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Americans Hate TV and Internet Providers More Than Other Industries
An anonymous reader writes "According to a new report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, subscription TV providers and ISPs were the industries Americans disliked the most over the past year. 'Over-the-top video services, like Netflix and Hulu, threaten subscription TV providers and also put pressure on ISP network infrastructure. Customers question the value proposition of both, as consumers pay for more than they need in terms of subscription TV and get less than they want in terms of Internet speeds and reliability.' Unsurprisingly, Time Warner Cable and Comcast are the companies with the most dissatisfied customers. The ACSI said, '[I]t's a concern whenever two poor-performing service providers combine operations. ACSI data consistently show that mergers in service industries usually result in lower customer satisfaction, at least in the short term. It's hard to see how combining two negatives will be a positive for consumers.'"
I can't open my own ISP. If I do (let's say I want to run a fiber-based ISP), I will face many legal hurdles simply because that's the nature of the business; one may need to rent space on towers or get right-of-way permits from the town and the whole mess will be overseen by the public utilities commissioner of the state I'm in.
That's all normal ISP business stuff, but the giants have so much power that they are guaranteed to put me out of business through lawsuits. They shroud anything that they don't like in a giant neon sheet of "UNFAIR COMPETITION" and bury the little guy in legal red tape and paperwork. Little guys cannot win the battles of attrition in our legal system against gigantic corporations as it is, but these bastards have managed to lobby so hard that the law is heavily on their side as well. If I get financial assistance from a local government to build my ISP, I'll get shut down because of "unfair competition" since there are laws in many states now making municipal broadband de facto illegal to run and the funding could be construed as attempting to skirt those laws.
There is no competition in broadband services today because the largest companies have slanted the laws so hard in their favor that all competition is legally shut out.
You know nothing of the industry. There are hundreds of ISPs for sale in the United States RIGHT NOW. Go buy one. It'll cost you a few million for a small one. A business loan for that amount isn't unreasonable at all. All the franchise agreements are already in place and ready to go. No legal issues other than the fact that when businesses are for sale like this, you have to sign non disclosure agreements to see whats for sale and make offers. There's no "Craigslist" of businesses for sale. Generally you hire a company that specializes in this sort of thing and they investigate whats out there based on criteria you give them.
The question you need to ask yourself is: If being an ISP means you have no competition, can overcharge your customer and they have no recourse, you never have to upgrade your network and you just rake in all this free cash... why aren't the big ISPs like Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T buying up all these ISPs? It's just free money right?
People complain about private industry. Until they have to deal with a service the government provides - then they complain about that even more.
You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. None.
There are thousands of ISPs in this country. There are the big ones like Comcast, but there are far far more smaller co-ops and such. Some apartment complexes even lease their own trunks and provide internet service for free to their residents. The majority of US citizens do not get their internet from a major ISP unless you count cellphones... I can't give you any exact numbers because there is no government body for "ISPs" It's the layer 1 network the government regulates. If I had to give you a rough estimate of the number of ISPs larger than my apartment complex example I'd say it's between 5000 and 10000 ISPs. But that's just and educated guess.
As far as business lines go, again, you have no idea what you're talking about. A business line is an entirely different product. A business line has a guaranteed speed and up-time. That's why its expensive. Get a T1 and you're getting 1.5mb/s 24/7. It'll have a guaranteed up-time stipulated in a contract and if that's missed you get money back. But it'll cost you $300/month/ Residential lines are cheap because they are not guaranteed. If you want the guaranteed speeds (and it seems that you do) you're welcome to get a business line.
As far as your ludicrous statement about your ISP raising rates and you having no other options... give me a break. What you call a "monopoly" is NOT a monopoly. In the industry they are called "Franchise agreements" and what they mean is the ISP maintains the network. Another ISP can not run their own plant. But the ISP is required by law to allow other ISPs to operate on that network for a fee set by the PSC. Residential rates have fallen so far that providing service inside someone elses Franchise is no longer profitable. But business lines haven't. So no, if your ISP raised rates you could switch to just about any major provider in the country within a week. The majority of business customers actually have multiple ISPs for redundancy purposes and most major ISPs have agreements with each other so they can sell packaged deals. You get 2 T1s, one from Sprint, one from AT&T (or whomever) and equipment that load balances the 2 lines and switches over should one ISP start having problems.
That doesn't address the problem of starting an ISP. I don't have an interest in buying an existing ISP, I have an interest in starting a new one.
Ok, so you don't understand how Franchise agreements work. That's fine, I'll explain.
You can start an ISP. You'll need a lot of money though. The easiest way is to go wireless. Though that will limit your footprint. At best you could do a downtown area. You'd not need any special permits, but your equipment will need to be licensed by the FCC so you're not using spectrum another ISP in the areas on. People have already done this, it's already ended up in court and the Franchise holder (ISP) lost. You can totally do it. It's not profitable though so good luck getting your loan.
Now, I suspect you mean that you want to run your own fiber. You can do that to, but it's a LOT more expensive. The skill level of the people laying the fiber is an order of magnitude higher than your standard copper plant techs. They're in very, very high demand. You can make well over $100k a year laying fiber. So much so, those guys work as contractors and move from ISP to ISP to follow whomever has the highest wage this week.
Then there's the issue of the franchise agreement. The ISP may or may not own the cable in the ground. It depends on the locality you're in. There are plenty of places that the city actually owns that plant. An ISP signs an agreement with the local government to maintain that plant. The point to the agreement is the ISP then becomes the fist stop for customers in the area. Customers can usually go elsewhere if they want, you're required to allow other companies to use the plant for a modest fee. But people are lazy and usually go with you. Also, it's just not that profitable. Other ISPs dont want to do it because customers aren't willing to pay what it costs to provide them service. But those Franchise agreements have a time limit just like any contract. So when that contract is up, it's open to bids. They can and do change hands regularly, it likely wouldn't even cost you that much. Promise them fiber and you're almost assured to get the contract. You'll likely be bankrupt within the year, but good luck!