Re: ATSC modulators

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:483ce35b$0$30155$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Ed,  It appears that by doing that you're willing to forego the supposed
> benefits of the digital signal by converting it to analog but to do so
> you'll have to rent a cable box for each channel - which could get
> pricey on an annual basis.  Is VZW's FIOS system the only cable TV game
> in town? Perhaps there is another company like Time Warner or Comcast
> that would let you keep everything as is at no additional cost.

I live near Ed and have Comcast.  They are planning to drop analog and have
been quietly converting over their analog channels to digital, which means I
lose about three analog channels a year.  The latest went just last month,
TruTV aka CourtTV bit the dust.  Ed's quite right about their service.
IIRC, a recent article said Comcast has a customer satisfaction rate below
that of the airlines and used car salesmen.  When I make the all digital
switch, it won't be with Comcast.  I suspect they are prolonging analog only
because they know when they switch, LOTS of people will leave.  I am sure
they'll do it by or at the time of the big switchover so they can blame the
feds, but the truth is they get a lot more out of the switchover then the
average consumer because they can institute "on demand" for more programs
(and $) with the increase in bandwidth.


http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/25-05202008-1536695.html

"By DEBORAH YAO
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA ? Customer satisfaction ratings for Comcast Corp. fell this
year to an all-time low and rank at the bottom of cable and satellite TV
providers, according to a survey released today [5/22/08]."

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I would NEVER advise anyone to switch to Comcast for ANYTHING.  Not the
absolutely worst company I have ever dealt with, but pretty darn close.

The bigger question Dr. Cheung has raised for me is how to get things like
HomeVision, my CID video box (takes a video signal via RCA in and overlays
the CID info on the screen via RCA out) and my closed circuit TV cameras are
going to integrate with HDTV.  So far, the answer is very, very poorly.

Hopefully, when most houses have more than one pipeline, true competition
will set in.  Comcast couldn't get as rich and arrogant as they have gotten
without a pseudo-monopoly on their product.  Let's see if the Congress and
the FCC remembers they got special breaks to get started that they certainly
don't need now.  BTW, I believe it's not Verizon Wireless that runs their
fiber *wire* into Ed's house, but the parent company, Verizon.  My
experience is that VZW's has far worse customer support than Comcast, FWIW.
That's why I am happy to finally see them on the ropes now for their
OUTRAGEOUS early termination fees:  Those are the fees where they gouge
customers for 5 to 10 times the actual cost of a handset if they want to
leave their lousy service after they find out how profoundly lousy their
service is:

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CELL FEE OVERSIGHT SOUGHT - FCC chief supports federal regulation of ?early
termination fees,'

By John Dunbar
Associated Press

WASHINGTON --

The head of the Federal Communications Commission said Friday he wants to
regulate fees charged to cell phone users who cancel their wireless
contracts early. . .. Martin said industry and consumer groups were
negotiating to reach an agreement to ease the fees, which have infuriated
consumers. But so far, they have been unable to reach a consensus. . . .
Verizon Wireless, offered a plan that would give consumers a break on fees
charged when they quit their service early [that] would let [VW] off the
hook in state courts where they are being sued for hundreds of millions of
dollars by angry customers.

(My favorite part follows - cell companies have already discovered that they
can delay mailing out the first bill long enough for this provision to be
almost meaningless! Now they've added a measly 10 extra days for you to
determine whether they drop enough calls for you to want to drop them. -BG)

Cell phone companies routinely charge customers $175 or more for quitting
their service early. Under the wireless industry proposal, consumers would
have the opportunity to cancel service without any penalty for up to 30 days
after they sign a cell phone contract or until 10 days after they receive
their first bill. . . . It would not abolish cancellation fees entirely and
would not refund such fees to anyone who already paid them. . . .Consumers
Union called the provision a ?get-out-of-court-free card.?
. . .  AARP . . . appeared to oppose the plan Thursday . . . Lawyers for
AARP are acting as co-counsel in litigation challenging the fees.  Wireless
companies say cancellation fees are necessary to recover the cost of cell
phones . . . and to defray their costs for signing up new customers.
Consumer groups said the fees are unreasonable and intended to discourage
customers from switching among providers."

http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/638181.html

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You decide:  Recovering costs or crushing free market competition?  I would
say with the AARP against them, they are quaking in their boots.  If the
AARP can make a Republican president who denies children health care sign up
to the most expensive Medicare drug plan imaginable, how can little old
Verizon Wireless, only the 2nd largest US cell carrier, stand in their way?
(-:

http://www.aarp.org/research/utilities/phone/inb147_wireless.html says:

"Significant evidence suggests that the national wireless carriers
strategically pursue and manage a full range of switching cost
opportunities. Nevertheless, the use of switching costs as a customer
retention tool is a practice that appears to occur virtually unchecked by
the federal agency responsible for ensuring that consumers can switch freely
between wireless carriers."

--
Bobby G.