Consumer Reports surveyed 176,000 readers on their experience with their pay TV and broadband providers, and found that majority of the Americans remain very unsatisfied with the large, incumbent operators.
The problem is that incumbent broadband providers have gone to great lengths to nickel and dime subscribers with a wide variety of spurious surcharges and bogus fees. Regulators are known to remain apathetic to this issue,which often involves making up “extra” fees, then hiding them below the line to pad the advertised rate post sale.
As a result, majority of broadband and cable TV subscribers often have no clue what they’ll pay until they actually receive their first bill. Problem is that most municipal broadband providers are often too small to include in the organization’s rankings. That said, other studies have supported the idea that municipal broadband providers are more likely to offer better,cheaper service free of obnoxious surcharges and quickly-evaporating promotional savings.
What we need is more towns and cities to build their own broadband networks. However, ISPs are often quick to sue such projects in the hopes of putting them in a deep financial hole right out of the gate. More than twenty one states have also passed protectionist laws—often quite literally written by ISP lobbyists—banning towns and cities from exploring such option. Nevertheless,municipal broadband is like any other business model, and depends entirely on the quality of those crafting them and the financing that’s available.
Luckily, efforts to roll back these protectionist laws have gained popularity in states like Colorado. And as we see more focus on consumer protections like net neutrality gain steam, it only advertises how community-run broadband can be a faster, cheaper, and more transparent alternative to the broadband “giants”.
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