[Comp625]

Originally Posted by gg22

what do you mean Cablevision = Optimum = IO ?

It's just the way Cablevision has branded their Internet and TV products. The parent company is still "Cablevision Systems Corporation."

iO TV = marketing name of their cable TV product
iO Optimum = marketing name of their cable internet product
iO Optimum Boost Plus = you pay extra for a faster service (though for most users, the regular iO Internet is plenty fast)

It goes to show their marketing isn't "easy to understand" for new customers, haha.

[Comp625]

Originally Posted by gg22

hi,

which is best internet service for people who live in downtown area of stamford, i used comcast before, i love it so much...


thanks so much

There are FCC regulations that prevent you from having more than 1 telephone company and more than 1 cable company within a pre-defined geographical area. It sounds like a monopoly because it IS one.

The abridged version is that due to "Natural Monopoly" (defined as the impracticality in cost and execution of running multiple provider companies' wirings throughout each neighborhood), the government only permits territorial rights to 1 company and restricts competitiors from entering the area once it identifies the emergence of a Natural Monopoly.

CATO Institute - A Policy Analysis on Cable Television: An Unnatural Monopoly

Nearly every community in the United States allows only a single cable company to operate within its borders. Since the Boulder decision [4] in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that municipalities may be subject to antitrust liability for anticompetitive acts, most cable franchises have been nominally nonexclusive but in fact do operate to preclude all competitors. The legal rationale for municipal regulation is that cable uses city-owned streets and rights-of-way; the economic rationale is the assumption that cable is a "natural monopoly."

The theory of natural monopoly holds that "because of structural conditions that exist in certain industries, competition between firms cannot endure; and whenever these conditions exist, it is inevitable that only one firm will survive." Thus, regulation is necessary to dilute the ill-effects of the monopoly.[5] Those who assert that cable television is a natural monopoly focus on its economies of scale; that is, its large fixed costs whose duplication by multiple companies would be inefficient and wasteful. Thus, competitive entry into the market should be proscribed because it is bound to be destructive.

Most natural monopolies turn out to be self-fulfilling prophecies. Once a governmental entity has determined that a certain activity is a natural monopoly, it is within its power to so decree by limiting entry into the market to a single producer. Such is the case with cable television.

If/when the municipality wants to grant territortial rights to a different cable or telephone company, it has to prepare an RFP and all of the Providers have to place a bid response. I don't think RFP's are done regularly, if ever...

On the Telephone Company Side of Things...
It depends on where you are living in Stamford.

On the west-most side of Stamford (demarcated by the Mill River, I believe), AT&T U-Verse loses its territorial rights and you have the option of picking up Verizon's FIOS product. Among the Tech Enthusiast community, FIOS is known to bring you ridiculously fast Internet Speeds and Crystal Clear TV. Unfortunately, FIOS' prices have crept up throughout the years and many people have switched back to Cablevision.

East of the River, you are stuck with AT&T. If you aren't an Internet buff (always downloading, always uploading, a la using your bandwith to the max), I think AT&T will be fine. I know many people who are satisfied with AT&T U-Verse.

On the Cable Company Side of Things...
Within most (if not all) of Fairfield County and Westchester County, Cablevision is the only cable offering in the area. Personally, I think their product offerings are awesome: super-fast Internet (as long as your neighborhood isn't clogged with other heavy users) and a decent TV offering (not the best picture quality but unnoticable for many users). There are quite a few users who are unhappy, though.


Take everyone's comments with a grain of salt because there are many variables that affect the quality of the U-Verse, FIOS or Cablevision product. Here are a few common variables:

• Signal Line Quality (this can drastically impact the picture quality and/or Internet cutting in and out). Many people don't even realize this is their problem and end up blaming the provider...
• Neighborhood Line Quality (even if your house has immaculate wiring, the neighborhood's wiring might stink).
• As previously mentioned with Cable TV, Internet is typically super amazing as long as your neighborhood isn't clogged with other heavy users. It's mainly those who UPLOADS a lot that kills the cable nodes (in lay terms, a node is a hub where all of the cable bandwidth is stored and filtered to each home in that neighborhood). Example: a Torrent user who lets other people from around the globe consistently download movies/music on a 24/7 basis.

Bottom Line: Annual Promotions aside, you'll roughly pay the same amount of money for similar levels of service under all 3 providers. Since quality can drastically vary among all 3, I'd recommend trying out a Provider that has the TV Channel Lineup and/or Internet Speed package that best fits your household's needs.