Fed Up with Comcast

I'm a believer in free-market capitalism, but let's harbor no illusions: businessmen invariably act in their own self-interest. For the most part it is competition that limits market abuses, but where there is no competition, as in the case of public utilities, it is left to government to restrain behavior. The Cable TV business is one of the worst for consumers because it is largely an unregulated monopoly. Outmanned city councils grant exclusive licenses to the cable companies, who raise fees with impunity. (Making matters worse, my pretentious mid-Peninsula city has always banned rooftop antennas, forcing everyone to subscribe to cable in order to receive passable reception.)

Two years ago the cost of four premium services plus basic digital cable was $66 per month. One year ago the price was $72. When Comcast acquired our cable provider, the cost escalated to the current $94 for the same service, nearly a 50% increase over two years. The company claimed that the price increase was necessary to "upgrade the infrastructure" to the tune of $6 billion. Let's just say that I haven't noticed: the static on channel 5 is still pronounced.

Yesterday Comcast made a bid to buy Disney for $54 billion and is clearly prepared to pay more if other bidders enter the fray. When it needed $6 billion Comcast raised my bill by $22. Now that it needs NINE times as much the mind boggles at how high it can go.

Satellite service is now permitted in my city because the smaller dishes are sufficiently unobstrusive. This weekend I'm switching.