http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/opinion/19sun4.html?_r=1
An Appointment with the Cable Guy?
Anyone who has ever wasted half the day waiting for a cable TV technician who showed up late or not at all will find satisfaction in the contract that New York City is close to finalizing with the cable companies. The consumer protection provisions are long overdue and timely, given that Time Warner Cable and Cablevision are now providing not just television but Internet access and telephone service as well.
As The Times’s Fernanda Santos reported last week, the contract will make customers eligible for a credit equal to a full month’s bill if the technician does not arrive on time. Customers will no longer be trapped waiting for the cable guy, but can choose to be notified by phone, e-mail or text message when he is on the way.
The penalty for standing up the customer will decrease to a flat rate of $25 in 2012. That is when the emerging Verizon fiber optics system is expected to give disgruntled customers of Time Warner Cable and Cablevision the option of taking their business elsewhere.
But until genuine competition heats up, the risk of losing revenue should wean the cable giants away from wasting customers’ time and force them to deploy enough technicians to perform service calls.
In a particularly exciting development, the contract calls for the companies to bring wireless Internet service to 32 city parks. The service will be free initially, but will thereafter carry a modest fee that will be waived for customers who have broadband service as part of their cable subscriptions. In addition, the cable companies agreed to collaborate with neighborhood nonprofits to establish 40 broadband access centers that will be free of charge for users.
Now if they could only do something about those soaring cable bills.
