# Comcast To Buy Time Warner Cable



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Looks like Comcast will announce tomorrow 2/13 a deal to buy Time Warner.

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtrader...ble-in-44-2-billion-all-stock-deal-says-cnbc/

http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-to-buy-time-warner-cable-2014-2


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

Somewhere John Malone is using language that cannot be used on his cable systems


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

WOW! looks like charter screwed up! I wonder if the FCC allows this?,If they do then i would think DIRECTV and DISH may try to merge also.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Wow. I simply cannot see this getting through the FTC. (not typo, I didn't mean FCC)


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

The FCC will rake them over the coals, but the Supreme Court struck down the previous cable sub ownership cap that was in place (~30% of the market was the previous cap)

Cable mergers are interesting because cable companies don't compete. This will impact competition by absolutely zero. However, Comcast owning NBCUniversal makes it a little different. 

Even if this goes through (and Comcast is supposedly willing to sell 3 million subscribers) it doesn't necessarily mean anything for the satellite companies, since they actually do compete with each other. This is more like SBC and BellSouth merging to become AT&T, and less like AT&T trying to buy T-Mobile.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

I'm betting this goes about like the failed AT&T/T-Mo tie-up.


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## WO312 (Jan 24, 2003)

Am I correct in thinking that Comcast doesn't put the copy flag on aggressively like TWC (basically everything). If so, I hope this goes through.


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I'm wondering does Comcast use tuning adapters


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

WO312 said:


> Am I correct in thinking that Comcast doesn't put the copy flag on aggressively like TWC (basically everything). If so, I hope this goes through.


Except, of course, eastern NC or all of it could be the part of TWC they have to divest themselves of to keep the rest and who knows who they'd sell to.


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## ciscokid (Jan 14, 2003)

My son, just outside Philly had Comcast and they used an ordinary Motorola box up there.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

LoadStar said:


> I'm betting this goes about like the failed AT&T/T-Mo tie-up.


Totally different dynamic. TWC/Comcast don't compete. AT&T/T-Mobile eliminated a competitor in the marketplace.



WO312 said:


> Am I correct in thinking that Comcast doesn't put the copy flag on aggressively like TWC (basically everything). If so, I hope this goes through.


They do not. However, Don't jump up and down yet. They may not reconfigure all their systems. This could easily be the kind of thing that falls through the cracks and remains configured as is after systems are merged.



MeInDallas said:


> I'm wondering does Comcast use tuning adapters


According to a Google search, they do.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

unitron said:


> Except, of course, eastern NC or all of it could be the part of TWC they have to divest themselves of to keep the rest and who knows who they'd sell to.


I am thinking a lot of the small disjointed markets will get split up and sold.

For example in Alabama, Time Warner has a few systems in smaller towns that are not part of one of their "regions". Also, Comcast has a few smaller systems as well. Charter is the dominant cable company in the big cities in Alabama so I would expect Charter to try to pick off those types of systems.

Areas where TWC has a huge presence I don't see getting split up.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Comcast just totally pwned Charter. I can't help but wonder how it feels for Charter to be on the receiving end for a change.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

Just when the word was that Apple is making a deal with Time Warner for an Apple TV and content.
http://techland.time.com/2014/02/12...ril-with-time-warner-cable-built-in-well-see/

HEAD FAKE!

We also were talking to Google!

Thanks for the lunches!


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

MeInDallas said:


> I'm wondering does Comcast use tuning adapters


Unlikely much hardware at the local level will change would be my guess. It's expensive to do those kinds of upgrades.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

Yeah, it's not like "oh, Comcast does it this way, they'll automatically change what TWC does when they take over".

TWC basically owns all the systems around here, and Comcast basically owns Western PA. The new combined company would have a footprint stretching from just outside Toledo to past Altoona, with very few gaps.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

As far as heat from Washington goes, here's the key.



JosephB said:


> However, Comcast owning NBCUniversal makes it a little different.


The Comcast/NBCUniversal deal took what, about 2 years and change to clear? Comcast got all kinds of government flack. I can't imagine this would be any easier, and the various government agencies will extract whatever concessions they can get.


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## jadziedzic (Apr 20, 2009)

Inundated said:


> The Comcast/NBCUniversal deal took what, about 2 years and change to clear? Comcast got all kinds of government flack. I can't imagine this would be any easier, and the various government agencies will extract whatever concessions they can get.


Yes, like cushy private-sector jobs for the folks on the government side six months after the deal closes.


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## Jeeters (Feb 25, 2003)

Inundated said:


> TWC basically owns all the systems around here, and Comcast basically owns Western PA. The new combined company would have a footprint stretching from just outside Toledo to past Altoona, with very few gaps.


Comcast owns South Western PA, but I wouldn't say Western PA. Comcast has Pittsburgh and everything south of it. Starting at the nothern fringes of Pittsburgh suburbs, Armstrong Cable takes over and they service most of the western PA area between north Pittsburgh and the Erie metro area. TWC serves Erie.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

As long as it doesn't reduce choice for consumers I really don't care, who is really at risk with a large combined Comcast/TWC are the content producers and various smaller cable channels. The combined company would have something north of 30 million subs giving Comcast the ability to destroy some smaller cable channels financially if they dropped them. 

In any event lots of NY state is TWC, I am about 3/4 mile past the end of their line and would love the FCC to mandate extending coverage as part of the deal (don't care about cable one way or the other but would really love access to their high speed Internet). Might force Frontier DSL to upgrade their back-end equipment so they could actually maintain their DSL speeds during the afternoon/evening, in my area speeds drop from a solid 6Mbps in the morning to 1-1.5Mbps in the evening, which pretty much makes streaming useless.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

I don't think asking Comcast to divest NBCUniversal would be out of the question for this to go through.

On the Equipment end, Comcast took over the TWC (Motorola) network here in Houston and really still operates the same system although they have done some upgrades over the years. The exact opposite is true in Dallas which was Comcast and was taken over by TWC and still operates the same SA network. Looks like nearly all of Texas will be Comcast with a smattering of small independants and Charter in outlying areas.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

jcthorne said:


> I don't think asking Comcast to divest NBCUniversal would be out of the question for this to go through.


Comcast will never agree to that. They are willing to sell 3 million subscribers and agree to some kind of net neutrality standard but otherwise they want to avoid any consent decrees. NBC is the crown jewel of Comcast's empire, and owning that content is one of the key parts of how they are hedging against the potential of cord cutting. They would abandon the TWC deal before they split off NBCUniversal.


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## sbiller (May 10, 2002)

Statement from Comcast on the deal.

http://www.cmcsa.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=825483

I think this would be an overall positive for TiVo. Comcast has a much better relationship with TiVo than TWC.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Everyone is getting excited that Comcast policies are going to be implemented in TWC areas. Folks, in mergers often certain leaders keep their roles during and after the transition, and thus the TWC policies could float in the other direction- flags and TAs for all.


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

It will take a long time for anything to happen, and it won't be sudden.

Obviously X1 will be the platform for their set tops and TWC's ODN/Navigator stuff is dead. Things like CCI bytes and TAs and whatnot will probably never be universally set between different markets and regions. It's just something that is situational based (TAs/SDV based on bandwidth of a given plant) or so obscure that no one will notice or care to put the effort into changing (CCI bytes)


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## Grakthis (Oct 4, 2006)

This is kinda messed up for me... I had Insight, which just finished getting merged together into TWC... just in time for Comcast to buy up TWC? So, my third cable company in 3 years? Awesome.

Imagine how the guys on the ground feel about it.


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## hfcsyrup (Dec 12, 2012)

doesnt time warner also have some control over brighthouse? like when a channel goes out on twc it goes out on bh


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## JosephB (Nov 19, 2010)

Bright House systems were formerly under the control of Time Warner Cable until the Newhouse family, who owns Bright House and owned a portion of those systems when they were TWC, decided they wanted to split them off. They are owned separately of TWC, but Bright House outsources several things to Time Warner such as ISP functions for Road Runner, engineering support (meaning set top box software and things like the CCI byte settings), and programming negotiation.

Presumably Bright House will have to figure out some other kind of arrangement now.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

sbiller said:


> I think this would be an overall positive for TiVo. Comcast has a much better relationship with TiVo than TWC.


I agree. I think TWCs use of the CCI byte on every channel was intentional and Comcast might reverse that because of their relationship with TiVo. Also all those people in TWC areas may gain access to Xfinity.

Another positive for TiVo is that Comcast is commited to the X1 and IIRC Pace showed a prototype of an X1 running TiVo software, so it's possible they could start offering TiVo as an option again.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

If the regulators allows this to go through, they better demand that Comcast agree to net neutrality, no data caps on broadband internet, and commitment to the current and future universal security standard (CableCard, AllVid) for at least the next 10 years. Anything less than that would be completely unacceptable.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

Jeeters said:


> Comcast owns South Western PA, but I wouldn't say Western PA. Comcast has Pittsburgh and everything south of it. Starting at the nothern fringes of Pittsburgh suburbs, Armstrong Cable takes over and they service most of the western PA area between north Pittsburgh and the Erie metro area. TWC serves Erie.


Yeah, I was mostly thinking of Pittsburgh.

The Erie TWC systems are actually a part of the Northeast Ohio system. And Armstrong has stuff south of Youngstown.

Comcast has the PA side systems near Youngstown (Sharon, New Castle, etc.).


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## Grakthis (Oct 4, 2006)

A well written and well explained piece on why we should oppose this merger.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-the-comcast-merger-is-good-for-free-markets/


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tarheelblue32 said:


> If the regulators allows this to go through, they better demand that Comcast agree to net neutrality, no data caps on broadband internet, and commitment to the current and future universal security standard (CableCard, AllVid) for at least the next 10 years. Anything less than that would be completely unacceptable.


I'm on TWC. So far Tom Merritt (the TechNewsDailyShow) has made just one prediction regarding this merger: Former TWC internet subscribers will see data caps. 

Does net neutrality actually imply no data caps? I would assume neutrality just means no caps that are different for different services.

I would love to not need a TA --- but that's not gonna happen --- there's a big infrastructure investment in SDV equipment and they're not going to throw that away.

As for copy protection, several years ago that was a big issue for me but by now I don't care that much. Local archiving is looking less important all the time.

But data caps would be a big hurt.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> I'm on TWC. So far Tom Merritt (the TechNewsDailyShow) has made just one prediction regarding this merger: Former TWC internet subscribers will see data caps.
> 
> Does net neutrality actually imply no data caps? I would assume neutrality just means no caps that are different for different services.
> 
> ...


You can have service with Comcast without data caps, it just costs more. But does come with higher data speeds too. Currently up to 300Mbps in Houston, supposed to be Gb or nearly by end of year. Not cheap though.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jcthorne said:


> You can have service with Comcast without data caps, it just costs more. But does come with higher data speeds too. Currently up to 300Mbps in Houston, supposed to be Gb or nearly by end of year. Not cheap though.


Sounds like you have fiber, at least down the street. Our TWC area has cable down the street and I doubt they will invest in fiber any time soon, whether part of Comcast or not. I think we can get 50 Mbps or maybe 100 Mbps soon, but I suspect anything above that will be a long time coming. And even 50 Mbps is very expensive (remembering they have a local monopoly).


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

I don't think this is that big of a deal. Either company can already do what they want if they are your only tv or internet provider.

The funny part is Comcast said that the merger will result in faster internet!!!!


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Sounds like you have fiber, at least down the street. Our TWC area has cable down the street and I doubt they will invest in fiber any time soon, whether part of Comcast or not. I think we can get 50 Mbps or maybe 100 Mbps soon, but I suspect anything above that will be a long time coming. And even 50 Mbps is very expensive (remembering they have a local monopoly).


When AT&T decided to impose ridiculous caps, I opted for a Comcast Business line. No caps and 50Mbps is 99. 300 is 175 so yes expensive but as you say, effectively a monopoly. And its only 50Mbps from midnight to about 3pm. Evenings between 6 and 11 pm it drops to 9.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

LoadStar said:


> I'm betting this goes about like the failed AT&T/T-Mo tie-up.


Except TWC and Comcast don't compete. The only major issue is Comcast's ownership of NBCU. I'd like to see that broken up, as that causes all sorts of problems and awkward relationships. Comcast taking over TWC can only be a good thing for TWC subs. Comcast sucks less than TWC. However, it will add more technologically disconnected feudal domains for Comcast to manage, and they already have a problem with a whole bunch of different systems that offer slightly different services.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Bigg said:


> Comcast taking over TWC can only be a good thing for TWC subs. Comcast sucks less than TWC.


Comcast may suck marginally less than TWC, but once they merge I have a feeling that Time Warner markets will retain the parts of Time Warner service that suck (e.g. tuning adapters/SDV, copy protection, etc.) and add new things that suck from Comcast (e.g. data caps, outlet fees, no HBOGO on Roku, etc.). It will be the worst of both worlds for former TWC customers.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Bigg said:


> Comcast taking over TWC can only be a good thing for TWC subs. Comcast sucks less than TWC.


I disagree, partially because frankly I have very few problems with TWC, but also because...


> However, it will add more technologically disconnected feudal domains for Comcast to manage, and they already have a problem with a whole bunch of different systems that offer slightly different services.


This. Seriously, I hear so many stories that Comcast can't get their head out of their backside and can't even keep things straight *within* a market, let alone keeping things consistent *between* markets. I can't even imagine what a C.F. things will be when they're this lumbering behemoth that owns well over half the country.

And IMO, even though they don't directly compete within a particular market doesn't make this any less of a bad idea.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

Comcast took over from Time-Warner here a few years ago, and there was basically no difference, at least from my perspective.

I'm not a fan of consolidation, though. I don't think it's a good idea for so much of so many product categories, especially interrelated ones like TV networks, production studios, cable companies, and ISPs, to be in the hands of so few companies. There are a lot of different kinds of competition beyond who sells widgets to John & Mary, and there's so little competition in so many areas these days.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Comcast may suck marginally less than TWC, but once they merge I have a feeling that Time Warner markets will retain the parts of Time Warner service that suck (e.g. tuning adapters/SDV, copy protection, etc.) and add new things that suck from Comcast (e.g. data caps, outlet fees, no HBOGO on Roku, etc.). It will be the worst of both worlds for former TWC customers.


I don't think so. I think they will "Comcastize" the TWC systems. They will go through with digital conversions to free up bandwidth and eliminate TA's. Every cable company charges per box or CC, so that's no different, HBOGo on Roku is not a major thing. Data caps are an issue. As of yet, they only really exist in a couple of markets. In most places they are "suspended". I am hoping that they eventually come to their senses and offer Unlimited data to all Blast! subscribers. I have a bad feeling though, that they may end up giving Unlimited data to Double or Triple-Play customers only. If this is the case, and our current Double Play doesn't have Unlimited data, I will have to seriously consider switching to the other cable company, but most people don't have that option.

The bundling, both by Comcast, and by Verizon FIOS, are clearly anti-competitive, as you have to pay a massive de-bundling fee to get internet only and use satellite for TV. I'm surprised that DirecTV and DISH haven't pursued this in court or in Congress, as it has to be hurting them, since the only way to have reasonable cost internet in many markets with DirecTV or DISH is DSL, and the Slowskys generally don't have a very good ARPU.

I have no problem with bundling for voice, as that has great competition. Most single family homes and some apartments can get DirecTV or DISH, so there is competitive pressure there as well, the internet is where they can (and will) screw us, since they have the only decent pipe in most locations.



LoadStar said:


> This. Seriously, I hear so many stories that Comcast can't get their head out of their backside and can't even keep things straight *within* a market, let alone keeping things consistent *between* markets. I can't even imagine what a C.F. things will be when they're this lumbering behemoth that owns well over half the country.
> 
> And IMO, even though they don't directly compete within a particular market doesn't make this any less of a bad idea.


Their different systems are a mess. They have Moto and Sci Atlanta. They have 860 systems and 650 systems. They have all sorts of other little differences. They should regionalize the headends like Verizon did, upgrade everything to 860mhz, and then the whole thing would work a lot better. The problem is that they went to do 860mhz upgrades to all the systems, got most of the way through and gave up.



Rob Helmerichs said:


> I'm not a fan of consolidation, though. I don't think it's a good idea for so much of so many product categories, especially interrelated ones like TV networks, production studios, cable companies, and ISPs, to be in the hands of so few companies. There are a lot of different kinds of competition beyond who sells widgets to John & Mary, and there's so little competition in so many areas these days.


NBCU is what was and is so scary, because it's a total conflict of interest. The regulators should never have let that one happen. I'd say they should give Comcast a choice: keep NBCU *OR* buy TWC. It would be a hugely positive thing for the US public if they got rid of NBCU and picked up TWC.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

jcthorne said:


> When AT&T decided to impose ridiculous caps, I opted for a Comcast Business line. No caps and 50Mbps is 99. 300 is 175 so yes expensive but as you say, effectively a monopoly. And its only 50Mbps from midnight to about 3pm. Evenings between 6 and 11 pm it drops to 9.


Wow. $99 for 9 Mbps during prime time? Was that '9' a typo? I think I pay around $40 to $50 for 15 Mbps (around the clock) with no caps. I have a bundle so it's almost impossible to tell how much of my $110 total bill is for internet.


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## dave13077 (Jan 11, 2009)

I can see the unlimited data on the current TWC systems being handled the same way Verizon Wireless did with theirs. You will be grandfathered with unlimited data UNTIL you make a change with your service. At that point you will be placed on one of the capped tiers.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

dave13077 said:


> I can see the unlimited data on the current TWC systems being handled the same way Verizon Wireless did with theirs. You will be grandfathered with unlimited data UNTIL you make a change with your service. At that point you will be placed on one of the capped tiers.


Probably not. I'm hoping that Blast! ends up with Unlimited data, but we'll see. I'm one of the few lucky enough to have another provider that can provide 50+mbps, so if Comcast wants to screw us, then they will get an ultimatum: give us Unlimited or we will leave.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Wow. $99 for 9 Mbps during prime time? Was that '9' a typo? I think I pay around $40 to $50 for 15 Mbps (around the clock) with no caps. I have a bundle so it's almost impossible to tell how much of my $110 total bill is for internet.


No typo. Its a 50Mbps connection that drops to 9 and sometimes lower during prime time. That's Comcast. If there were any competition it would get fixed, be cheaper etc. They don't care. You pay or you don't have internet. Its a true monopoly in the Houston area. Comcast currently caps ALL residential service, they just have not rolled out enforcement in all areas yet. They have in Houston or are in the process now. It will be nation wide by year end. 300Gbytes then they charge you $10 per 5GB for any beyond that. Business service can be either capped or uncapped depending on contract. And uncapped does require a long term contract but they could never hold you to it as they never provide what they are contracted to. But where are you going to go?


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

dave13077 said:


> I can see the unlimited data on the current TWC systems being handled the same way Verizon Wireless did with theirs. You will be grandfathered with unlimited data UNTIL you make a change with your service. At that point you will be placed on one of the capped tiers.


Nope. Comcast is rolling out usage based billing nation wide by end of year. If they take over TWC, it will go there too. The only unlimited lines on Comcast are specific business class contracts. Comcast does not actually cap usage. They bill for excess.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

I wonder how much Internet activity falls under 300GB. And, if HD streaming video would blow through that fairly quickly over a month.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Inundated said:


> I wonder how much Internet activity falls under 300GB. And, if HD streaming video would blow through that fairly quickly over a month.


Most routers can track how much data you are using.


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## reneg (Jun 19, 2002)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Most routers can track how much data you are using.


Comcast tells you how much data you've used if you log on to Comcast.com and look under My Services->Equipment


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

jcthorne said:


> Nope. Comcast is rolling out usage based billing nation wide by end of year.


Do you have a cite for this? I'm not questioning it (I've been expecting it), but I haven't run across anything authoritative.


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## Inundated (Sep 10, 2003)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Most routers can track how much data you are using.


I don't have access to my router's control panel, and TWC doesn't provide measurement as far as I know (being unlimited and all).

I was just hoping for general information on the kind of usage an HD stream would take.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

CrispyCritter said:


> Do you have a cite for this? I'm not questioning it (I've been expecting it), but I haven't run across anything authoritative.


Actually the way Comcast phrased it was they were 'rolling out' usage based billing in 26 new markets in Feb and planned to continue going forward. No specific market dates but they have started with the notices in Houston and its not one of the current markets so likely very near future. Note that one of the 26 is Atlanta, this shows they are now rolling out in major metro areas as well. They are doing it in areas that have DOCSIS 3 equipment that has bandwidth measurement and shaping in the upstream hardware on a per account basis.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Apparently, news of the impending merger has made it all the way to Taiwan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGBzxnOBDwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGBzxnOBDw


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## Grakthis (Oct 4, 2006)

trip1eX said:


> I don't think this is that big of a deal. Either company can already do what they want if they are your only tv or internet provider.
> 
> The funny part is Comcast said that the merger will result in faster internet!!!!


This is where people are getting lost. It's not about your local service... it's about larger national issues.

if Comcast and TWC are combined, they can leverage their huge market base to do things like charge Netflix a fee to be carried on their internet. They can start capping internet. They can start combining their services to provide internet based video that they control and give it preferred status.

Small local monopolies aren't a catastrophe, because we have ways around them... large national monopolies are a disaster.


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## Rob Helmerichs (Oct 17, 2000)

tarheelblue32 said:


> Apparently, news of the impending merger has made it all the way to Taiwan:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGBzxnOBDwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZGBzxnOBDw




Wonder what Hitler thinks?


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

jcthorne said:


> No typo. Its a 50Mbps connection that drops to 9 and sometimes lower during prime time. That's Comcast. If there were any competition it would get fixed, be cheaper etc. They don't care. You pay or you don't have internet. Its a true monopoly in the Houston area. Comcast currently caps ALL residential service, they just have not rolled out enforcement in all areas yet. They have in Houston or are in the process now. It will be nation wide by year end. 300Gbytes then they charge you $10 per 5GB for any beyond that. Business service can be either capped or uncapped depending on contract. And uncapped does require a long term contract but they could never hold you to it as they never provide what they are contracted to. But where are you going to go?


Wow, that's bad. They need to fix their system (i.e. split nodes). Here in CT, it's a fluke if I don't get 55mbps. It's rock solid virtually all the time.



jcthorne said:


> Nope. Comcast is rolling out usage based billing nation wide by end of year. If they take over TWC, it will go there too. The only unlimited lines on Comcast are specific business class contracts. Comcast does not actually cap usage. They bill for excess.


They haven't said what they're going to do. They are going to lose even more customers than they already have in areas that have FIOS available if they end up doing this. My area doesn't really count, since it's only half of one system that's overbuilt by a local provider. Unfortunately, Washington is asleep at the wheel as usual (or bought off) so they won't do anything about it.


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10014780#post10014780


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

It looks like Time Warner Cable has decided not to wait until the merger with Comcast is finalized before it increases prices and fees to match Comcast. Highlights include:

-A new outlet fee of $1.50/month/per outlet
-A new broadcast TV Fee of $2.25/month
-An increase in set-top box fees of 1.76/month

And, as usual, broadband internet and other TV rates are also increasing. No word yet on usage caps, but at this rate I expect those to be announced within a month or 2. What a great influence Comcast is already having on TWC.

http://stopthecap.com/2014/02/18/ti...or-earthlink-and-time-warner-cable-customers/

On the bright side, these equipment fee increases and new outlet fees mean that my Roamio and 2 Minis w/lifetime will be paying for themselves even faster than I had originally calculated they would. The payoff time for my TiVos is now under 20 months.


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## Bigg (Oct 31, 2003)

This merger isn't going to change the monopoly problem we have here for internet access, and the leverage that gives Comcast and gang. There needs to be regulation about bundling, as bundling internet with other things is highly anti-competitive towards DirecTV and DISH, as the customer ends up paying way more when the internet de-bundling fee is factored in. Either that, or we need good, widespread competition for internet access. The problem is that when a competing provider (telco) gets enough bandwidth for today's internet usage, they then do video (i.e. U-Verse), and you're back to square one, albeit with another competitor in the market, and in some cases, like in AT&T's case, they don't charge massive internet de-bundling fees, although Verizon FIOS does, and they're even worse than Comcast.


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## tatergator1 (Mar 27, 2008)

Not looking good for the TWC-Comcast merger

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-17/u-s-antitrust-lawyers-said-to-be-leaning-against-comcast-merger


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

tatergator1 said:


> Not looking good for the TWC-Comcast merger
> 
> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-17/u-s-antitrust-lawyers-said-to-be-leaning-against-comcast-merger


On general grounds I hope the merger falls through. But for us (who now have TWC in central and SW Ohio) who knows? We would go to Charter as part of the deal. Could that be an improvement over TWC?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Probably. Charter only copy protects the premiums. They are also making a big push to all digital so they will eliminate any analog stations still taking up bandwidth on your system and offer more HD channels instead. They also make more conservative use of SDV so a cranky TA may not have as much effect on your experience.


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