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Comcast responds to FCC’s Net Neutrality proposals: Slow down, partner, let’s talk about this

Nicholas Deleon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:30:27 +0000

My God in Heaven! It’s been about four hours since the FCC announced its intention to add two more pillars to its idea of Net Neutrality: one, ISPs should not be allowed to wily nilly permit/disallow traffic on their networks (non-discrimination); and two, traffic management should be done is as transparent a manner as possible, so you don’t wind up with people discovering that their software is being tampered with, without their knowledge or consent, after the fact. I don’t know about yous guys (not a typo), but that seems pretty reasonable to me. And if you disagree, then you’re probably a high-ranking executive at Comcast.

One of Comcast’s executive vice-presidents, David L. Cohen, posted a message to the company’s Web site that, in so many words, attempts to throw cold water on the FCC’s proposals lest they become popular with its customers. The post, entitled “Does the Internet Need More Regulation? FCC to Decide,” is skeptical of the whole operation even before it begins. If not the FCC, then who should regulate the Internet? I’m certainly not Mr. The Government Solves Everything, but I’d much sooner trust the FCC to see to it that consumers don’t get screwed by this nation’s ISPs than the ISPs themselves.

So yes, the FCC should decide; that’s what it’s there for.

Then there’s a bit of a contradiction within two breaks:

There’s been a debate in Washington for the last six years over whether rules like these are necessary to promote an “open Internet” and an innovation economy. And before that, there was a debate that began more than a decade ago over whether Internet Service Providers should be required to let others resell their services.

But before we rush into a new regulatory environment for the Internet, let’s remember there can be no doubt that the Internet has enjoyed immense growth even as these debates have gone on.

How you can characterize six years of discussion as a “rush,” I’ll never know. In six years you have two congressional elections, and one general election. That hardly seems like “rushing” to me. And if what the FCC is true about Internet traffic doubling every two years, then six years is plenty of time to Figure Something Out™.

It’s not all negative, though, as Comcast says it’s “committed” to working with the FCC. So that’s good, and promising.

For the record, I’m not some scorned Comcast customer; I’ve never used it. I’ve used two ISPs since 2002 when I first got broadband: Cablevision’s Optimum Online, and Time Warner. So, really, what Comcast does isn’t any of my business.

Comcast to (likely) fill its coffers by raising the cable modem rental fee

Matt Burns — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:28:57 +0000

Apparently Comcast is in dire financial straights. If America’s largest cable provider doesn’t raise the cable modem rental fee to $5 from $3, it will not be able to roll out the faster Internet service, DOCSIS 3.0, and the executives won’t be able to get new trousers. Sure, the provider had enough cash to build a massive skyscraper and an impressive HD video wall in Philadelphia, but if you want faster Internet, some folks are going to have to pay more. It’s probably a good idea to point out that you can save a lot of money by purchasing your own cable modem.

Amazon has the Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem for only $55. At that price, it would only take you eleven months to recover the cost. But if your area has the faster DOCSIS 3.0, you may want to spend a little extra and get the $85 SB6120 that’s compatible with Internet connections over 30Mbps. But remember, you’ll still save money in 17 months. (and you won’t be giving more money to evil Comcast)

Multichannel News,

In a statement, Comcast said: “We continually invest in providing customers with next-generation equipment and technology that delivers advanced voice and Internet services with enhanced capabilities. Our costs for this new equipment will increase by 167% over the next two years. As a result, we will increase modem equipment charges by $2.”

The rate hike will start this fall in select markets, but eventually the whole Comcast nation will be affected.

What is Comcast going to do with all its money?

Nicholas Deleon — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:40:32 +0000

Do you have Comcast stock? Are you concerned with all the money the company has in its coffers? Yes, that sounds ludicrous, being concerned that a company has a lot of money on hand, but the fear is that Comcast could be ramping up for a big media buy, something no one wants to see.

Back in 2003, Comcast made a bid for Disney, which Disney summarily rejected. Then it laughed at Comcast like Nelson from the Simpsons. Now, in 2009, Comcast has a few extra pennies in its Piggy Bank, and investors think it may be in the market to buy a big media company. The likes of Viacom and Time Warner are being thrown around. (How terrible would that be, Comcast finally getting into the New York cable market by buying Time Warner? If you think Time Warner stinks now!)

Anyway, this is largely speculation. See, it’s August, and there’ approximately 27 people currently on the island of Manhattan; there’s no news for miles. So, pick up the phone, call a couple of investment houses, get a couple quotes, bam, you have a story.

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Guess why the big ISPs have refused broadband stimulus money

Nicholas Deleon — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:00:06 +0000

There’s two ways to look at the story that many of the country’s biggest ISPs have refused government stimulus money for broadband infrastructure investment. One, the ISPs patently don’t need the money, and are more than capable of delivering broadband to as many Americans as possible with their own capital. Two, the ISPs could use the money, but they’d prefer not to accept it lest they be beholden to all sorts of government-imposed restrictions, one of which relates to net neutrality.

Let’s take the first one, that the ISPs, including Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon, have a sufficient amount of capital to invest and build the country’s broadband infrastructure. (I write this using Cablevision’s Optimum Online Ultra, which is pretty much unnecessarily fast.) Since they have the capital, they don’t need to accept any government stimulus money, unlike, say, GM, which was about two minutes away from bursting into flames had it not received sweet, sweet government loans. That really is a Perfect World, Kumbaya scenario, I think. If the ISPs are so flush with cash, how come people complain on a daily basis about how rubbish Comcast is; how come they have to impose bandwidth restrictions on connections? If their networks are so robust—made robust, mind you, with all that money they supposedly have lying around—then they shouldn’t have to worry about Timmy High School Student streaming tons of video all day long.

Hence, the second way to look at this, that the ISPs damn well could use the money to invest in this country’s broadband infrastructure. No one expects rural Georgia to be zipping along the Internet at South Korean or Swedish-esque speeds, but surely the days of dealing with “slow Internet” should be behind us. This has to do with net neutrality. In taking the broadband stimulus money, the ISPs would have to agree not to “favor any lawful Internet applications and content over others.” So if AT&T, for example, strikes a deal with Video Site A instead of Video Site B, AT&T can’t turn around and give Video Site A preferred access to its network. That’s the crux of net neutrality, ISPs want to cut deals with their preferred partners at the expense of everyone else. It hampers innovation—Develop a cool Web site? Better cough up the bucks, otherwise people accessing it will be bitching about the slow speeds that’s entirely not your fault!—and rewards the smoke-filled-room shenanigans that have been a detriment to consumers for years.

Of course, no ISP will admit, on the record, to refusing stimulus money because they’re afraid of all the restrictions and unwanted attention.

Not that I’d worry about it: as we all know, the Market solves every single problem!

Comcast rolls out iPhone app for phone and e-mail features, TV listings, and movie trailers

Doug Aamoth — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:14:25 +0000

Comcast has just jumped on the iPhone bandwagon with the "Comcast Mobile App" -- now available for free download from the iTunes App Store.

CBS latest to join Comcast OnDemand Online lineup

Matt Burns — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:00:37 +0000

Well, I don’t think it’s a stretch anymore to say that Comcast’s latest venture into online video is a off to a good start. CBS is the latest network to join the impressive lineup which also includes HBO and Cinemax as of yesterday. This networks is a big step for Comcast On Demand Online as CBS is the only major network not available on the free to everyone site, Hulu. But remember, Comcast On Demand Online will only be available to Comcast subs who currently pay for the stations. (e.g. if you can’t watch HBO on your TV, you can’t watch it online)

Comcast will open the service to 5,000 beta testers in the coming weeks. I’m just curious about how many more networks will sign up before it launches to everyone. The service already has the most of any online viewing site available with, all the major networks, HBO, Cinemax, Stars, TBS, TNT, and most of the cable stations.

CBS TO PARTICIPATE IN COMCAST’S ON DEMAND ONLINE
NATIONWIDE TRIAL

As the First Broadcaster To Participate, CBS Agrees to Test Standards and Principles for

“TV Everywhere” Model

NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA, July 14, 2009 — CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS.A) and Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today that CBS is the first broadcast network to participate in Comcast’s technical trial of On Demand Online. The new service will significantly expand the number of top-rated TV shows available online and across platforms at no additional charge to Comcast’s cable customers while delivering increased advertising value to content owners. During the course of the trial, CBS plans to test various types of current and library content.

“CBS and Comcast share the same vision of giving consumers more — more content, in more places,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition, Comcast Cable. “On Demand Online is a major step in extending consumers’ television experiences online, and ultimately across platforms by giving any television network, including top brands like CBS, the ability to make their content available on the Web.”

“CBS is very supportive of initiatives that help extend our content to new platforms in such a way that we gain new audiences and additional value for our advertisers,” said Quincy Smith, Chief Executive Officer, CBS Interactive. “Comcast is already a trusted platform to distribute CBS content on air as well as on demand; expanding this relationship online is a logical step. In addition, CBS’s strategy has always been about open, non-exclusive distribution of our content in a consumer friendly way, which is a core tenant of TV Everywhere and On Demand Online.”

CBS’s participation in Comcast’s technical trial comes on the heels of last month’s joint announcement between Time Warner Inc. and Comcast which introduced a set of principles called “TV Everywhere.” Developed by the two companies, the principles are designed to serve as a framework to facilitate deployment of online television content in a way that is consumer friendly and pro-competitive.

Comcast will begin its technical trial of On Demand Online with approximately 5,000 customers from across the U.S. in the coming weeks – the first national trial of its kind. A major focus of the trial is to test Comcast’s new “authentication” technology, which will allow Comcast customers to receive the same content online for free that they subscribe to on TV. The service will utilize a simple log-on system for streaming content and, in the future, will allow for download content to go. The On Demand Online service will roll-out in phases, adding new features, functionality and content over time to provide consumers with a new way to watch television.

On Demand Online is part of Comcast’s Project Infinity, the company’s long-term vision to give customers an ever growing amount of video content on multiple platforms, whenever they want.

Someone is really excited about Comcast’s digital switch

Matt Burns — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Didja know that Comcast is slowly forcing people into digital cable. Yeah, it’s true. I first wrote about it in November of last year and I’m still upset about it. I understand that the switch will net everyone more HD stations and faster Internet, but it also forces digital boxes onto millions of TVs, which in turn will raise rates for a lot of people – including me. Comcast, bless its heart, will provide two boxes per household but will expect a monthly payment for the rest you’ll need.

It seems I’m not alone in my disgust either. This lovely note just dropped in our tips inbox and I thought a lot of you will enjoy seeing it. Some of you will not if the numerous flaming comments from my original post is any indication of your loyalty.

Comcast to piggyback on Clearwire and Sprint networks and offer mobile broadband

Devin Coldewey — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:40:41 +0000

Do you find yourself out and about in the city enough that you hardly use your broadband at home? Neither do I, since said broadband is usually downloading the latest this-and-that while I’m gone, but it might be nice to have a “second line” of high-speed internet for when I don’t want to compete with 20 other people for a cafe’s wi-fi. Others, in cities where free wireless isn’t quite as plentiful as in Seattle, may find wireless broadband a more compelling option, and pretty soon you’ll be able to get it through Comcast in a few choice areas.

I find it interesting that Comcast says they’ll be offering the service, when really they’re doing no such thing. They’re offering Clearwire’s service and splitting the bill. At any rate, if you have Clearwire in your area, chances are you’ll soon be able to get it through Comcast and bundle it with your TV and stuff for a better price. Portland will be the first to see the service, so you Oregonians can do your little victory dance. I’ll wait.

The service, called “Comcast High-Speed 2go Metro” because someone thought that was a good idea, will run you $73 a month, but call now and you can get it for $50, a savings of $23(RIP Billy Mays)! You can also throw down an extra $20 to get access to Sprint’s 3G network. Not my style, though. For a blogger, the internet is his leash, and if you’re carrying it around with you, you’re never off. That’s assuming we’re ever really even on.

TV Everywhere is Comcast and Time Warner’s answer to free Internet video

Matt Burns — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:35:33 +0000

Cable providers Comcast and Time Warner might be late to the Internet video party, but that doesn’t mean they are going to let us enjoy content for free that they pay for. Oh no, the TV Everywhere Model is designed to give Comcast and Time Warner paying subscribers access to content and block-out everyone else. And this system might find its way into Hulu.

You can’t blame the cable operators for their plans. They have to pay good money for access to cable stations. Then they, of course, pass along the cost to subs via a monthly bill. The thought is that those people that pay for the content should be able to watch all of it on both their TVs and computers.

Of course the other side is that if you don’t pay for those services, then you’ll be shut out. This authentication system will be used initially on sites like Comcast’s video site, Fancast, but there is always the possibility that it could eventually make its way on to Hulu.

A lot of Hulu’s content comes from the major networks ABC, NBC, and Fox. (CBS doesn’t have any content on Hulu) This is not the programming that Comcast and Time Warner are bitching about. They are concerned about the cable channel’s programming like Comedy Central, FX, Sci-Fi and others. TV Everywhere tackles this problem by placing content from similar, and even more, stations behind the closed walls of an authentication system at Fancast.com.

Comcast’s own video site, Fancast.com, is similar to Hulu in many ways. It offers a lot of the same programming and a similar, albeit not as nice, look. This is because it actually uses a lot of content from Hulu, but is going to be the launch pad for TV Everywhere.

The trial will include 5,000 Comcast subscribes starting sometime this summer. The test will focus primarily on this so-called authentication technology that’s designed to keep the freeloaders out. Not that many people will really care that much as the only premium content that Fancast is going to feature initially is coming from TBS and TNT. The plan is to eventually give access to even more premium content including movies for no additional cost to current Comcast subscribers.

The average consumer is probably content with Hulu’s offering. Many people have left cable companies entirely and supplement their OTA TV with Hulu. It’s great that Comcast wants to offer its customers more Internet video, but I don’t see how it will generate revenue for Comcast and Time Warner unless its adapted by sites like Hulu, forcing people back to the cable companies for their content.

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Comcast service chat wins a bit

Devin Coldewey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:20:23 +0000

I just had to share this interesting exchange I had with Comcast’s Live Chat service. I highly recommend it for those of you with simple issues like billing or connection trouble, by the way. It’s a bit weird at first because the chatters are obviously pasting in bits of script, so there’s the occasional non-sequitur (above), but sometimes you can get results fast. I opened my chat up at about 11:15 and now, at noon my time, the Comcast guy has come and gone and internet is back up. That’s good, because I can’t spend another week blogging from coffee shops — that much caffeine makes me paranoid.

Video: Comcast’s 2,100-foot HD video wall

Doug Aamoth — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:57:02 +0000

If you’ve ever looked at your Comcast bill and thought, “That seems expensive!”, don’t worry. The company used some of your money it to put the biggest video wall I ever did see inside its corporate headquarters in Philadelphia. And can you really blame a company for using your money to build a giant TV?

Maybe, maybe not. The point is that the 2,100-foot HD video wall is actually five times HD resolution, which is so HD that Comcast can’t even show actual content the entire thing unless the content is produced especially for such a gigantic screen. Check out the above video for a look at some of the entertainment, as it were.

Here’s the low-down about the giant screen, called the Comcast Experience Video Wall, from the Greater Philadelphia tourism website:

The Comcast Experience Video Wall is the largest four-millimeter LED screen in the world.

Spanning 83.3 feet wide by 25.4 feet high, the 2,100 square-foot video wall brings spectacular original programming to visitors 18 hours a day.

The wall displays thousands of unique hours of programming, created exclusively for The Comcast Experience Video Wall.

Utilizing a technique called “3-Camera Panorama,” which involves placing three high-definition cameras side-by-side and filming everything from spectacular nature footage to urban landscapes, a seamless, wide-screen vista is created.

This realistic imagery offers 10 million pixels of clarity — five times the resolution of hi-definition TV — supplemented with computer-generated images of amazingly realistic quality, producing a vivid virtual world.

The system that delivers the content to the screen has the ability to make a pre-designed selection from a bank of hundreds of images. The selection from the delivery system is random in nature, in order to create an array of ever-changing imagery.

More geeky Philadelphia stuff…

No TiVo DirecTV DVR until 2010, sorry

Matt Burns — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:35:39 +0000

Bad news for DirecTV subs. If you have been waiting, and waiting to upgade your old TiVo Series 2-ish DirecTV DVR, you are going to have to wait a bit longer. It was reveled in the quarterly earnings call that the DVR isn’t going to be available this year, rather sometime in 2010.

No word was given what caused the delay, but it probably has something to do with the company lossing $4.1 million over the last three months. That same call also featured talk about TiVo’s tru2way partnership with Comcast. But that service is still a bit out so don’t expect that anytime soon either.

NFL Red Zone Channel may not be free on Comcast after all

Doug Aamoth — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:40:29 +0000

You may recall that exactly one week ago, your old buddy Doug got all bonered up about NFL Network and Comcast finally reaching an amicable agreement. In particular, it was starting to sound like Comcast subscribers would not only get NFL network at no extra charge, but that we’d also get the very-excellent Red Zone Channel for free as well. I mentioned that it “seems way too good to be true” and, as it turns out, it looks like it is indeed too good to be true.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King recently said the following:

“Clarifying one thing about the Red Zone Channel on Comcast. Last week I said the league’s smart deal with the cable giant would put the Red Zone Channel (the one that jumps from game to game on Sundays, showing scoring opportunities) on Comcast’s digital tier. No so, most likely.

Other cable outfits who make deals to put NFL Network on their digital cable tiers will probably place Red Zone on a pay tier similar to the one the league argued the NFL Network shouldn’t be on. The reason is because the Red Zone Channel is added value, not something the league wanted to give Big Cable as part of the deal to make the Network more widely distributed on the regular digital tier. So if you’ve got Comcast and you want this premium channel, you’ll likely have to pay an additional $7 or so per month to get it, which, over a four-month term, is probably a reasonable cost if you’re an NFL devotee who loves immediacy and can’t wait for the halftime or post-game highlights.”

So King may have been wrong about it being free. Now hopefully he’s wrong about being wrong. In all honesty, paying $7 per month for the Red Zone Channel is still going to make it seem like a good deal to anyone who’s already excited about it. Free would make it oustanding, though — Comcastic, even.

[via Consumerist]

I’ll be damned, Comcast and NFL Network finally worked things out

Doug Aamoth — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:19:08 +0000

Is this a trick? IT FEELS LIKE A TRICK! I’m either dead or dreaming because not only did Comcast and NFL Network just reach an agreement to make NFL Network part of Comcast’s Digital Classic package, but Comcast subscribers will also get access to the Red Zone Channel that’s usually shown only on DirecTV as part of the insanely expensive Sunday Ticket package.

The Red Zone Channel, for those of you who have never witnessed it in all its glory, is a single channel that flips between live NFL games any time a particular team gets inside the 20 yard line (or “the red zone,” as it were). So if you play fantasy football or Pick’em like I do, you want to watch every minute of every game. The Red Zone Channel is the next best thing.

This still seems way too good to be true. If the season rolls around and I’m watching NFL Network as part of my regular cable package and have access to the Red Zone Channel at no extra charge, I’ll be absolutely elated.

Oh, and the actual news. Comcast and NFL Network agreed to a fee of somewhere between 40 and 50 cents per month, per subscriber, according to the New York Times. NFL Network previously wanted 70 cents, which Comcast said was way too expensive.

Ultimately, it seems, NFL Network wants eyeballs and four years of not-a-lot-of-eyeballs apparently convinced it to ease up on pricing. It’ll be truly interesting to see if DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket drops in price now, too.

[via Consumerist]

Comcast: We’re the US’s third largest home phone provider, natch

Matt Burns — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:38:24 +0000

Everyone’s favorite content provider to hate is claiming they are now a major player in the home phone game taking the number three spot after AT&T and Verizon. Its digital home phone service now has 6.47 million subscribers, overtaking Qwest’s 5.96 million subs. We all know how Comcast got so many subscribers too, right?

Well, first there is the triple play with intro pricing that’s too good to turn down. It also helps that every call to Comcast involves a discussion about the service. But, folks, once that trial period is finished you may wanna look elsewhere for better pricing after the intro ends and your price shoots up to $39.99 a month for the phone service alone.

We’ve got two choices for you.

One, Vonage or other subscription-based VoIP services. There are other services out there that do offer better pricing than Comcast. Some don’t hook up to the house’s phone service as efficiently, but chances are that if you are reading this site, you can figure out how it works. I pay $14.99 a month for 500 minutes through Vonage with all the bells and whistle. Plus, they will often give you hardware for free.

Two, ooma. Spend $249.99 once and that’s it. The service works just like other VoIP options but there isn’t a monthly fee. You still get all the features phone companies charge for like caller-ID, voicemail, call forwarding, all that stuff.

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Comcast to bump majority of network to faster minimum download and upload speeds

Doug Aamoth — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Some Comcast broadband subscribers ought to notice a significant speed bump in the coming months, as CFO Mike Angelakis announced on a recent earnings call that the company would have 65% of its data network upgraded to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard by year’s end.

That means a minimum of 12 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload speeds automatically. Customers that currently subscribe to higher-tier broadband plans will be bumped up to 16 Mbps downloads and 2 Mbps uploads. New tiers will also be added, according to GigaOM:

“New tiers offered with the fatter pipes will include 50 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 10 Mbps of upstream speed for $139.95 a month, as well as 22 Mbps of downstream speed and up to 5 Mbps of upstream speed for $62.95 a month.”

That 22 Mbps plan doesn’t seem too outrageous, I guess. Apparently Comcast has already upgraded about 30% of its network. I think I may have gotten it here in Boston already, as any speedtests I do always seem to peg it at above 12 Mbps.

Other than that, it’s not clear which markets will be getting the upgrades (or when) but you’ll probably be able to tell when you get blasted in the face with speed-air like the lady in the above photo. That shit looks scary, especially if you’re not expecting it.

[via GigaOM]

Comcast offers $5 for Super Bowl penis peep show? That’s it?

Matt Burns — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:04:33 +0000

It seems that Comcast is trying to quickly sweep its Super Bowl porn broadcast under the rug. According to an unsubstantiated claim on Consumerist, the company is offering Tucson, AZ subscribers $5 off their next bill for their unwanted porn experience. But a one time $5 credit? Really? Did they see the video?

The Super Bowl is a family event and the fact that the interruption happened after one of the game’s most important plays probably means a lot of people were glued to the screen waiting for the replay. A onetime $5 credit seems a bit lit considering what was shown on the screen. Way worse than Super Bowl 37s impromptu nipple slip that resulted in CBS being fined $550,000.

Comcast confuses porn with the Super Bowl

Matt Burns — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:19:46 +0000

Oh man. Someone is going to lose their job [life?] over this. The story goes that just after the Cardinals scored their last touchdown, Tucson, AZ Comcast viewers were interrupted with a bit of porn. We’re talking male full frontal swinging in the air nudity here and not just a brief wardrobe malfunction from a few years ago. The peep show continues on for about 10 seconds and ends halfway through the male protagonist’s helicopter impersonation.

So this video is seriously NSFW. It is porn. Okay.

Yet another Comcast FAIL post

Matt Burns — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:30:49 +0000

We’ve all had bad experiences with Comcast but hopefully no one’s coax network looks like this one in a Hanover, MD neighborhood. According to the Baltimore Sun, Comcast techs ran cables in such a way that they are simply laying on sidewalks and over a couple of driveways. Then there is the cable junction box cluster *uck shown in the picture above. And it was installed like that for over a year.

Eventually the company properly installed the cables but only after a call from the Baltimore Sun. I totally understand the frustration as Comcast finally installed a few Cable Cards only after I wrote a post about the company’s incompetence. It’s sad that it requires an influential media outlet to get something done with Comcast.

Baltimore Sun via Consumerist

Truly Comcastic service, for real this time

Devin Coldewey — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:10:13 +0000

We’ve made it a sort of hobby to post our Comcast experiences here at CG, more often than not because they’ve been terribletastic and we needed to be angry publicly for our own satisfaction. This time however it’s quite a different case so read on if you’d like to hear that rarest of tales: a tale of good customer service.

Last night I was doing some heavy downloading and uploading (as one does) and after about midnight the whole thing cut out completely. I tried the usual remedies and eventually went to bed thinking they were finally onto me, and what would I do with the hard drives, and what if they found that, and would they check behind the bookcase? Fortunately when I got up this morning, the modem’s little lights were twinkling with activity, though when I got online it was dog slow. My upstream was constantly interrupted and never more than 25KB/s.

Curses! They were on to me after all, I thought, but when I fired up a bandwidth test it shot straight past a meg a second. I called Comcast, and after a short time when 1-800-COMCAST was down, I got in, hit about 50 digits, and ended up talking with a nice lady in customer service. She threw a bunch of packets my way, noted a lot of outrageous ping times and packet loss (she seemed to know what she was doing, I didn’t have to break through to the next tier), and chatted about how she was on her way to Vegas tomorrow.

I mentioned that I paid extra for the extra bandwidth and thought I might have been throttled, but she said that wasn’t the case and without further ado gave me a credit on my account. And not just a little credit! My internet bill is ~$45. She reduced it to $25 for the next three months, then $35 for the three after that, with no change in service.

What the hell?! At the moment I’m still stuck with a weak upstream until they fix whatever ghost in the system is slowing me down, but at least I know I’m not paying extra for it. Thanks to the girl I talked to, have a good time in Vegas, and thanks for reminding me that sometimes even Comcast can take care of its customers.