The cable companies don't care about Tivo customers, as far as they are concerned they want you on their proprietary boxes with them renting them to you, as far as they're concerned there's nothing wrong since if you use all their hardware things work fine.
and that's how you spell non-customer focused monopoly
I wouldn't say that you are wrong in essence on these points, but your cynicism does strike me as exaggerated.
Case in point: At the present time Comcast is still supplying (in most cases free of charge) and supporting CableCARD, and they still have a customer-owned equipment (COE) credit policy on the books which applies to those (mostly legacy) plans that include a Comcast-supplied digital device (such as the Digital Starter service I receive via my HOA's bulk-service agreement). This despite the recent expiration of the FCC mandate for CableCARD support.
Further case in point: This week, in a move to counter the deals now available in my neighborhood from AT&T Fiber (e.g., 24-month fixed pricing for 300/500/1000Mbps HSI with no contract agreement including the rental gateway with no data cap for as low as $55), Comcast has launched similar deals.* This is the first time in my memory (and definitely the first time under Simple & Easy) that they have offered retail HSI plans that include the gateway. What is more, you can elect to remove the Comcast-supplied gateway (together with the "xFi Complete" plan that includes waiver of the data cap) in return for a $10 monthly discount. Therefore, the customer is left with a viable alternative should they desire to use their own modem/router.
As far as Comcast's proprietary X1 video ecosphere is concerned, none of the STB/DVR gear is included in their current plans--it's all a la carte and subject to individual pricing per item. The devices can therefore generally be added or removed from the account without affecting the CATV service fee or plan viability.
*Although in principal those 24-month (fixed-price, no term agreement) deals are reserved for new customers, you should be able to get similar pricing as an existing customer with a 12-month term agreement. As it happens, my own former 24-month agreement for Ultrafast (900Mbps) HSI was due to expire next week on May 17, and I signed a new 12-month agreement yesterday for the same end price ($40) that is available under the new 24-month (no term agreement) deals and which matches what I was paying up until now under my previous deal. The full retail price for Ultrafast is $109 and if I had done nothing, my rate would have risen to $95 for the next 12 months..
