So now we may need as many boxes as we have TVs to watch even the basic channels. I am willing to predict that they will not give people free boxes after the FCC mandated time frames. So this is a new fee. My favorite quote…
I do not know many people who currently have more than 2, most have 1 cable box. So that TV in your living room, kitchen, bedroom/s, den will all need a box, that is robbery. The cable companies say it is so they don’t have to send out techs to install cable manually anymore… lets see if the cable companies who switch to this bullshit remove install fees and not just for “specials”. Fucking bastards…
Five years ago, our town would have been able to call our cable company on the carpet and force them to attend a hearing where the town could decide to allow or prohibit this kind of treatment and billing.
But AT&T used their billions to put thru laws in many states that remove all control of such matters from local governments and limit it to the state. In a wonderful example of newspeak, they called it the “increase competition to reduce your rates” bill.
In the last five years, our basic cable rates have doubled and there is no new competition.
you might like channel selections and want to keep cable on one set.
for the other sets you might try free over the air tv. in the USA the high power stations are digital giving a better picture than cable tv. there are also multiple channels, each station might offer 1 to 3 channels of content.
Sorry I don’t see how it is stealing, it isn’t like you are required to by cable. You want their product you pay their price. I may not like it but it isn’t stealing.
Actually, there is competition coming from 2 directions. Over the air with DISH and DTV. I much prefer my DTV to cable. Less weather related picture problems, greater range of channels, and better price.
Second is via the internet - through netflix, hulu,etc.That plus good old fashioned broadcast channels give you just about everything except some live sporting events. More and more people are cutting the cord and getting rid of any cable.
A smart cable company would take steps now to compete for some future slice of the pie.
All the existing satellite services were there 10 years ago. Not so much with Hulu and Internet offerings.
But the AT&T push about 5 years ago emphasized the increased competition they promised from other cable companies, not satellite. Since local governments had no ability to regulate satellite, that was not an issue. AT&T claimed that removing local franchise control would encourage more companies to wire up neighborhoods and reduce prices with less hassle.
It had exactly the opposite effect (and I think that was their intention). No more companies entered the market and the prices for all services went up, at least in my neighborhood.
In retrospect, why would an industry push for something that would reduce their income, as they claimed it would? Only one that thought they could fool everyone. And they did, at least the legislators.
Man, I’m so glad we ditched cable. I dropped in to say “You can get along without it”. We survived with just rabbit ears, but now that Netflix and Hulu are around, it’s less painful.
Me too. In my case it’s Netflix and Amazon Instant. Netflix streaming just got a bunch of Disney movies like Nightmare Before Christmas and Pocahontas, good score for them.
I have no boxes. Zero. None. This could cost me an extra 20-30$ a month, if my cable company chooses to go that route. Yes I find them saying they are doing something to save customers money when anyone with a brain cell knows it will only make money for the company at the consumers expense as bullshit.
I need basic cable to have internet. They do not offer standalone internet, you must use cable. In this area we have one cable provider, no competition. DSL is here, but they can only do X amount of homes in the area, and they have been full for 2 years. So yes I am going to be forced to use a box to watch TV on the basic cable I must have to have internet. If they allow me to drop cable once it is encrypted, I will come to this thread and withdraw my complaint. But I do not see that changing.
In 2012 I am willing to say the internet is a needed item, especially in a home with a teenager in high school. A good 20% of his work requires it.
Did you read what I wrote? I cannot get internet without basic cable. And with no DSL available here. As to where I live, that isn’t relevant I know it is not available here.
They’re not forcing you to use a box. They’re forcing you to pay for tv to get internet (which I agree is annoying), but that doesn’t rise to the level of forcing you to pay for another service. Bundling two services does not mean that you are forced to buy a separate thing that improves one of the services.
My newspaper includes (among other things) a classifieds section, a sports section, and a crossword puzzle. All subscribers have to pay for all the sections. But the people who only want to read the sports section are not forced to buy a pen to fill out the crossword puzzle, and people who buy it just for the crossword puzzle are not required to buy a phone line so they can call about ads in the classifieds section.