Where is DISH going?

[PortlandChris]

I think this is a real issue - as DISH and others start loosing subs it makes it harder for them to maintain and it starts to become a vicious cycle to stay afloat. DISH has no tie ins whatsoever so it is weak in this area. ATT owns Directv so they can market cell phones and satellite, which gives them some edge. Comcast owns the lines into the house and the phone company is just not competitive. Comcast can charge whatever it wants and that's what happens.

All these new streaming services are great, but the DSL lines can't handle them well. Comcast can handle them just fine, but they do not want this cutting into their business so they charge an extra $50 a line for the bandwidth. So then in the end you really are not saving a whole lot with a streamer.

Bottom line is Comcast is gonna own us all.

 

[thestob]

I was a Dish customer for 12 years, cancelled when our Hopper lost signal and they couldn't get anyone out to repair for 2 weeks, switched to cable and it flat sucks...tried to call dish and have them sign us back up ....NOPE you have to wait 60 days ....so they won't take my money, crazy....I could understand if I was some person that had been with them a month or two ...12 years, never missed a payment, nothing. So, if they're bleeding customers they really aren't trying very hard to sign people up .....

 

[comfortably_numb]

Bottom line is Comcast is gonna own us all.

NBC-Universal-Comcast-Mountain Dew-KFC-Taco Bell

 

[comfortably_numb]

I can tell you from painful experience, they want nothing to do with traditional, old land lines.

Yes, they were more than happy to hear we were disconnecting. We went from $35 a line to $59 per line then $75 per line in a matter of 2 years. They literally priced us out of our account and wouldn't budge.

Even though we've dumped them and switched to VoIP, Comcast told me that AT&T still maintains the "switch" that makes VoIP possible. I don't completely understand how it all works. I understand internet-to-internet calls, like those made via Skype and Apple FaceTime, but apparenly Ma Bell still has a finger in the VoIP system somehow. They maintain a "super trunk" between St. Louis and here (Kansas City) and I'm assuming they'll still have to maintain their fiber trunks well into the future, even if they shut off all the traditional landlines.

 

[navychop]

Dish/Echostar owns a lot of spectrum they may yet put to use for video/cell services.

 

[dishrich]

The regular Comcast Triple Play price is still a better price when I bundle everything.

Agree & while I can't speak for all Comcast areas, I've NEVER had a problem getting them to put me back on new promo pricing as soon as my promos expire...& I've been doing this with them for over 6-7 years now. While it's true you can't get away from the increasing BS add-on fees (broadcast, RSN, etc.) I'm still paying their same base triple-play Preferred price of $120 for that entire time & am price locked on it for 2 years. I don't even have to fight with them on the phone anymore; I just walk into our local office right after the promo's expire & they put me right back on...piece of cake.
I own both my own EMTA & internet modems, so no fees there & just now bought a used Lifetimed Tivo Roamio Pro & (2) Mini's, so now I actually get another $2.50 off my bill for using their cablecard & have 6-tuners to DVR with.

 

[mwdxer1]

I have both cel phone & landline. I have a South County telephone line (Century Link) and is piggybacked on to Charter (Home). Charter said they could not do the South County line prefix as I have to live there. I need it for business. If I did not have the business I could do away with a landline.
Charter is not too bad here on the Oregon Coast, $78 a month for unlimited phone (free long distance) and unlimited 60-65 for internet (no caps as yet). It is my only viable choice here. No DSL available, cel Verizon has streaming as well as satellite, but with the rain fade, satellite probably is not the greatest idea plus it is expensive.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I have both cel phone & landline. I have a South County telephone line (Century Link) and is piggybacked on to Charter (Home). Charter said they could not do the South County line prefix as I have to live there. I need it for business. If I did not have the business I could do away with a landline.
Charter is not too bad here on the Oregon Coast, $78 a month for unlimited phone (free long distance) and unlimited 60-65 for internet (no caps as yet). It is my only viable choice here. No DSL available, cel Verizon has streaming as well as satellite, but with the rain fade, satellite probably is not the greatest idea plus it is expensive.

We ran into the same issue when going to comcast for phone. they said our main number (the one we’ve had for 30 years) couldnt be ported because it wasn’t part of the local exchange anymore. So they had to do “remote call forwarding” and port the old number to the cloud and have it forward to a new number. And of course this “luxury” costs us an additional $5 a month. It also took ATT over 3 weeks to release the number.

 

[Radioguy41]

I feel for you AT&T guys but I have to say, at least here in eastern PA, Verizon has been just the opposite. They upgraded the local service to DSL just two years ago and have been doing a yeoman's job upgrading lines and poles all around the area. That doesn't seem like a company intent on eliminating hard wired service to me. A while back I had an issue where random static would wipe out a conversation. They sent up a tech and traced it to a wire that, in a breeze, would rub the roof of a barn over on the next road. They ran a whole new line and fixed it right up.

The problem with AT&T is they have too many irons in the fire. They want to be a satellite provider, uh, a cable company, uh, a streaming provider, uh, a phone company, uh, a wireless phone company, uh, they really don't know what they want to be. As the saying goes; Jack of all trades, master of none. At least Charlie, whether you like him or not, is concentrated on Dish satellite as a TV provider and again, whether you like his tactics or not, is doing what he feels is necessary to reduce his costs and keep Dish viable. Can't say the same for AT&T, they're not concentrating on anything in particular, they're sitting at a table in a flea market trying to sell a bunch of different services, most of them competing with one another, to see what sticks with, I'm fairly certain, the intent of continuing the better sellers and ditching the rest. Anyone remember what happened with Cingular?

 

[KAB]

We ran into the same issue when going to comcast for phone. they said our main number (the one we’ve had for 30 years) couldnt be ported because it wasn’t part of the local exchange anymore. So they had to do “remote call forwarding” and port the old number to the cloud and have it forward to a new number. And of course this “luxury” costs us an additional $5 a month. It also took ATT over 3 weeks to release the number.

It took 3 weeks for them to discover that my number could not be ported to my new address, while billing me all the while, resulting in over three hours on the phone. Was never so glad to wash my hands of them.

 

[bobvick]

Anyone remember what happened with Cingular?

Cingular was a joint venture between SBC and BellSouth.

SBC bought the ‘old’ AT&T in 2005.

In 2006, the ‘new’ AT&T (SBC) merged with BellSouth.

Wireless division was then renamed AT&T again, I think about 2007.

If you will recall there was an ‘old’ AT&T Wireless that Cingular (the JV of SBC and BellSouth) bought in 2004.

 

[ncted]

The regular Comcast Triple Play price is still a better price when I bundle everything.

At first, or in year 2 and 3 as well? I've never had Comcast, but Spectrum prices go up 100%+ here by the time the bundle promo is over at 25 months. A whole home DVR will cost you almost twice what we pay for the Hopper3 every month, and, at best, it has 6 tuners, although usually only 2 tuners. They have also stopped offering good deals when you call in after your promo pricing has expired. You might save $10 a month, but nothing close to what you had in the first 24 months. I could switch to cable for some short-term savings, but, in the long run, I would be paying more.

 

[ncted]

Yes, they were more than happy to hear we were disconnecting. We went from $35 a line to $59 per line then $75 per line in a matter of 2 years. They literally priced us out of our account and wouldn't budge.

Even though we've dumped them and switched to VoIP, Comcast told me that AT&T still maintains the "switch" that makes VoIP possible. I don't completely understand how it all works. I understand internet-to-internet calls, like those made via Skype and Apple FaceTime, but apparenly Ma Bell still has a finger in the VoIP system somehow. They maintain a "super trunk" between St. Louis and here (Kansas City) and I'm assuming they'll still have to maintain their fiber trunks well into the future, even if they shut off all the traditional landlines.

Under the Telecommunications Deregulation Act of 1996, AT&T has to allow others to use their lines at a wholesale rate. The whole reason cable companies can offer phone service at all is because the government makes telcos allow it.

 

[ncted]

I feel for you AT&T guys but I have to say, at least here in eastern PA, Verizon has been just the opposite. They upgraded the local service to DSL just two years ago and have been doing a yeoman's job upgrading lines and poles all around the area. That doesn't seem like a company intent on eliminating hard wired service to me. A while back I had an issue where random static would wipe out a conversation. They sent up a tech and traced it to a wire that, in a breeze, would rub the roof of a barn over on the next road. They ran a whole new line and fixed it right up.

That sounds like a market Verizon is getting ready to sell to Frontier or CenturyLink to me. Although I recall something about PA finally getting on VZ for not upgrading things the state had given them billions to do years ago. Or maybe that was NJ. Anyway, consider yourself lucky. That is not the usual experience.

 

[TheKrell]

It took 3 weeks for them to discover that my number could not be ported to my new address, while billing me all the while, resulting in over three hours on the phone. Was never so glad to wash my hands of them.

OK, inquiring minds want to know. Why couldn't they port your number?

 

[jerryez]

Dish/Echostar owns a lot of spectrum they may yet put to use for video/cell services.

Ha! Ha!

 

[KAB]

OK, inquiring minds want to know. Why couldn't they port your number?

Because their computer said they did not serve my zip code. They did later call me to inform me that that was a mistake, and they would port the number after all. By that point, I had mentally checked out of the AT&T Hotel!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Dish/Echostar owns a lot of spectrum they may yet put to use for video/cell services.

How many years have we been hearing that?

Dish will never invest any money and build out their own wireless network.

 

[Slamminc11]

How many years have we been hearing that?

Dish will never invest any money and build out their own wireless network.

It's always so cute when you act like you actually know what is happening and going on at Dish and what Charlie has planned.

 

[Claude Greiner]

It's always so cute when you act like you actually know what is happening and going on at Dish and what Charlie has planned.

Gee worked for them for 15 years.

Yea I don’t know anything