TWC leaving Houston: Implications for SDV, S3, etc.

[jeffrypennock]

So there are news reports that Time Warner Cable will be pulling out of Houston, the fourth largest city in the country.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=local&id=4423119

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou060802_ac_timewarner.c99338.html

As I have previously reported in other threads, I was told by what seemed to be a well informed CSR from TWC that SDV roll-out is over 75% complete in Houston.

So, the question on my mind is WHAT does any of this mean?

If what the CSR told me was true, does inheriting such a large SDV market signal that Comcast committed to getting itself as deep into SDV as some people believe TWC is? Or does it mean that not much more is going to come of the SDV in Houston since it's going to Comcast is going to be running it?

MUCH more importantly, what does this mean for those of us in Houston agonizing about whether we should rush out and get an S3? Is Comcast's vision for how a cable package should be organized (SDV, etc.) more CableCard/S3-friendly than TWC? What about the status Comcast's HD TiVo trek to market?

Does this announcement mean that the market for the S3 just got much bigger (because Comcast is less likely to render the CC S3 useless) or does it mean it got smaller (because they're going to use lots of SDV and it's not a problem because they're also bring an HD TiVo DVR to market that integrated w/in their STB and thus can operate the SDV)?

It was dicey whether or not I should get an S3 when I was a TWC customer in an SDV environment but where TWC was promising to not make CC 1.0 worthless...the switch to Comcast means it's no longer dicey...it either makes it safer to go ahead and buy the S3 or it makes it totally stupid to buy the S3...I'M JUST NOT SURE WHICH.

I'm very interested in your thoughts and feedback.

[AstroDad]

I am very happy about this. Once TiVos are filtered out of DirecTVs available receivers the only thing keeping me with them would be Sunday Ticket. A TiVo with Comcast may prove to be enough to lure me away.

[majones]

I am very happy about this. Once TiVos are filtered out of DirecTVs available receivers the only thing keeping me with them would be Sunday Ticket. A TiVo with Comcast may prove to be enough to lure me away.

A good Comcast/Tivo HD unit and solid HD programming would probably lure me away also. Does anyone know how seriously DTV takes the two-year commitment many of us have agreed to? If you decide to leave them, what do they do?

[AstroDad]

A good Comcast/Tivo HD unit and solid HD programming would probably lure me away also. Does anyone know how seriously DTV takes the two-year commitment many of us have agreed to? If you decide to leave them, what do they do?

You have to pay a prorated penalty which I believe comes out to ~$12/month remaining on your contract.

I don't plan to jump ship right away. I am going to give it at least another year to see how both sides shake out, but it is nice to have another TiVo option.

[DTSDude]

Sounds like you got lucky, to my knowlege Comcast has no plans to implement or support SDV. Hope everything works out.

[jmace57]

Just another comment about this. If you are a Houston RoadRunner customer (as I have been for 10 years) - your email addresses are all going to change - I am not a happy camper about that.

Jim

[WhyMe]

I have my digital phone and internet thru TWC, I sure hope Comcast will provide the same service. :(

[SecureTalk]

I have my digital phone and internet thru TWC, I sure hope Comcast will provide the same service. :(

Comcast does provide a VoIP digital phone service, although it may not have the service in your area yet. One solution is to get another service provider like Vonage. Then when cable service providers change your phone service would remain uninterrupted. Also no need to change phone numbers. Switching to Vonage should allow you to keep your current phone number.

[Hersheytx]

Funny, DFW area that is serviced by Comcast starts changing to Time Warner next month.
I happen to have the Dallas headquarters (This is their admin & media group) in my building. They were telling me about the big speeches being given and the change over that are taking place now.
Most of them are just sitting around because all of their computer software is now obsolete. They are waiting for the new stuff to arrive this week.
I guess I am glad I am with Directv.

[NatasNJ]

If you leave Directv before the end of your commitment you can get out of it for free if you return the equipment. As long as you send them back the hardware you are fine to break the contract. So they have told me numerous times.

[CCourtney]

I have my digital phone and internet thru TWC, I sure hope Comcast will provide the same service. :(

Yes, comcast provides Cable Modem and VoP (Digital Phone) service.

Out of curiousity is there any reason you went with the TWC Digital Phone Service instead of somebody like Vonage? I've been a Vonage customer for almost 3yrs now. I've always been paying $25/mo from the beginning and I get even better services than TWC provides at $40/mo.

CCourtney

[WhyMe]

I heard that alot of people having tivo dial in problems with vonage. I like to be able to order PPV by remote and can't live without caller Id on my directivos...

[jautor]

Just another comment about this. If you are a Houston RoadRunner customer (as I have been for 10 years) - your email addresses are all going to change - I am not a happy camper about that.

Jim

Reports today that this will not be the case, at least for a year... They will give us new email addresses, but continue to forward the houston.rr.com mail for a year.

To NOT do this would give hundreds of thousands of customers no reason not to "evaluate" other broadband services, and would be, well, totally stupid...

And I give Comcast (since they chose TiVo :D ) more credit than that.

Now, the question really becomes, do I buy a S3 immediately at launch in preparation for better HD times ahead?

[CCourtney]

I heard that alot of people having tivo dial in problems with vonage. I like to be able to order PPV by remote and can't live without caller Id on my directivos...

That would make sense.

Out of curiousity, is it a 'modem speed' issue?

Caller ID on a Vonage System doesn't get seen by DirectTiVos?

I have run my laptops modem over vonage (had to go direct dial for a couple days w/ new laptop as the laptop wasn't loaded with VPN software yet to let me go over the internet to access work.) I was able to connect at 14.4kpbs and my fax works fine at 9.6kpbs (had to force it to use 9.6kbps because it would just drop autonegotation if it tried at full speed.)

A little experiment you can try is to have a friend w/ Vonage bring their adaptor over and plug it in and see if it will work for PPV w/ your Sat. Box. If it does, you may wish to consider switching.

CCourtney

[jeffrypennock]

Now, the question really becomes, do I buy a S3 immediately at launch in preparation for better HD times ahead?

Yes, this IS along the lines of the question I initially hoped we would discuss.

[jautor]

Yes, this IS along the lines of the question I initially hoped we would discuss.

And, this transition will be happening while AT&T is launching U-verse (project Lightspeed) in Houston. They've been checking and replacing some lines around my neighborhood over the last month to support it. The telco guys said they expected this to launch in August, but since then, it appears that AT&T has moved it to the 4th quarter. Which is probably ok anyway, since they won't have their HD service before that.

Ahhh, competition...


Jeff

[CCourtney]

Jeff,

Do you know any good place for U-verse info? I'm curious as to if/when they'll make it to my neck of the woods (Sugar Land - West Airport & Burney Road)

-CCourtney