break up Comporium ? (Rock Hill, Lancaster, York: gated, legally, company)

[Carolina-Trader]

I wouldn't go back to Time Warner if their service was free. Comporium's INTERNET and cable are solid. VOIP is like $27.00 a month with taxes and fees (I don't use Comporium for VOIP and I kept and transferred two 704 numbers). I gave up on VOIP with Time Warner and shelled out $150 a month on several land lines. They may be a bit pricier than some cities (not Time Warner out of Charlotte) but it’s worth every penny and saves me $1500 a year as compared to what Time Warner offered. If I had a problem with Cable which I don't I wouldn't have to worry about them sending over some ex convict contractor like Time Warner did twice a month. 'Couldn't be more satisfied with them.

There are over a hundred different providers to choose for phone service. I cut my house off the grid and am using all my phones that I used when using a landline. I invested next to nothing. Take that money for the lawyer and hire someone from the Geek Squad for an afternoon to set you up if you’re technologically challenged.

[comporiumhater2]

Comporium....because you have no choice. I worked for them for years and I can truely say...Comporium sucks!! The Barnes' suck and about 90 percent of the employees suck. There are however around 10 percent who didnt get brainwashed by the barnes' philosophy to rip off every person they can for as long as they can.What I can say is their retirement package for me is great...and since retiring I dont use comporium for anything now! As far as competition...not as long as the loophole exist!! The only way comporium can get any competition is if maybe one of there workers fires off a crackpipe in the battery room while the batteries are charging............thus eliminating comporium as we know it!!

[CVP]

Originally Posted by comporiumhater2

Comporium....because you have no choice. I worked for them for years and I can truely say...Comporium sucks!! The Barnes' suck and about 90 percent of the employees suck. There are however around 10 percent who didnt get brainwashed by the barnes' philosophy to rip off every person they can for as long as they can.What I can say is their retirement package for me is great...and since retiring I dont use comporium for anything now! As far as competition...not as long as the loophole exist!! The only way comporium can get any competition is if maybe one of there workers fires off a crackpipe in the battery room while the batteries are charging............thus eliminating comporium as we know it!!

If it was so bad, why did you work for them for years? Apparently they put food on your table and still are with that retirement package you have. Appreciate what you have and don't bite the hand that feeds you, especially in today's economy!

[scwoman]

Yes i think it's very unfair that only internet provider that i can recieve is comporium and they are exstremly high.time warner offer better bundle packages.I wish i could get it!!! living in rock hill has it's up's and downs when it comes to things like that.

[ohioaninsc]

Comporium offered simply the WORST cable I've ever had...I cut that off and went to DirecTV after 1 yr...they offered no more than 10 HD channels, while I have over 100 HD channels w/ my DirecTV...they didn't offer true InDemand like I had w/ Insight Cable in Ohio and like I have w/ DirecTV...they had no sports pack to offer and they didn't even offer Playboy & other adult entertainment. Now, phone service seems fine, I work out of my home and I have 2 lines that work very well....also, my broadband internet through them is ok, but I'd prefer to have competition there b/c the price is a bit high. If AT & T Uverse came here that would be awesome....my parents in OH have that and it's even better than DirecTV (roughly the same amount of HD channels, and a much better DVR)...of course that would be wishful thinking here.

[Denali1]

Originally Posted by ncopus99

My two cents on Comporium...

Telephone - Like someone said, I was disappointed that they couldn't port my number. .

All phone companies are now obligated to port numbers.

[URL]http://www.fcc.gov/cib/consumerfacts/numbport.html[/URL]

[muskratlove]

I've had TW in Indian Land for the past two years and haven't had a problem with it at all. HD channels are crisp, regular channels are fine and static free. High speed internet has been rock solid with maybe one or two dropouts for maintenance.

Of course there's always the deals that go around to make it worth while to switch but I haven't tried it yet.

I'm sure as technology advances and we start getting more mobile internet connections there will be a decrease in the number of cable/sat subscriptions. However, that will be a few years away. Sites like Hulu and others have come a long way to increasing quality. However, with that said we have to be careful with how the cable companies are charging for bandwidth use as they look to crimp out these competing services.

[CP95]

YES, they should absolutely be broken up. Not because of their dismal internet service or dismal cable television service - but because they are manipulating the system to use their rural telephone exemption in order to force people into their television and internet service.

Federal regulations require telephone companies to lease out their hard lines at wholesale rates to 3rd party companies to stimulate competition. The rural exemption allowed telephone companies in very rural areas an exemption to this requirement so they could invest the money to reach remote farms, etc. with hard lines while insuring that they wouldn't just hand over the profit to another company once the lines were built out. It is debatable whether or not York county should qualify for this exemption any longer since it isn't exactly a rural territory (not to the extent that this exemption is typically awarded).

In most areas with a rural exemption, there is a separate cable company that provides competition for telephone and internet. Phone companies offer much cheaper DSL options and cable provides more expensive, but higher speed cable modem service. In areas without the rural exemption, the telephone company leases out its lines to third party companies, so you have multiple DSL offerings and a cable offering all competing with each other for price and quality of service. Very few places have multiple cable companies because of the cost involved, but satellite offers the competitive forces to keep them honest with their television packages.

Where Comporium screws us is the fact that they combined a rural exemption phone company and the cable system in the area. Since they are the same company, there is no competition between them for internet service. With the exemption, that means there are also no 3rd party DSL providers to add in competitive forces to go against Comporium DSL or Comporium Cable Modem. So here's what they do to maximize their leverage.

1. Jack up the price for the slower DSL service to a level that makes it insane not to go with the faster Comporium Cable Modem service.

2. Require basic Cable TV (approx $13 minimum) service in order to get cable modem (this was done illegally for years, and now they increased the price of cable modem service and offer a discount if you get TV)

So where in most areas you have a viable TV/internet choice between Cable/Cable Modem or Satellite/DSL - here we get a choice of Cable/Cable Modem or Satellite/Cable Modem (+$13 penalty). This means that they are not only forcing every customer to (typically) higher priced cable modem service, but they also get a $13 false advantage when people compare their TV service with satellite.

All you need to know can be seen by looking at Mecklenberg options (with full competition) or even Chester County where they also have a rural exemption but DSL offered at less than half the cost of Comporium. I haven't looked at it recently, but as of a couple years ago, TruVista's (Chester) DSL service was $27.95 vs. Comporium's $59.94 plus $100 extra for installation.

This is what allows such dismal service, weak television offerings, intermittent internet service at slower speeds and higher pricing than any of the surrounding areas.

Break them up, or shut them down - let them choose.

[moedog2]

Originally Posted by CP95

YES, they should absolutely be broken up. Not because of their dismal internet service or dismal cable television service - but because they are manipulating the system to use their rural telephone exemption in order to force people into their television and internet service.

Federal regulations require telephone companies to lease out their hard lines at wholesale rates to 3rd party companies to stimulate competition. The rural exemption allowed telephone companies in very rural areas an exemption to this requirement so they could invest the money to reach remote farms, etc. with hard lines while insuring that they wouldn't just hand over the profit to another company once the lines were built out. It is debatable whether or not York county should qualify for this exemption any longer since it isn't exactly a rural territory (not to the extent that this exemption is typically awarded).

In most areas with a rural exemption, there is a separate cable company that provides competition for telephone and internet. Phone companies offer much cheaper DSL options and cable provides more expensive, but higher speed cable modem service. In areas without the rural exemption, the telephone company leases out its lines to third party companies, so you have multiple DSL offerings and a cable offering all competing with each other for price and quality of service. Very few places have multiple cable companies because of the cost involved, but satellite offers the competitive forces to keep them honest with their television packages.

Where Comporium screws us is the fact that they combined a rural exemption phone company and the cable system in the area. Since they are the same company, there is no competition between them for internet service. With the exemption, that means there are also no 3rd party DSL providers to add in competitive forces to go against Comporium DSL or Comporium Cable Modem. So here's what they do to maximize their leverage.

1. Jack up the price for the slower DSL service to a level that makes it insane not to go with the faster Comporium Cable Modem service.

2. Require basic Cable TV (approx $13 minimum) service in order to get cable modem (this was done illegally for years, and now they increased the price of cable modem service and offer a discount if you get TV)

So where in most areas you have a viable TV/internet choice between Cable/Cable Modem or Satellite/DSL - here we get a choice of Cable/Cable Modem or Satellite/Cable Modem (+$13 penalty). This means that they are not only forcing every customer to (typically) higher priced cable modem service, but they also get a $13 false advantage when people compare their TV service with satellite.

All you need to know can be seen by looking at Mecklenberg options (with full competition) or even Chester County where they also have a rural exemption but DSL offered at less than half the cost of Comporium. I haven't looked at it recently, but as of a couple years ago, TruVista's (Chester) DSL service was $27.95 vs. Comporium's $59.94 plus $100 extra for installation.

This is what allows such dismal service, weak television offerings, intermittent internet service at slower speeds and higher pricing than any of the surrounding areas.

Break them up, or shut them down - let them choose.

Wow, what a pile of misinformation---so much I don't have the time or patience to respond to all of it, but I'll clear-up a few points. !) You do not have to subscribe to any level of cable tv in order to subscribe to Comporium Cable internet. You can subscribe to cable internet without subscribing to cable, and for $5 less a month-- $44.94vs$49.95 for Time Warner (current 1 year special for Comporium, $29.95). The speed is 7mps (10mps in fiber areas), exactly the same as TW, except TW doesn't actually offer any all fiber service). Comporium most certainly does offer DSL service---for $29.95 a month, and were did you get the idea Comporium charges $100 for installation? Their list installation charge is $50, but I've never known anyone to pay that amount. Now, let me sit back and wait for the flaming to begin---no, I don't work for, or know anyone who works for Comporium, nor do I own any part of the company, however, I am a satisfied customer who appreciates the ecomomic and civic contributions the company makes in Lancaster and York counties.

[CP95]

ike I said, their DSL pricing/installation was from a couple years ago. I tried to get current info, but if they are offering DSL service, the pricing and details must be so buried on their website that they are near impossible to find. It isn't listed under their "Internet" packages, and it isn't listed under their "Local Telephone" packages. Is their new strategy to offer a more competitive price to avoid any regulatory issues, then make it so hard to find that they don't have to worry about any takers? Is this something that only employees know about?

As far as the requirement for basic TV service, if you read what was posted, I said that it is no longer required - but for a number of years it was, illegally. Their solution was to raise the price, then offer a discount.

BTW, those "civic contributions" like the 5% given to the City of Rock Hill could just as easily be called a "kickback".

Since we're ranting, I have one more beef. Federal law requires all cable companies to pass all local channels via clear QAM (unscrambled) to all basic TV subscribers. This means that the majority of all HDTVs can receive all the local HD channels free and clear without the need for any cable box or HD subscription. When I called and was transferred to their "HD expert" - he had "no idea what a QAM is". He said the only way to get local HD was to subscribe to their digital service with HD and get a cable box. If there is anything else available, I'd have to call the local stations - but it won't come from Comporium.

Only an employee of Comporium, or someone else reaping the benefits of this anti-competitive situation would support this current system. Cable monopolies are the norm in this country - monopolies that control cable, internet and phone in an area are a very rare occurrence, and unfortunately, we're the lucky ones getting the shaft. Regulators should have never allowed the phone companies to merge with Comporium.

Time Warner doesn't conceal the fact that only a basic analog subscription is required if you have an HDTV with digital tuner and you want to receive all the local HD channels:

Originally Posted by Time Warner Cable

If your TV has a built-in QAM tuner (also known as a “Clear QAM” tuner) and is connected directly to the cable wiring in your home, it is capable of receiving the digital signals that we transmit without encryption (“in the clear”), including your local broadcast stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc). If your TV is an HDTV, you can view the HD signals that we transmit in the clear. If your HDTV has a built-in digital television (DTV) tuner (also known as an “ATSC” tuner), you can connect an antenna to your TV and receive local broadcast stations’ signals over the air. However, to receive any HD cable networks such as ESPN, A&E, Discovery, Food Network and more, or to receive HD On Demand programming, you will need a cable connection and a HD set-top box or CableCARD™ from Time Warner Cable.

Comporium, on the other hand, makes no mention of getting all the major network HD channels for free. Probably because their HD offering is so sparse, removing ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and The CW would make it ridiculous for anyone to pay for digital cable and HD charge just to get a couple channels. This is Comporium's description:

Originally Posted by Comporium

Comporium delivers HDTV programming from the local Charlotte affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and also from ESPN , Discovery and HBO. More programs and channels will be made available in the future.

To receive HDTV channels, Comporium Communications customers will need a HDTV-ready set and Comporium's HDTV digital converter. For those who already subscribe to Comporium's digital cable TV service, the incremental monthly cost is $5, which includes the receiver, the new HDTV channels; and, it also includes HBOHD for those who already subscribe to HBO.