Will satellite services have a monopoly in rural areas? No, cable companies are free to serve those customers at will. What? They can’t? Why not? Ohhhh, it costs too much to build miles and miles of cable systems to serve sparsely populated areas. Yep, and cable companies will soon find that it costs too much to serve even the densely populated urban areas because satellite services can do it for much less. MUCH less.
Sooooo… for all practical purposes, rural areas will have one choice. Of course for decades urban areas had one choice and rural had no reasonable choice and I didn’t see anyone in the cable industry losing sleep over it! The good news is, in case you haven’t been keeping up, both satellite service providers have included in the merger deal that the rates will be uniform NATION WIDE! This means that if they want to keep kicking cable’s ass on prices, and they do, they have to continue to offer the same low rates in rural areas as they do in urban areas.
It’s not a perfect deal for rural areas, but with cable having held a monopoly for sooooo long, it’s the only current viable solution to cables stranglehold in urban areas. It has all come down to local channels. Once all areas have local channels, cable TV as we know it will begin a slow but inevitable decline into the history books. “Mama, you mean when you were young they had to run a wire to your house to get television, wow?” Of course, so will satellite dish one day, only I won’t sit around and ignore the reality, or worse yet, deny it, I will learn the new technology.
As far as my cable modem goes, it’s the best alternative for my needs. I need high speed both ways. Download speeds for satellite Internet are just as fast as cable. They will need a technological leap to get the same upload speeds though.
I install both StarBand and DirecWay satellite Internet services. They are in their earliest stages being not much more than a year old for StarBand and brand spankin’ new for DirecWay and they will need time to compete with cable and DSL. The next generation dishes and receivers (being introduced right now) are integrating video and Internet. The cost for the equipment and install will be probably be in the $500 area. The cost for the combined services will be MUCH less than the $95 a month that cable charges in my area. Long term it will be a much better deal then cable, but you gotta have the cash.
> Are we prepared if we're wrong? You bet! How do you think we've survived this long. With technogoly changing as rapidly as it does nowadays, we have to be prepared. Are you prepared?
>
> I like how you keep using the word "monopoly". There's no monopoly here. The customer has the right to choose the service that best suits their needs. Dish or Cable? There has always been alternatives to cable. If you want to compete directly with cable companies, (apples for apples) then why don't you start overbuilding systems with your own cable systems. That would surely put an end to this monopoly business, but then people like yourself wouldn't have anything to bitch about.
>
> How about if dishnet and direct tv merge. Wouldn't that be considered a monopoly for rural customers who can't get cable?
> Or does your book read differently. If that takes place, it seems to me that dishes will be the only one with a monopoly. So if you want to talk monopoly, you'd better stick to the board games where you know what you're talking about.
>
> If dishes are so great, why are you using cable internet? Because they have a monopoly, and you have no choice? Doubtful, it's more like, you prefer the high speed service. You know....you can get your internet via dish too, but it's not as fast, and costs about 60.00 per month. Or was it the 400.00 install price that scared you away from it.
>
>
> > Exactly! That’s the attitude I’m referring to!
> >
> > You can’t argue on merit so you make a blanket statement that since cable’s been around (as a monopoly, my words) for so long the inevitable conclusion is that there’s no better way to do it. You may be right. But are you wise enough to be prepared if you’re wrong?
> >
> > How many horses do you see on the roads today? Horses were the main mode of transportation for tens of thousands of years.
> >
> > Have you noticed that many people are now cell phone only users? Wait a sec, cell phones are big heavy clunky things that cost $1 a minute to operate. Those are impractical contraptions for the rich. What? They evolved?!? They fit in your shirt pocket? They often cost less than a landline with long distance? Why, wired telephones have been around for decades and that’ll never change.
> >
> > I had a friend tell me 15 years ago when I was on a text only Internet that it was a fad. I didn’t agree.
> >
> >
> > > In the first place......a statement like this coming from an installer doesn't mean a whole lot to me. I've been around the cable industry for 23 yrs. First it was the c-band dishes that were going to run us out of business. How many of those do you see now? Then it was the wireless cable, and that flopped too. Now i'm suppose to be scared, because some installer is telling me how the ku-band dishes are going to run us out of business? Dream on! They may hurt us from time to time, but eventually the people come back to cable.
> > >
> > > HDTV? If it can be done via satellite, then it can be done via cable, and probably better. So you go ahead and live out your fantasy, and we'll see you in 2005, if you're still around. Go do your dishes!
> > >
> > >
> > > > Maybe you didn’t read this whole discussion. I’m just making some points about the 2 industries. I installed cable and now I install dishes. You’re comparisons are flawed.
> > > >
> > > > These are comparisons from my area and based on my memory:
> > > >
> > > > DC = Digital Cable
> > > > DS = Digital Satellite
> > > >
> > > > 1 box – DC = $55 mnth DS = $32 mnth
> > > > extra box – DC = $4 mnth DS = $4 mnth
> > > > Channels – DC = 120 DS = 120
> > > > Locals – DC = free DS = $5 mnth (perhaps your not aware, if Dish and DirecTV merge, ALL areas will get locals)
> > > > HDTV – DC = NO DS = YES
> > > > Service – DC = free DS = free for first year on install and materials, $45 or so after that.
> > > >
> > > > Sooooooooooo….. with TRUE Digital satellite service with YOUR locals you pay $38 a month instead of $55. That’s $204 a year savings. In my experience, satellite dish equipment rarely fails. If the equipment were bad it will ALMOST ALLWAYS be determined over the phone, thus no service call. Even if you had a receiver go bad EVERY YEAR ($49) and had to have a service call ($45) you still save $110 a year! NOTHING is free, cable does charge for service calls and everything else it does, but they make you pay thru higher rates instead of only when you need it.
> > > >
> > > > Yes, extra receivers cost $4 a month extra, but they do with DC also! OR you can slave the TV’s that you never watch at the same time and there’s no charge. Add a wireless remote transmitter ($35) and you can control your channels from your second TV. Most people realize this is NOT the disadvantage that cable companies try to make it out as. I have 4 TV’s and 2 DS boxes. The living room is on one and the basement, garage, and bedroom are on another. We NEVER run into problems with this setup. For the price of 1 DC box I could have HDTV, locals, and 4 DS boxes! So now I have all of my premiums, in HDTV, independently controlled, on all of my TV’s, this would cost $70 a month with DC!
> > > >
> > > > Your point about cable “growing the coffee beans” is exactly my point! Cable still thinks it’s the only show in town. Do you really think people are going to keep paying these prices? The more people that see satellite service as it is and not as the cable companies are trying to make it out, the more that will switch. Even YOU are trying to compare 120 channel DS (not 100) at $32 a month (not $40) with your 72 channels of analog at $31 a month! You are aware that by 2005 all broadcasts will be in HDTV? Is cable going to be ready? DS already is!
> > > >
> > > > FACT: SATELLITE DISH’S ARE GROWING AT A MUCH FASTER RATE THAN CABLE!
> > > >
> > > > If you don’t look at the situation with unbiased open eyes you will be left behind. Your point about the youth of small dish services should shock you! They are already taking the market and they are just starting. With a Dish DirecTV merger small dish will have the bandwidth to offer all locals, video on demand, two-way internet, telephone, and more all built into one receiver!
> > > >
> > > > And the cable company saaaaaaays…..
> > > > People are switching back to cable. WRONG, more people are choosing DS over DC then ever before.
> > > > Satellite dishes are more expensive. WRONG, that’s a freakin’ joke!
> > > > You lose signal in bad weather. WRONG, a well installed dish with a cover will almost NEVER lose signal and then usually for only a few minutes. Now, how often does cable go out?
> > > > Satellite dishes are a hassle to get installed. WRONG we install within 3 days. You can’t even get our local cable company on the phone within 3 days and installs are often weeks out!
> > > >
> > > > Take all this any way you want. Ignore it, deny it, or use it to prepare.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Sure, you're going to get a better picture with a dish, but a good cable system can offer pictures near the same quality. And we'll give you all of your local channels too. Not some east coast or west coast network. We'll also give you your local forcast on the weather channel. How about service calls? $45.00 or so a trip. With cable theres no charge. How long are you going to wait for a service call? 2 days? a week? Cable companies have to respond within 24 hrs. Then, if your receiver is bad. Are they going to replace it for free? NOT! you'll buy a new receiver, and pay the 45.00 service call. If our equipment goes bad, we'll replace it for nothing, and credit your account for lost service periods. How's that for price? How about additional outlets? (if you want to be able to watch different channels at the same time) That'll cost you another 5.00 a month for each additional receiver, plus installation.
> > > > >
> > > > > If dish service is as superior to cable as you'd have us believe, then why do some of your customers have cable service for their local channels.
> > > > > Oh........so if i get a dish, I'll still have to pay the cable company for my local channels.(another 12.00 per month)
> > > > >
> > > > > With a dish you'll pay about 40.00 a month for 100 channels. Plus all of the charges mentioned above. The system i work in has 72 analog channels for 30.95 a month, and we do provide quailty service to all of our customers. I'm sure that's hard for you to believe, since you seem to think that's impossible. Just because you chose to run your system in that manner, doesn't mean everybody else does too. You're just one of the many that give this business a bad name. Maybe if you tried giving a sh** about your job, you could also offer good service to your customers some day.
> > > > >
> > > > > Trust me, we've been in this business for decades. We didn't just show up a few years ago, like the dishes.
> > > > >
> > > > > And we do smell the coffee, because we grew the f***in coffee beans. You dish guys just drink it and wonder where it came from.
> > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I hate to break it to you guys, but you can’t back any of that up. How is cable gonna crush dish’s? Quality? Nope, not even close. Price? HA! Service? We all know better than that. Smell the coffee, if cable keeps acting like it still has a monopoly, they will lose this battle
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > Your right about the cable vs. dish. A Good well maintained system will crush a dish company, But what hurts the cable companys is customer service! and thats what is hurting us,No customers no money! even after a rebuild they do nothing to make sure the customer has a great looking picture. you have to have good drops,good fittings, and a good conection all the way to the back of the TV. And without that, you don't have a good looking picture! At the price's there charging People want good service, And the bottom line is, Untill they do that, They are gona lose a lot of customers. hell you + me woulden't pay for a crappy picture either, And thats the fack! All they care about is numbers not the customer!
