An article in the business section of today’s Washington Post talks about the “bundling” of services by Comcast. I am in the same situation as the complainant – I have Comcast internet service but Dish Network television service. Last year, Comcast raised my monthy fee by more than $10 (that’s about 25% – a huge jump) because I don’t also subscribe to their television service – those who do kept the old fee. I have no choice of internet connectivity: since the vaunted telephone company still does not provide DSL in my neighborhood (mere minutes from the Pentagon and downtown Washington, DC – not the boondocks or rural America here), I am forced to Comcast – a monopoly.
Comcast claims that they give discounts to cable subscribers, but they didn’t reduce the price for subscribers – just increased the fee for non-subscribers. Seems to me that I am being punished for not subscribing to Comcast cable TV.
Oh, one more complaint: my outbound bandwidth is capped at 128K, which is pretty darned slow. The Comcast website repeatedly says “256K”. When I called to ask about this I got two different answers: “That’s only in certain areas.” Well, it doesn’t mention what areas. “The website is wrong.” Is some amateur sitting in his spare bedroom writing their website?
Like millions of consumers, Nancy Levine is eager to take advantage of a special deal, but to her, Comcast Corp.’s latest promotion seems more like a shakedown than a marketing campaign.
The Berkeley, Calif., writer subscribes to Comcast’s high-speed Internet service but relies on a satellite company for television programming. Last month, Levine received a letter informing her that her monthly fee for Internet service would jump from $42.95 to $56.95 unless she signed up for cable television as well.
“It feels like extortion to me,” Levine said, noting that she has little choice but to pay the higher price for Internet service because she recently signed a one-year contract with Dish Network for television service.
Comcast spokeswoman Sarah Eder said the new pricing structure is an incentive designed to get customers to sign up for both cable and Internet service. “It is to reward our best customers with a price break on services,” Eder said.
Gene Kimmelman, director of the Washington office of Consumers Union, said he will ask the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department’s antitrust division to investigate whether Comcast is violating antitrust law.
“Consumers love discounts but if they are designed to undermine competition, then they run afoul of antitrust laws,” Kimmelman said. He worries that the discounts will disappear if cable succeeds in eliminating satellite as a competitive threat. Satellite companies offer no comparable Internet service.
Levine noted yesterday that in addition to Internet service, she subscribes to local telephone service from Comcast. Levine was told that the discounted rate for high-speed Internet service applies only to customers of cable television and high-speed Internet.
“This shows that it is not just any bundle, it’s the right bundle, the bundle that would undermine video competition,” Kimmelman said.
