break up the comfortable telco-cable duopoly that charges nearly the same prices for the same yesteryear service. That’s a story The Man from A.L.E.C. cannot afford to tell you.

Zombie bill.

Time Warner Cable has pulled back on their winter promotions for new customers, bundling slower broadband and significant equipment fees into the bottom line price that may cost as much as $20 or more than the cable operator’s advertising suggests.

Several readers contacted Stop the Cap! over the last few weeks about the disparity between Time Warner’s advertised new customer pricing and the out the door price that arrives on the first month’s bill.

Diane, a Stop the Cap! reader in Brockport, N.Y., was attracted to an $89.99 triple play promotion for TV, Internet, and phone service until she learned what did not come with the deal.

“By the time I got off the phone, that $89.99 offer turned into more than $130 a month once adding a DVR, faster broadband service, and a second cable box,” Diane complains. “You really have to read the fine print. They only give you 3Mbps broadband speed on most of their offers now and DVR service is rarely included. In fact, all the equipment turned out to cost extra.”

Stop the Cap! checked out the offer Diane was interested in, and it turns out the $89.99 advertised price only tells half the story.

The wall of text. Time Warner’s rebate offer has hoops customers will consider an Olympic event.

First, Time Warner requires customers on this promotion to pay for at least one cable box, at $8.99 a month. A CableCARD is also available for $2.50 a month for televisions equipped to support that. Most consumers stick with traditional boxes. Diane wanted one DVR box and a second box for a bedroom. DVR Service from Time Warner, which does not include the box itself, has dramatically increased in price over the years. In 2013, the combined rate for the “box” and the “service” is $21.94 a month in western New York. A second cable box for Diane’s bedroom ran another $8.49 a month. The new Internet modem rental fee is also not included, so that adds an additional $3.95 a month.

Diane is also correct about broadband speeds. Time Warner bundles only 3Mbps service in most of its promotional packages. Increasing to Standard speed (15/1Mbps) generally costs an additional $10 per month. Now Diane’s monthly bill is well over $130 a month.

In fact, Diane should have selected a more deluxe package from Time Warner at the outset. Their $104.99 promotion bundles Turbo (20/2Mbps) Internet, free Showtime, and at least covers DVR service (although Diane still has to pay $9 a month for the DVR box). Her out the door price for that package is less than $127 a month.

Customers served by AT&T U-verse or Verizon FiOS stand to come out better if they plan to dump the phone company in favor of Time Warner. The cable operator is throwing in a debit card worth up to a $200, but only for customers switching away from a competitor. Diane just had Frontier phone service, so no $200 reward card for her. Time Warner requires customers to switch from services comparable to those selected from Time Warner to qualify for the maximum rebate.

For those that do quality, the rebate hoop-jumping begins:

• Customers qualifying for the reward card have to write down a promotion code and register their rebate request online within 30 days of starting service.
• Customers must remain active, in good standing and must maintain all services for a minimum of 90 days after installation.
• Customers are required to upload a scanned copy of their last provider’s bill, showing active service within the last 90 days. Card should arrive 4-6 weeks after a 90 day waiting period.
• Comparable services do not include wireless telephone service or online-only video subscriptions.
• Offer is not available to customers with past due balances with Time Warner Cable during the program period or customers who have been disconnected for non-payment during the twelve months preceding this offer.
• The customer’s name and address on file with Time Warner must exactly match the name and address on your former provider’s bill.
• Customers better spend the money quickly. After six months, the issuing bank deducts a $2.50 monthly “service fee” from the debit card until empty, except where prohibited by law.
• If the card is lost or stolen, there is a $5.95 Re-Issuance Fee. If you need to dispute a charge on the card, you are out of luck. The issuing bank will not intervene on your behalf.
• Customers cannot apply the rebate to their Time Warner Cable bill.

[flv width=”480″ height=”288″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Post-Standard Time Warner Cable Modem Lease Fee 1-30-13.flv[/flv]

A reporter from the Syracuse Post-Standard is featured in this video explaining how to swap out your leased Time Warner cable modem for one you can buy yourself. It will save you $3.95 a month. One piece of advice: If the coaxial cable you plan to use has a push-on style connector, toss it for one that screws on. The push-on connectors are not recommended, even if your cable modem comes with one. You can also use the cable Time Warner originally supplied if it has a superior screw-on connector. Time Warner does not need the cables returned with the cable modem or the original box. Just return the cable modem and power cord to any Time Warner Cable store location and make sure they print, and you keep, the returned equipment receipt. (4 minutes)