Comcast - heading the way of the dinosaurs
By Triston McIntyre
Comcast has been one of the most successful cable companies in the world; in many parts of the U.S., Comcast sits pretty on huge user bases that don’t have many viable high-speed internet alternatives. However, poor customer service, slow speeds and generally poor business practices could make the once-great internet giant another extinct dinosaur, no ice age required.
The fact of the matter is this: Comcast is no longer the biggest and the best. Cable is taking a distant back seat to Verizon’s FiOS (fiber optic service), which delivers speeds up to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speeds. Unlike Comcast, FiOS delivers the full range of bandwidth to each user, whereas Comcast users are forced to share bandwidth with other users on the same coaxial cable, causing speeds to fluctuate dramatically with usage.
In rural areas or college towns, Comcast serves as the only acceptable source of both cable tv and high-speed internet. However, because no other companies like Verizon can focus resources on installing alternative services, Comcast completely neglects both good business practices and the needs of its customers.
Many times speeds are so poor that many people in such areas are turning to DSL or even satellite internet to serve their needs. Comcast recognizes that too many people are being forced onto single lines, and that speeds are deplorably slow, but will not move to remedy the situation because there isn’t any direct competitor to worry about.
To make matters worse, recent research has revealed that Comcast is working diligently to deter use of any P2P platforms like Bittorrent, both by limiting uploads and by disrupting downloads directly with software from broadband management company Sandvine.
In all of this, Comcast is still charging prices indicative of a quality product with quality service. Quality service is not exemplified by having a technician coming to your house to analyze why your internet is going at sub-dialup speeds, and that technician telling you the reason the internet is slow is because there are too many people using your street’s cable line; Comcast should be increasing the bandwidth to the street sometime, but no one knows when.
Comcast just announced they would start implementing the next step in cable technology, DOCSIS 3.0, by 2008; this new technology supposedly will allow for 160 Mbps download and 120 Mbps upload speeds, according to Ars Technica. However, none of that will matter when too many customers are forced to cram onto a single cable line and suffer from speeds that could be easily surpassed by other technologies.
For a short time, Comcast will be able to sit on the customer base it has developed and sap money from customers that could receive better products at a more competitive price. But, just like AOL, once people get a taste of where technology is heading, that pile of money will deplete to nearly nothing…unless Comcast can step up, stop functioning like a monopoly, and start being competive.
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Stumble It!
December 2nd, 2007
As new options for those seeking ISP’s (both home users and business users) are cropping up (seemingly daily!), doing appropriate research is becoming important. It used to be relatively easy to choose a cable service provider or even a DSL provider because there were so few. But now there are an increasingly large number of options out there, and not all are created equal (though to someone non-technical, they might seem indistinguishably similar). Business owners should really seek the advice of a good computer consulting or IT consulting firm. Even a lot of home users would benefit from seeking professional guidance to make sure they are getting the most for their money.
December 2nd, 2007
This posting is a bit sensationalist. Let’s get a few things straight here:
- Comcast is still has strong growth
- People underestimate the strength of the Triple Play and how people are more likely to keep their service
- Comcast is working with Sprint to offer a “quadruple play” that includes cell phone service
- Comcast has been signing up telephone customers at a rate of something like 9 for every 1 cable customer that they lose
- DOCSIS 3.0 takes away the advantage that Verizon’s FiOS has in the short-term
- Most people can’t even use the speed that Verizon FiOS offers
- Most bandwidth bottlenecks are at the server, not the client
- Verizon FiOS isn’t even available in most places
- Comcast has a fiber backbone that allows them to run fiber for the “last mile” if they need to offer fiber speeds
- Satillite TV didn’t hurt Comcast
- Comcast has many media and sports properties such as E!, The Golf Channel, and the Philadelphia Flyers
- Cable industry companies are friendly towards each other where Verizon has to work with a hostile environment
- Comcast has historically been good at monetizing their assets
- Don’t underestimate Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts
The list of positives for the company goes on and on. Don’t count Comcast out. Competition will only help them charge forward.
Disclosure: I had an internship with Comcast over the summer. I am also a Comcast shareholder.
December 2nd, 2007
Comments like “Satellite TV didn’t hurt Comcast” and “gaining 9 for every 1 subscriber they lose” just reinforce the message that they can ignore customer’s wishes and roll on like a monopoly.
Nobody said they weren’t in a good position. The key point of this article is they’re in a strong position and abusing it. You should think about that.
December 2nd, 2007
Comcast does have serious problems, but they are not heading the way of the dinosaurs. Experience has shown than older infrastructures can be repeatedly adapted to work with new technologies. Running fiber to the neighborhood and DOCSIS 3.0 may not be the most elegant solution, but it does solve many of the speed limitations. In the 7 years I was a Comcast customer (@home->ATTBI->Comcast), my bandwidth went from 1.5Mbps to 8.0Mbps - not earth shattering, but it shows how incremental upgrades can extend the life of an older system. Just as copper Ethernet has gone from 10 to 100 to 1000Mbps, new technology will extend the life of the coax cable system.
I’d agree that Comcast has not been responsive in markets where there is no competition. When forced to complete directly against the telcos, Comcast seems to offer higher speeds and lower prices as a result. There are problems with slower speeds in congested areas - a Comcast tech once told me once a neighborhood node reached 200 residences, it was “split” to improve performance.
I am no fan of Comcast, but with new technology deployments, new VOD/DVR/Tivo and HD offerings, and their strong presence in the VoIP market, the Comcast dinosaur is going to be around for a while.
December 2nd, 2007
By the way, I made a mistake when I posed my original comment. I meant to say that satellite TV didn’t run Comcast out of town.
Disclosure: I had an internship with Comcast over the summer. I am also a Comcast shareholder.
December 2nd, 2007
- Comcast is still has strong growth
Sure. They’ll grow as long as the broadband market isn’t saturated. But the point is they’re finally getting competition but acting like a monopoly.
- People underestimate the strength of the Triple Play and how people are more likely to keep their service
Not impressed (speaking as a Comcast subscriber)
- Comcast is working with Sprint to offer a “quadruple play” that includes cell phone service
_Really_ not impressed — Sprint sucks too.
- Comcast has been signing up telephone customers at a rate of something like 9 for every 1 cable customer that they lose
And how long can they keep that up?
- DOCSIS 3.0 takes away the advantage that Verizon’s FiOS has in the short-term
Not from what I’ve seen. FIOS will still outperform it. Comcast has huge overall bandwidth limitations.
- Most people can’t even use the speed that Verizon FiOS offers
Boy I can. Don’t forget it’s not just internet speeds that are enabled; Verizon can offer a lot more on-demand programming.
- Most bandwidth bottlenecks are at the server, not the client
Well, most of the time. Then for no apparent reason your Comcast connection slows to a crawl, and the server can’t get to you.
- Verizon FiOS isn’t even available in most places
Coming to my house soon. :)
- Comcast has a fiber backbone that allows them to run fiber for the “last mile” if they need to offer fiber speeds
Then why are they blocking P2P traffic?
- Satillite TV didn’t hurt Comcast
You’re kidding, right? Satellite has a lot of disadvantages but I still know a lot of people using Direct TV because they hate Comcast.
- Comcast has many media and sports properties such as E!, The Golf Channel, and the Philadelphia Flyers
Well maybe that’ll save them. Golf is some sort of game, right? Are the Flyers a golf team? ;)
- Cable industry companies are friendly towards each other where Verizon has to work with a hostile environment
WTF? How is this relevant? Every corporation is hostile when its business is threatened.
- Comcast has historically been good at monetizing their assets
So they are good at something? Who knew?
- Don’t underestimate Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts
When the Titanic has hit the iceberg, the greatest captain in the world won’t keep it afloat. But we’ll see.
December 2nd, 2007
- DOCSIS 3.0 takes away the advantage that Verizon’s FiOS has in the short-term
So I take it there is nothing out there that is an improvement for fiber’s transfer bandwidth? All research into bandwidth is being done on coax? Here I would have thought that equal progress was being made on almost all transmission technologies, with even more benefits coming for ultra-high bandwidth forms such as fiber.
Just my thinking though.
December 2nd, 2007
ALFlanagan:
December 2nd, 2007
- People underestimate the strength of the Triple Play and how people are more likely to keep their service
Not impressed (speaking as a Comcast subscriber)
Maybe YOU’RE not impressed, but the fact is that they are signing up customers.
- Comcast is working with Sprint to offer a “quadruple play” that includes cell phone service
_Really_ not impressed — Sprint sucks too.
Again, your personal opinion, not that of the market.
- Comcast has been signing up telephone customers at a rate of something like 9 for every 1 cable customer that they lose
And how long can they keep that up?
Let’s see - Comcast has 10MM+ cable customers who don’t have their phone service yet. They’ve got quite a base to draw on.
- DOCSIS 3.0 takes away the advantage that Verizon’s FiOS has in the short-term
Not from what I’ve seen. FIOS will still outperform it. Comcast has huge overall bandwidth limitations.
True - but technology improves every year for their HFC network, and at some point fast is fast for most users.
- Most people can’t even use the speed that Verizon FiOS offers
Boy I can. Don’t forget it’s not just internet speeds that are enabled; Verizon can offer a lot more on-demand programming.
Completely untrue. VOD programming is based on server space, not bandwidth. That’s like saying that FIOS can offer more internet than Comcast because they have a faster connection. One user connects to one server and requests whatever they want that’s on it. Period.
- Verizon FiOS isn’t even available in most places
Coming to my house soon. :)
Yet another personal opinion. FiOS has YEARS of negotiations to go through, town by town (see the AT&T Connecticut court decision), before they reach HALF of Comcast’s home passed.
- Comcast has a fiber backbone that allows them to run fiber for the “last mile” if they need to offer fiber speeds
Then why are they blocking P2P traffic?
Straw man. Slowing P2P (which sucks, definitely) is a necessary evil due to one of your better points, that is that Comcast DOESN’T have a point-to-point connection for each user. Heavy BT users (who make up a small fraction of Comcast’s base) eat up tons of bandwidth.
- Cable industry companies are friendly towards each other where Verizon has to work with a hostile environment
But Cable companies don’t threaten each other because of franchise area monopolies, so they can work together and pool their MUCH larger resources against Verizon.
December 2nd, 2007
Still stuck on the shared cable mantra eh? Me thinks you should try to truly understand cable technology and at least read the Docsis 3.0 specs before commenting on them.
But then again, this is the Internet so I guess you should create an entry on wikipedia and fill it with all of your “knowledge”.
December 2nd, 2007
What the comcast apologists don’t seem to understand is that comcast has already permanently alienated more than half of their existing customers with their arrogant attitude and miserable customer service. The only reason comcast isn’t losing thousands of customers hourly is that there’s no superior alternative in most places. There is literally nothing comcast could ever do to keep me as a customer once FIOS and/or wimax and/or dsl arrives here.
December 3rd, 2007
I already left comcast for Qwest DSL and Clearwire (Qwest for home because it’s faster, Clearwire for school because it’s mobile. Nice combo), and I’m debating switching entirely to Clearwire’s higher speed service when my contract with Qwest ends.
My problems with Comcast are countless. I still use them for T.V., because Satellite isn’t a viable alternative at this time. Even that has problems (3 techs came out, looked at my faulty cable box, and said “hm. looks fine to me”. I had to pay for all 3 of them and a 4th who finally got the brains to give me a new cable box, which I had requested in the first place.)
What threw me over the edge wasn’t p2p (except for bittorrent, which prevented me from downloading more than one linux distribution), wasn’t slow speeds (i expected as much from shared bandwidth), wasn’t lousy customer service (I generally get a bad rap anywhere I call for support because I can outthink most tech support personnel). What threw me over the edge was this:
To try to stop spam, Comcast blocked port 25 to and from all hosts, and blocked port 587 (right port?) to all hosts except for mail.comcast.net. In other words, I could not use my POP3 email account on the server that I pay $100 a year for hosting. Instead, if I wanted to continue to use POP3, I had to use an email address @comcast.net. And I, for one, don’t want my email address to tie me to an ISP. So I got rid of comcast.
Believe me, I recommend alternatives to everyone I know. I frequently fix problems for my friends, family, and even some people who have referred them to me. I dealt with comcast’s lousy service for a number of years, and in a network with almost no other internet users at all, I still chose DSL over comcast.
I may not have an MBA, but I can tell you that as soon as other companies become viable for these services, Comcast has a snowball’s chance in hell of staying afloat.
Not to mention their advertisements just suck.
December 3rd, 2007
You forgot one thing. Yes, Verizon’s FIOS is a shining example of how to deploy a fiber network to the home. Good. BUT: Verizon only overlaps maybe a pitiful 5% of the Comcast footprint (places where you can get Comcast OR Verizon). The telco who has the majority of overlap is AT&T. AT&T is has no great mandate to do much better either. Although they will deploy an updated version of DSL it is a pitiful example of how to deploy a network. Do it cheap and try to pull the wool over customer’s eyes. Unless the DOJ or FCC gets involved (departemnt of justice / federal communication commission) who have rubber stamped AT&T’s merger with Bell-South recently. Nothing will change for the MAJORITY of comcast’s footprint. AT&T has been given a “pass” on really competing enough so that Comcast will spend money in areas where they simply don’t have to. This means NO UPGRADES FOR RURAL / oversold nodes (where cablemodem customers are corralled like chickens, turkeys for mass slaughter), or from anther perspective to keep laying those valuable monthly golden eggs called subscription fees with no alternative.
December 3rd, 2007
Stick up for Comcast all you want, but as soon as FIOS is available in my town (all of boston but here) I’m dumping Comcast. I would go Satellite but it’s not viable where I live. Triple Play? Quadruple Play? Don’t care about either.
I’m so annoyed with Comcast I’m thinking of dumping the cable because of the shoddy service. Tiling on basic channels (no, not HD basic… basic channels like history channel or tnt) which is because of crappy bandwidth. Crappy service. Crappy customer service. Crappy tech support. Do you see a theme here?
I’ll jump this comcast prison as soon as able.
December 3rd, 2007
Slashdot carried this story today and I thought when I click the link I would be getting some good information.
However, after reading the “BLOG” post, not a real news story, I wondering where are your statistics that show Verizon FIOS is making cable take a back seat? What is VzFIOS install numbers, what are Comcast’s disconnect numbers to support your theory?
Generally speaking, looking at the FIOS technology and other business factors your mentioned, I generally agree that if Comcast continues to conduct business the same way without adopting new technology they will go away.
However, there is a big difference between guessing this and really seeing a trend based on hard, factual statistics.
Next time I’ll think twice before reading a BLORGE.com posting.
December 3rd, 2007
The artical is a bit sensationalist, but it’s also very accurate. You’ve provided much more fuel than the article.
- Comcast is still has strong growth
> Only when they make underhanded deals with new communities or apartments and lock out competition. (Happens in Plano, TX because a Comcast shareholder sits on the city council.)
- People underestimate the strength of the Triple Play and how people are more likely to keep their service
> No, it’s just that Verizon already offers the quadruple play and it is hands-down better than anything Comcast can offer in each of the services.
- Comcast is working with Sprint to offer a “quadruple play” that includes cell phone service
> It’s nice that customer/technology poor companies are sticking together. This might actually hurt Comcast more than help.
- Comcast has been signing up telephone customers at a rate of something like 9 for every 1 cable customer that they lose
> So phone customers are helping to eat away at the shared bandwidth even more? Brilliant. I had that phone service. The sound was horrible and I would lose calls when the service went down. Our phone had no dialtone for two days once.
- DOCSIS 3.0 takes away the advantage that Verizon’s FiOS has in the short-term
> Hardly. There are regular improvements to putting more information on fiber. I’m not a network engineer, but I’m fairly certain that RG6 will reach a bandwidth/frequency limit well before fiber.
- Most people can’t even use the speed that Verizon FiOS offers
> Bull. Just visit a multi-computer home where one adult works from home, one adult works in technology (remote access), one kid games and one kid downloads music/videos. Not only are more people taking advantage of this, but many software companies are *relying* on high bandwidth to deliver demos and patching.
- Most bandwidth bottlenecks are at the server, not the client
> Double bull. When I was on Comcast I thought this, too. When I went to FiOS, I can now tell when it’s on the server side. 95% of the time it is not. At least now I know it’s not my connection that is failing me.
- Verizon FiOS isn’t even available in most places
> Growing exponentially every day. The demand far exceeds their deployment schedule. There are millions of Comcast customers screaming for ANY alternative. Availability is only a matter of time.
- Comcast has a fiber backbone that allows them to run fiber for the “last mile” if they need to offer fiber speeds
> Then why don’t they pass on that speed to the customers? Because the design of the infrastructure is based upon shared bandwidth, users/segment is always going to be a detriment to the service regardless of how much bandwidth they offer.
- Satillite TV didn’t hurt Comcast
> Sure did from my viewpoint. I finally was fed up with Comcast TV when the service was off for 50% of the entire month. My wife sent them a check for 50% of the bill and we immediately bought DirecTV. Stayed with DirecTV for 10 years until FiOS came in.
As for internet service, I suffered for years through the @Home, AT&T and Comcast shiftings because it was the fastest available. I should have purchased DSL for the reliability. Poor performance based upon time/users online, faulty equipment, loss of connection for no reason, frequent maintenance that severed connections and the most horrendous customer service I have ever encountered. Let’s not forget the regular cost of service increases with no improvement in the service offered or the service is actually reduced. My speed went from 10Mb to 5Mb to 3Mb and the rate went up each time over a period of two years. When I reported my modem had a fault, they were going to charge me to replace it or have a tech come out and charge for the house call. The only time Comcast is ever punctual is when that 6 month price increase comes around.
- Comcast has many media and sports properties such as E!, The Golf Channel, and the Philadelphia Flyers
> Oooo… golf and the Flyers. Whoopityfreakingdoo. Have you checked what sports are most popular in the U.S.? Football, baseball and basketball in that order. I’m a hockey fan myself, and I am very grateful to watch my Dallas Stars beat up your Flyers in HD without having to pay extra for the HD or the local channels. Thank you, Verizon!
I was also grateful to watch the Cowboys defeat Green Bay on the NFL Network in HD. Again with no extra charges. I heard the week prior to that game saw Comcast losing a number of customers who were going to DirecTV specifically because of that game and Comcast not offering NFL Network or a local alternative to carry it.
- Cable industry companies are friendly towards each other where Verizon has to work with a hostile environment
> Are you kidding me?!?! Cable providers are cutthroat as any other business, sometimes worse. I mentioned the @home, AT&T shift. In Dallas we saw all kinds of local companies pushed out of areas, put out of business and stomped all over by Comcast. Now it’s rather enjoyable watching Time Warner stomp all over Comcast. I’ll never, ever be a customer for either, but I’ll gladly watch the bloodbath and cheer when either one of them, or hopefully both, die a miserable death.
Verizon has serious competition and you know how they easily defeat their competition? With quality service and customer support, the two main areas of business that Comcast cannot seem to grasp at all.
- Comcast has historically been good at monetizing their assets
> I think you meant “monopolizing” their customers. That really is their strength - ignorance of their consumers and restrictions that keep them the only player in an area.
- Don’t underestimate Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts
> If he’s the one who has been in charge the past 15 years, at least they’ll know who to blame when the ship sinks. A new person with a fresh perspective, preferably someone open to current, 21st century technology and a desire to please customers would be a good move.
How about at your next shareholder meeting instead of asking “How can we make more money?” ask “What can we do to improve our service, provide quality customer support and in general improve our image?”
I’m wagering you sell all your shares the minute you see the price start ticking down and you’ll purchasing Verizon FiOS the second it’s available in your area. Here’s a real tip: buy Verizon stock.
December 3rd, 2007
Obviously meant to direct my previous post @Wister.
December 3rd, 2007
You need to read the GPON and GEPON standards. PON, labed with marketing hype as FiOS, is a shared fiber connection between everyone on the fiber splice … the ratio could be from 1:32 to 1:256 depending upon the optical power loss.
December 3rd, 2007
comcast is growing but that’s mostly because they bought out older companies that just sat on things…adelphia comes to mind.
Here’s a few facts to keep in mind
1) wifi can be found at many places…the idea of billing someone something they can get free somewhere else is bullocks
2) analog cable is dying off and many people got that JUST to get decent reception. over the air hdtv is free and looks far better.
3) satellite has a contract…which means for two years you get a locked in rate…I’ve NEVER seen cable prices go down
4) cable is mostly a monopoly because they signed exclusive agreements with cities and towns…FIOS bypasses that as does satellite.
heck with satellite you can split an account. Get three boxes and three dishes and give to your friends and family and split the bill..can’t exactly do that with cable.
December 4th, 2007
Well all I can say overall sideways read. I have been a customer of MA BELL (ATT) aka SBC+ATT aka whatever the hell they are calling themselves. I couldn’t stand DSL as I was getting crap speeds and I’m not too far from a CO. I would know when a redback server was out before the dam idiots at ATT knew cause I didn’t use their crappy PPPOE software. I switched to comcrap cause I was done with the phone company random rate changes. So I have a cell through att, a data card from verizon, vonage, and Cable/Internet. Guess what I can make a phone call while playing online. ATT and their crappy FTTN solution is garbage. Run the dam fiber once and forget about it. They did things cheaply with DSL and the end result everyone paid for a poorly designed system. Docis 3.x is a band aid on a bullet wound. Fiber scales better and is cheaper over time due to splicing and usage of multiple wavelength’s as such Verizon FIOS is the best solution even if it is shared fiber scales way better than copper. True comrap has a fiber backbone but they don’t fully own it and must rely on the telco’s wholesale OC-N services to provide access to the content customers need to get to. There is a reason why ATT and many of the other telcos are pushing to get as much content as they can on their network. If its on their network they can use it against the cable co’s. I sell T’s to OCn’s as such I’m pissed that I’m still using the same crappy Comcrap service I had 4 years ago with maybe 2Mbps more downlink bandwith but then again I have not had to call comcrap and I’m sure they like it that way as every time I call them up they manage to screw things up go figure. I pay out the nose for pipes and guess what in most cases the servers that are hosting your content are sitting on the Internet on a 10 or 100Mbps dedicated pipe on average or clustered on a faster connection. These days most of the issues seem to be on the provider side either by using bad routes or crappy peers. It has got better since the @home days but still its a joke. But alas there is nothing better in my neck of the woods so therefore I must follow the masses and pay out the nose for the best available. If I could get FIOS I’d be more than happy I’ve seen it deployed and installed vs ATT’s deployments total diffrence. Comcast can grow but if they continue on the path they are on they will end up giving up more ground than they would have hope to. Especially if VZ starts splicing and using different wavelengths over the fiber they deploy today 3 years from now. It would be almost as simple as a equipment change on both ends. For comcast to keep up they would have to get more bandwidth from copper than they would be able to.
In the end the mess with the telcos and the cable company’s have been caused by both sides lobbying congress to get their way or doing like ATT did in CT and threaten the state with outsourcing jobs. I personally think that is quite lame that they need to even do that in order to get a leg up on the cable co’s but that is a whole different story.
Fiber is better hands down. Verizon is spending money smart ATT is being ATT and cable will be cable.
Verizon has better service, more reach, and effective management three things that are hard to duplicate
March 8th, 2008
I know some people who use Comcast that have had a lot of trouble with it, but I know another guy that has nothing but great things to say about it.
Overall, they did grow fast, but they will catch up and move forward.
Gordon Moss