I know, this is a very narrow question to ask on the world-wide SDMB, but if anyone from the area has the scoop on a good deal and good product for a service that provides the Big 3 (cable programming, internet, home telephone), my Mom, 74 years young and moving here from the Big Sky country, would be hugely thankful.
I found an article from the Ventura County Star that spoke highly of Verizon’s all-in-one service, but it’s a bit pricey ($200 per month).
I’ve used these guys* for over ten years and have been happy. They offer DSL through Verizon for like $30 a month. It’s an additional amount for the land line to Verizon. I have satellite TV so that is separate.
The other route is to skip the land line and get your DSL through and TV through cable. The local provider is Cox. Service through Cox is unbelievably shitty in my experience and I was glad to dump them for DirecTV.
*Actually it started with a different company that merged with a couple of others over the years to form these guys.
I’ve been using Cox for internet for several years now in Santa Barbara. Every time I turn around they seem to be adding an additional 1 Mb/s, probably to complete with the impending Verizon FIOS invasion. I’ve been happy with the internet service, though it’s pricey ($49.99). Fast, though. At about 6200 Kb/s (measured) now a days. Don’t have their television or phone service, so I can’t speak to that quality. They’re constantly trying to push me on an all-in-one plan though. Probably would end up around the same as the Verizon quote, though. Not sure your 74-year old mom cares about blazing internet speeds, either.
Sorry, that’s all I got.