We tried Time Warner (against our better judgment) upon moving in almost a year ago. We had nothing but bad experiences with them over the last year, from the installation process, to the quality, to customer service, etc. Their DVR box/service is lacking compared to others I have used. We finally cancelled this week after many quality problems that were not corrected (messed up picture and sound for many weeks making it practically unusable).
We got AT&T installed yesterday, and even in this short time, I can already tell it is a much better service. The installers were nice, competent, came when they said, and helpful. I can already tell that the DVR service is far superior. We were able to get the service for a similar cost that we were paying for Time Warner. I guess only time will tell, but my experience so far highly favors AT&T.
Ashley - we've had AT&T for almost a year now and love it too! I love that you can program the dvr from your computer! SWEET :)
And they are constantly improving it and there is nothing you have to do when new features are rolled out. Sometimes you have to reboot the box, which at first I found annoying, but really it only takes about 5 minutes and then when it comes back on there are all kinds of new features to play with. I love it.
Bryna - We had U-Verse installed too when we moved in this past December. It was never a question since we had it our previous residence and loved every bit of it.
The question I have is all this questionable HOA utility reimbursement/timewarner billing I've been reading about here and actually had another neighbor ask me what it was about. It seems like my neighbor is being charged double...but that is a separate issue.
Since I'm rather new to Mueller...I don't have a statement yet. I know I pre-paid some months and fees at closing. However...I'm hoping I'm not getting charged $50 a month for this bulk cable deal with Timewarner when I'm not using their service. Are you?
The funny thing...I never heard or saw any documentation of any Timewarner deal from Meritage before or after we signed our contract.
Not sure if and how this might affect us, but here is a business week story about Time Warner planning to introduce volume based internet pricing in Austin:
The mentioned data caps would probably be adequate for normal web browsing, but you can reach these limits by e.g. watching "30 Rock" in HD on Netflix on Demand.
I believe this will affect the Mueller TW deal and probably soon.
This is pure monopolistic competition at its finest. Your "media utility" company (the one you pay for your TV/Internet/Phone bundle) can make certain that they're getting paid. Whether you subscribe to premium TV for your TV programming or whether you just drop cable and download other TV-like programming online through hulu or netflix or itunes, they want to capture that value and charge for it because they own both. This is really a shot across the bow against those that wish to sell content through "free" pipes. The media utility just wants to get paid for whats coming across those pipes.
The bogus argument is that internet load is taxing the network infrastructure in such way that tiered-pricing is needed to compensate. That's a monopolist's excuse to do what governments don't usually let monopolists do.
Quote: The bogus argument is that internet load is taxing the network infrastructure in such way that tiered-pricing is needed to compensate. That's a monopolist's excuse to do what governments don't usually let monopolists do.[/quote]
This story is spreading like wildfire all over the net. Here are a few comments I've found that I completely agree with. It will be interesting to see if TW has the guts to play ball with so many mad people.
Comments on Slashdot [quote]This is so clearly Bait & Switch that TW should be proscuted within an inch of their corporate lives. Their top officers should be in jail, to wit:
1: Promise unrealistic, unlimited downloads and speeds that discourage all competition. 2: Once you have the monopoly and the consumer has nowhere else to go, bring in onerous download caps that actually reflect the basic capabilities of your pitiful system. 3: Buy off Washington so that you won't be punished for #1 and #2. 4: PROFIT!
The really Big Lie in all of this is that the argument for caps is that the system only has a very limited capability. Yet WITHOUT CHANGING OUT A SINGLE PIECE OF HARDWARE you can get a much higher cap simply by paying a much higher amount of money. Where did all that extra bandwidth come from? Clearly cable companies lie like rugs, and the public and regulatory agencies continue to buy into those lies as we're all being screwed over![/quote]
Comment on skyscraperpage.com [quote]As usual, Britt tries to suggest that Time Warner Cable's existing flat-rate pricing model isn't "viable" enough to fund essential infrastructure upgrades. That's simply not the case. The company has been very profitable under the flat-rate model, and they've consistently found creative new ways to generate additional income, such as with DNS redirection advertising, which creates a revenue stream out of your URL typing mistakes.
In reality, Britt is pursuing metered billing because it gives him a way to monetize and/or control Internet video, which poses a very serious long term threat to his cable television revenues. The pressure to shift to metered billing also comes from investors, who obviously love the idea of charging consumers more money for the same (or less) service in an age where the cost of bandwidth and network hardware continues to drop. Keep in mind that Time Warner Cable has yet to officially announce DOCSIS 3.0 upgrades in a single market.
Also, if you are really angry you can let TW know on their twitter page.
Quote: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 2:19pm CDT | Modified: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 2:26pm Leffingwell chastises Time Warner for Internet pricing plan Austin Business Journal
Austin City Council member and mayoral hopeful Lee Leffingwell issued a statement Thursday admonishing Time Warner Cable for its plan to introduce a new tiered pricing system for Internet customers that he says could stifle the economic recovery of Austin.
Time Warner, the region’s dominant cable provider and one of the largest Internet providers, says it will change its Internet pricing structure later this year and begin charging customers for the bandwidth they use. Customers would sign up for a particular plan based on their expected usage and would be charged money if they go over their allotment.
“This approach, and Time Warner’s specific plan, should be of grave concern to Austin,” Leffingwell said in his statement. “Right now we need to be encouraging, rather than stifling, economic recovery and growth in Austin. This plan moves us in the wrong direction.”
Leffingwell said not only will the plan have a significant effect on families who use the Internet to watch videos, download music or other activities that take up significant bandwidth, he’s also worried about the impact it would have on business owners, particularly those who work in the high-tech and creative services industries who need continued access to broadband Internet.
“Introducing an economic disincentive for Austin businesses to use the Internet to communicate, collaborate, innovate, and deliver services is very worrisome at best, and catastrophic at worst,” Leffingwell said. “It potentially puts Austin at a disadvantage as we compete against other communities to attract, retain, and grow prosperous businesses.”
Leffingwell said Time Warner’s proposed usage caps are unreasonable and he’s asking the company to work with city officials and the community and reconsider the plan.
But Alex Dudley, Time Warner's vice president of public relations, said the company is certain that this will not have a dramatic effect on Austin customers’ bills.
Dudley said when Time Warner instituted the tiered system in Beaumont last spring, 86 percent of customers bills did not go up. He said Time Warner expects a similar situation in Austin.
“We’re asking customers to take a look at their usage and see what it is and then pick the plan that’s best for them,” Dudley said. “I think customers will find they’re really not using as much as they think they are.”
Dudley said that Time Warner will start monitoring customer Internet usage in Austin later this month and begin showing individual customers their usage later this summer, with a rollout of the new pricing structure in the fall.
Well, I guess we can put off becoming AT&T U-Verse customers until December... I have no sense of what our bandwidth usage is now, or whether our rates would actually go up - but I presume they would since we download movies from Netflix. I don't particularly care to pay for cable, pay for Netflix, and pay extra for internet so I can watch something other than the crap presently on TV.
Quote: Time Warner Cable tweaks tiered broadband trial plans
Time Warner Cable plans to push the start of its tiered broadband trial in Austin and San Antonio back to October, the company said in providing revised details on its proposed consumption-based billing program in an online statement Thursday.
Chief Operating Officer Landel Hobbs said the tiered test program will be put into use in Rochester, N.Y., and Greensboro, N.C., in August before its debut in Texas markets. The trial, announced April 1, had been slated to begin in late summer after a trial in Beaumont. Tiered billing is not set to start in Austin or San Antonio until December at the earliest.
Among the revisions detailed in the statement were changes in usage limits for several tier packages, capping some overage charges and setting the prices of the 100 gigabyte and new 1 GB tiers. Time Warner Cable also announced plans to introduce a much faster tier option in its trial markets.
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