Comcast once cut the wire that led to my apartment because someone else in my building didn't pay their bill, and their records were poor enough (I blame this on the fact that they had grown by acquisition of a company that I know didn't have it together) that they didn't know which wire went where. And then it took multiple technicians coming out to get it set back up. I work for a competitor now and I tell this story to illustrate How Things Can Go Wrong.
Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
181–190 of 194 posts
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#182This does not surprise me, in fact a Comcast technician told me they do this (on a much smaller scale) by disconnecting or cutting competitors' cable runs to buildings they are working on (and also sometimes their own). I lived in a multi-unit apartment building and one day noticed my internet was down (I was a Comcast subscriber). I was suspicious because a Comcast technician was just out earlier in the day installi…
I recently moved, and we paid for Comcast installation (instead of self-install) because at our utility connection there was just a bundle of cables with the ends cut off.
I didn’t understand why anyone would have cut them. Now I’m upset that these shenanigans actually cost us money.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Something akin to software-defined networking What you want is "local loop unbundling". It's how this works in Europe where you have artificial non-free markets with real price competition, rather than natural monopolies without price competition as in the US.
None of the big European countries (Germany, the U.K., Spain, France, and Italy) require unbundling cable lines: http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/2-7.pdf . Unbundling of POTS in the US was not much of a boon, because DSL was a dead-end technology even then. What Europe does isn't really a good benchmark for how to structure a telecom market, because all the big European countries have slower broadband than in the US…
I'd actually dispute "slower broadband": from that doc I get
United Kingdom 16.3mbps average 91% above 4mbps United States 17.2mpbs average 88% above 4mbps
which implies that the US has a slightly different, more unequal curve where slightly fewer people have "adequate" broadband and a small number have much faster broadband.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#184When we purchased a house a few years back, Comcast was our only broadband option, so we reluctantly called them. The previous owners had a Dish Network receiver on the roof, and the when the Comcast technician arrived he enthusiastically offered to remove it and haul it away for us at no charge, even though it was in no way interfering with Comcast's cabling. I doubt I will ever have interest in subscribing to Dish…
I've known small IT contractors to act similarly, in order to obtain free hardware which they could then resell on the used market or repurpose for their own use. Dish Network dishes apparently [1] having something of a used market as well, it wouldn't surprise me if your technician were simply an enterprising fellow with an eBay seller account. [1] http://www.ebay.com/bhp/dish-network-satellite-dish
Fair point, that is possible. If that were his motive and he had stated it outright, I would have agreed. It felt shady at the time, but intuition is an imperfect instrument.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#185Former Comcast cable technician here. I was an in-house tech, and corporate has ludicrous quality standards and nitpicky, white-glove QC's after an in-house tech leaves a job. However, the company obviously employs a TON of _independent contractors_. Some of these contractors are excellent at their jobs, but a lot of them aren't, and as they're not subject to any real oversight by the corporation, you really don't kn…
Intentionally cutting lines that don't need to be cut to do your install is more than just "lazy".
It should be called criminal Damage.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#186I've never heard a good thing said about Comcast. It's a shame they are the only option in so many places.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#187Earlier quoted context omitted.
None of the big European countries (Germany, the U.K., Spain, France, and Italy) require unbundling cable lines: http://www.oecd.org/sti/broadband/2-7.pdf . Unbundling of POTS in the US was not much of a boon, because DSL was a dead-end technology even then. What Europe does isn't really a good benchmark for how to structure a telecom market, because all the big European countries have slower broadband than in the US…
I'd actually dispute "slower broadband": from that doc I get United Kingdom 16.3mbps average 91% above 4mbps United States 17.2mpbs average 88% above 4mbps which implies that the US has a slightly different, more unequal curve where slightly fewer people have "adequate" broadband and a small number have much faster broadband.
I wouldn't say a "small number" have faster broadband in the U.S. than in Europe. In the U.S., 42% of people have above 15 mbps (enough for more than one Netflix HD stream at a time). In U.S. states that are as dense as the big European countries (Maryland, Delaware, etc.) that number is 50-60%. The U.K. is at 39%, but the other big European countries are much lower: Germany (30%), France (16%), and Italy (10%).
So I think it's fair to say that the U.S. curve is more unequal. There's more people without access to adequate broadband (in New Mexico, or inner-city Baltimore) than in Europe. But the median American likely has a faster broadband connection than the median European.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've known small IT contractors to act similarly, in order to obtain free hardware which they could then resell on the used market or repurpose for their own use. Dish Network dishes apparently [1] having something of a used market as well, it wouldn't surprise me if your technician were simply an enterprising fellow with an eBay seller account. [1] http://www.ebay.com/bhp/dish-network-satellite-dish
Fair point, that is possible. If that were his motive and he had stated it outright, I would have agreed. It felt shady at the time, but intuition is an imperfect instrument.
I wouldn't state that intention either, because then you'd be liable to try to sell it to me. Presenting it as a courtesy service rarely elicits such a result.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#189Not surprised Comcast did this.
Also wouldn't be surprised if Comcast got off scott-free.
Re: Comcast accused of cutting competitor’s wires to put it out of business
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
What planet are you from? I have nothing but negative things to say about comcast and the quality of comcast products I fully believe the press because as a customer of comcast they treated me like a turd on the sidewalk
To be fair, every exchange I've heard of with Comcast's actual network tech/admin people has given me the impression that they're extremely good at their jobs. Almost all of the problems I hear about with Comcast are related to extraordinarily poor customer service, neglected outside plant, or customer-hostile policy decisions.
I am sure they are getting blamed for customer premises wiring faults too.
I wish people didn't have to deal with their terrible CSR's. I think they are more inclined to sell HBO rather than communicate a useful fault report to technical staff.
I was also treated differently as a customer once I got insider connections.