Time Warner Cable And The $12,000 Installation Fee

Time Warner wanted $6000 to run cables to an office building in Girard, Ohio that my boss just leased a couple months ago. We told them what they can do with their cables, then called AT&T and got 3Mbps T1 for $450 a month.
 
Tanis143 said:
Businesses are not charities, they are in it to make a profit. If something wont make them a profit (with the exception of good PR with charities), then they won't do it. To try and force a company to do something like this is ludicrous. So what, they have to give him access to their service? What if they paid out all that money to build the plant closer to his house then he cancels his service.
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This is probably covered by the billions that were given for the national fiber network that was never built or equalized by the many perks and right of ways that these companies get.
 
Depending on the connection this guy is running to his house, it is possible for that bill. You have to keep in mind, when it comes to provisioning, each DS1 or DS3 circuit is limited to about 800ft before another is attached and the circuits have to be installed right at the cutting point.
 
I was almost in a similar situation. Middle of nowhere lot and over 200ft. (245') from the nearest pole. Luckily the team that dropped the cable (not the dig/bury team) came at night due to a busy week and once the cable has been dropped and the service active they have to come out and bury it. Chances are they would have charged me had it been done any other way.
 
Time is money. Back in the day my little brother and I spent quite a while digging a trench ourselves that was more than 300 ft. Our mother said we could get cable TV if we did it ourselves. We lived in the boonies. If I remember, it was something like $10k even way back then for the cable company to do it. When we did all the work and put in the conduit ourselves they ran the actual cable for free or a very small fee, I don't remember exactly.

Of course shortly after some kind of wireless microwave TV became available (way before Directv days) and was much cheaper so we switched to that.
 
NahBrah said:
This is probably covered by the billions that were given for the national fiber network that was never built or equalized by the many perks and right of ways that these companies get.
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Never built? Think again, it was. What do you think companies connect their backbones to? And that wasn't paid to TWC. If your talking about the recently granted money to extend broadband access, thats to cover area's that do not have any service, not just one customer. They were given a set amount and told to use it where it will affect the most amount of people. That takes loads of planning, even longer to get access rights, and time to build on the network. And what perks and right of ways are you talking about? The cable, phone, gas and electric companies have to PAY to have right of ways unless they are owned by that local community, not the other way around. Don't believe me? Do a search on AT&T when they started Uverse, they wanted to classify their TV service as an internet service so they wouldn't have to pay the same fee's that cable companies are charged. So no, running plant to one customers house would have been soaked up by the company unless that person pays to have the plant run.

Chalk this up to another myth about cable tv service, its almost as good as the al la cart programing myth.
 
Tanis143 said:
Ok, first off, no one here that commented knows the plant that is in this guys neck of the woods. A lot of times you can not just stick an amp/line extender on there and call it good. When you amplify a cable signal you also amplify the noise, after too many amps the noise level becomes too great. If this guys was at the end of such a run then TWC would have had to run fiber closer to where he is, put in a new node, then run new coax or tie into existing trunk lines and then build the plant out closer to him to give him service. And to do all that they are just getting one customer. The profit they would make off his services would never pay back the amount of investment they made so he could be a customer. So why should they put themselves into the hole just for this one guy? Businesses are not charities, they are in it to make a profit. If something wont make them a profit (with the exception of good PR with charities), then they won't do it. To try and force a company to do something like this is ludicrous. So what, they have to give him access to their service? What if they paid out all that money to build the plant closer to his house then he cancels his service.

I know big businesses are not always the good guys, but they are not always the bad guys either. And no, I do not work for TWC, if you check my location you'll notice that TWC isn't in my area. I do work in the cable industry, and I hate ignorant stories like this and the tide of ignorant posts that follow. Do some research before you condemn a company.
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Exactly. Some people here just dont get it. There may be more to it than just running a line an extra 100 feet.
 
TheCommander said:
On another note, 12,000 does seem too much and I'd like to see why that costs that much.
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Thats just it. The original story wont print that because they want the sensationalism that another company is gouging a customer. Yes, I know it happens, has happened to me before. However, without ALL the facts as to why that price was so high, we wont get the true story.

*shrugs* oh well.
 
Tanis143 said:
Never built? Think again, it was. What do you think companies connect their backbones to?
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Either you're confused or I'm gonna need a source that shows that the majority of the country has been wired to and enjoying 45mb fiber internet for years and that the billions weren't squandered away.
 
NahBrah said:
Either you're confused or I'm gonna need a source that shows that the majority of the country has been wired to and enjoying 45mb fiber internet for years and that the billions weren't squandered away.
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Your the one confused. You stated the "billions that was given for the national fiber network that was never built". The fiber network IS there. You are talking about fiber to the home, which is not a "national fiber network", that is a local fiber network. The national fiber network is what links all the ISP's, backbones, etc in the nation. What I believe you are referring to was the recently given stimulus money that was designated to increase the broadband access to rural area's and provide faster access to those that have minimal access. That was given only a few years ago. Its not like they can get the money then rush right out and have it up and working in a few months.

Even still, that money was designated to get area coverage to rural communities, not every individual who builds a house right outside of the plant reach and demands access. The point I was trying to make is this local community wants TWC to absorb the costly expense to extend the plant to someone who they already told was just outside of their reach. That is the ridiculous part. The company did what was right, informed the home owner he is just outside of the plant area and gave him a price that would be incurred to extend the plant to provide service to his house. If he didn't like that cost, he could go to dish, DSL (if available) or stick to dialup. It was his choice. But to demand that this one customer be given access at the cost to the company, thats a socialist move.
 
Tanis143 said:
Your the one confused. You stated the "billions that was given for the national fiber network that was never built". The fiber network IS there. You are talking about fiber to the home, which is not a "national fiber network", that is a local fiber network. The national fiber network is what links all the ISP's, backbones, etc in the nation. What I believe you are referring to was the recently given stimulus money that was designated to increase the broadband access to rural area's and provide faster access to those that have minimal access. That was given only a few years ago. Its not like they can get the money then rush right out and have it up and working in a few months.

Even still, that money was designated to get area coverage to rural communities, not every individual who builds a house right outside of the plant reach and demands access. The point I was trying to make is this local community wants TWC to absorb the costly expense to extend the plant to someone who they already told was just outside of their reach. That is the ridiculous part. The company did what was right, informed the home owner he is just outside of the plant area and gave him a price that would be incurred to extend the plant to provide service to his house. If he didn't like that cost, he could go to dish, DSL (if available) or stick to dialup. It was his choice. But to demand that this one customer be given access at the cost to the company, thats a socialist move.
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Maybe this will help you along http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html
 
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