When Time Warner cable company acquired Adelphia it also acquired Adelphia's contract for cable television service to Newark. When that contract comes up for re-negotiation city government needs to be ready.
We should begin now to ask whether we're stuck with Time Warner forever, only because that company has morphed, from one little original cable provider - in one acquisition and/or merger after the other - until Newark has this giant conglomerate ensconced as ruler of our cable system.
A Consumer Reports study has placed Time Warner 13th in a field of 22 for internet service; 11th out of 14 for television service; 10th out of 17 for long-distance phone service; and 8th out of 10 in average score among the largest providers of the three services.
Moreover, Time Warner is changing the way it sets fees, basing them on how much each customer uses the internet. Likely this little quirk is going to come up in the Time Warner contract demands, or maybe that company will just go ahead and do it anyway.
The Business Week report tells a bit about how this might work.
Community cable service is no longer simply a television thing; now it's about TV, Internet, and telephone service. So are we going to be stuck with the middling-at-best services of Time Warner, or are we going to shop around for the best company with the best service and the best rates?
Monday, January 21, 2008
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