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More than two decades after the World Wide Web hit the mainstream, most people in the United States use the internet in some capacity every day, whether it’s on their phone while they browse social media apps or at home while they work. But many Americans don’t have a choice about what internet service provider they can use.
Service Provider Monopolies
Comcast, Charter, and AT&T hold a monopoly over most internet services in the country.
A 2020 Institute for Local Self-Reliance report showed that 83.3 million Americans can only access broadband through one provider. It also states that Comcast and Charter have a monopoly over at least 47 million people nationwide.
Anyone who lives in an urban area can sometimes pick between two or more service providers, but you are typically out of luck if you live in a rural part of the country.
The report shows that big tech companies have neglected rural America, and sometimes their DSL networks don’t support broadband speeds.
When shopping for internet service providers, another issue is that the National Broadband Map by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can be confusing to some.
The map shows consumers how many broadband providers they can use in their area, but it can be confusing at first glance because it doesn’t separate what internet service is provided specifically to businesses, and sometimes there are duplicates of the same providers. For example, at a specific address in Studio City, Calif., there are 10 providers listed in the National Broadband Map, but anyone who lives in a home or apartment in the area can actually only use three– Charter Communications, AT&T and T-Mobile. Three is genuinely great compared to some areas where consumers only have one or two options, but that is still less than the original 10 options on the map. It turns out the other providers listed are either specifically for businesses (fixed wireless), satellites, or duplicates of the company.
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89 thoughts onTCA Explains: Why Are Internet Providers So Bad?
I have frontier internet and it’s stupid it lag’s so much get kicked off. If you could please add me
ADD me, please and thanks.
Add me also I just got hughesnet in the country and it’s so slow I can barely get on google lol
please add thank you
I just had an terrible experience with Hughes Net who is awful all the way around but the major thing is they never discussed the terms (contract terms) and I went to cancel and called the corporate office in MD and told them I’m not paying a disconnect / cancel and to listen to my 2 hour call when I called to set it up November 2021 and he did listen and he said I was right and also they said I can cancel anytime and I asked what do they do with the equipment? They said they just come pick it up and that’s not true either. I forced them to remove that awful huge satellite they pounded in my wall and they left damage to my house in several areas and told me they will come fix whether it be paint the wall do some thing to it and they also ruined my underground sprinkler system and I told them I don’t want them touching it because the landscaper was just here plus they aren’t landscapers but they wanted to dig under to see what they ruined and if they ruined it and took pictures and a video and I said that’s fine but more importantly I want my walls taken care of I live in an HOA and it’s been one month and now the guy won’t return my phone calls at the corporate office which is even more sad I call him almost 3 times a week and leave him messages and send him emails and the reason I got him was because I filed a complaint and then the corporate office had to call me they have the worst service as well and they did not tell me that there was all this equipment that I would have to return back in the mail and they sent me a box which I sent UPS tracked it got a receipt it didn’t show that they received it and it did show they received it so I called to confirm because it states that I will pay $300 if they don’t receive it he won’t call me back to confirm he got it although I know they did but I want it in writing and he won’t call me back about five gigantic holes that are in my block wall a huge hole and it plate and cable thing that ruined my wall but I told him I’m not keeping that big gigantic satellite which they said is standard and anytime anybody cancels they keep those and I said oh well I’m not this thing is gigantic it doesn’t work it also has intercepted with my cell phone and my neighbor cell phone and there’s more to it but they have a huge problem and now won’t resolve it however in regards to other services Cox communications has basically been the one in my area forever but now there’s only two maybe three they are all so expensive and horrible
Add me I have AT&T.
I’ve had spectrum for a while now and when they call I always deny extra services they try and add on. WITHOUT MY PERMISSION they added a phone service and told me I had to call and cancel cause it wasn’t their fault. When I originally told they little bot no on the phone he added the service anyways. Then added a ridiculous amount to my bill. They jerk ppl around because they know they are the only service in our area I told them I’d leave and she said okay but there’s no other providers but them! PLEASE ADD ME
I have AT&T and they are the worst service ever!!
Please add me to the list.
Add me
Add me
Please enter me! Hughes Net is a joke, so slow and unreliable and expensive. Every time I contact customer service I feel like my head is going to explode!!
Spectrum(Charter) took over Time Warner Cable In my area and the reliability dropped considerably so bad the it would drop out constantly but according to customer service a loss of service under 4 hours is not considered an outage. For the 79.99 a month charge when I started with Time Warmer 3 years prior was 44.99.. Speed is no good if you don’t have service. I switched to Frontier DSL because of the frustration and lack of customer service from Spectrum yes connection was slower but reliable I did have to pay install fee of 80 dollars but not terrible. I started seeing T-Mobile 5G home internet commercials and put my number in and not available in your area but about 2 months later I got an email from T-Mobile that it was available I contacted them and finally got the T-Mobile gateway and set it up. Have not had 1 dropout or loss of service yet and it has been a year and I don’t have the strongest signal but downloads of 180mps avg and uploads 20mps is better than the 300mps service from Spectrum which actually 100mps down and 11mps up (capped) or Throttling. for 50 dollars a month autopay no tax no contract is a win win.