[CommunityMember]

As Verizon upgrades their network to support 2 Gig speeds system-wide, I expect that they'll want to reclaim the bandwidth/spectrum currently devoted to QAM TV.

VZ FiOS linear QAM uses a different (GPON) service set than their HSI offering, so it is not like classic HFC where the linear QAM bandwidth competes with the same spectrum. And NG-PON2 (the basis of their new service with can offer 2gps speeds) can coexist with GPON (it uses different wavelengths). However, VZ's VP of technology development and planning has stated that they intend to eventually upgrade everything to NG-PON2. Unstated was the timeframe of eventually, but it is clearly on the planning horizon, and moving to one technology (NG-PON2) rather than having two to manage (and service) is typically seen as a way to reduce operational expenses. As anecdotally some of the original ONTs are starting to fail due to age (some are around 15 years old), I do not think it is at all unlikely that in markets where NG-PON2 is already available they may take advantage of any required service call for an ONT failure to upgrade to the newer ONT to avoid having a future upgrade visit (and then being able to upsell the HSI speeds), which will, due to the new ONT, eliminate the option for linear QAM based TV service to that address.

 

[NashGuy]

VZ FiOS linear QAM uses a different (GPON) service set than their HSI offering, so it is not like classic HFC where the linear QAM bandwidth competes with the same spectrum. And NG-PON2 (the basis of their new service with can offer 2gps speeds) can coexist with GPON (it uses different wavelengths). However, VZ's VP of technology development and planning has stated that they intend to eventually upgrade everything to NG-PON2. Unstated was the timeframe of eventually, but it is clearly on the planning horizon, and moving to one technology (NG-PON2) rather than having two to manage (and service) is typically seen as a way to reduce operational expenses. As anecdotally some of the original ONTs are starting to fail due to age (some are around 15 years old), I do not think it is at all unlikely that in markets where NG-PON2 is already available they may take advantage of any required service call for an ONT failure to upgrade to the newer ONT to avoid having a future upgrade visit (and then being able to upsell the HSI speeds), which will, due to the new ONT, eliminate the option for linear QAM based TV service to that address.

Yes, agreed. Once NG-PON2 is turned on in an area, I would expect all ONTs installed in that area going forward (certainly for new installs and maybe for failed unit replacements) to be NG-PON2. It would likely anger Fios TV customers, though, to have to switch out their TV boxes and maybe lose all their DVR recordings just because their old ONT failed. (IDK if Verizon will have a way to copy local DVR recordings to their new cloud DVR, like Comcast does. If so, migrating folks over to the new IPTV version of Fios TV would be much easier.)

One interesting aspect of NG-PON2 is that it can support up to four wavelengths, each offering symmetrical 10 gig speeds, which can be combined to offer symmetrical 40 gigs. (Wow!) NG-PON2 is more expensive in the short-run to implement versus XGS-PON, which other fibercos like AT&T are deploying. (AT&T Fiber now offers symmetrical 5 gig here.) But NG-PON2 should have a longer life thanks to its greater upgradability.

https://www.fiercetelecom.com/broadband/verizon-exec-ng-pon2-will-make-future-fiber-upgrades-easier

But given that they're only offering symmetrical 2 gig on it now, I wonder if Verizon is only using a single wavelength in the fiber for NG-PON2, while another frequency is used for legacy GPON and yet another for QAM. But can NG-PON2 reach its maximum potential, using all four wavelengths, while also still supporting GPON and QAM? Or must it take those two wavelengths from it? In other words, can GPON and QAM be provisioned indefinitely or will they have to go away in the coming years as Verizon raises their speed tiers and increases total network bandwidth on NG-PON2?

 

[SNJpage1]

Their box comes included in my triple play package with Comcast. So is the cable card I use.

 

[Yuterald]

My bill used to have a line item on it that the first cablecard was free and I had a small credit every month for "customer owned equipment", but I don't get that anymore. It does say again something to the effect of first cablecard free now that they managed to remove the X1 box from my account.

At their site they published you would actually get a $2.50 monthly credit when using your own device. A CC counts as one of those and I used to get it but they dropped it and I've called to get it back - came back for one or two months - then gone. Their CS is a PITA to deal with to explain it so I've just given up.

 

[KevTech]

At their site they published you would actually get a $2.50 monthly credit when using your own device.

That was only if the plan you subscribed to included a box.
None of the plans now include a box so no discount.

 

[Yuterald]

That was only if the plan you subscribed to included a box.
None of the plans now include a box so no discount.

Really!? I did not know that. I will find out early summer next year when my 2 year 'deal' is set to expire which currently includes a box, but no credit given.

 

[bwhitney]

I did find a way around the CC restriction, Xfinity's new web site to make changes to your Package. It starts out with Internet speed, do you want to rent a gateway or use your own devices, do you want xFi Complete, etc. The next section is TV Services; Choice, 125 Cannels, or 185+ Channels? Do you need a set top box? Do you want extra DVR capacity, etc. There are also sections for Telephone, both lane line and cellular, and home security. The new online ordering system keeps running costs, including discounts for multiple services, on the right-hand side of the current web page as you select options. I went through the ordering process online and selected the no set-top-box option. There was no warning about Cable Cards needing to be returned, so I submitted the order. Within 30 seconds of order submission, all I could get on my TV was "Channel not Authorized".

As could be expected, my wife was very displeased, so I called Tech support to reactivate my cable card. The tech could not activate the cable card, so he called his supervisor. The Supervisor told him to manually add the cable card to my order and within a minute everything was restored, including the additional channels (I switched from 125 channels to 185 channels). No cost for the cable card and now I'm now paying only $20/mo more for 800/20Mbps, up from 400/10Mbps, 185 Channels, up from 125 channels, and added HBO Max, Epix, and 150 hours of cloud DVR.

I finally found the new Rate Card for our area and all Packages have been removed and every offering is listed separately and has a price listed next to it, and I mean everything. Internet speed, base channels (Choice, 125, or 185+), any equipment offered for rent, installation options, etc. There is no way to figure a cost without the web order page or calling Customer Service.

 

[WVZR1]

I did find a way around the CC restriction, Xfinity's new web site to make changes to your Package. It starts out with Internet speed, do you want to rent a gateway or use your own devices, do you want xFi Complete, etc. The next section is TV Services; Choice, 125 Cannels, or 185+ Channels? Do you need a set top box? Do you want extra DVR capacity, etc. There are also sections for Telephone, both lane line and cellular, and home security. The new online ordering system keeps running costs, including discounts for multiple services, on the right-hand side of the current web page as you select options. I went through the ordering process online and selected the no set-top-box option. There was no warning about Cable Cards needing to be returned, so I submitted the order. Within 30 seconds of order submission, all I could get on my TV was "Channel not Authorized".

As could be expected, my wife was very displeased, so I called Tech support to reactivate my cable card. The tech could not activate the cable card, so he called his supervisor. The Supervisor told him to manually add the cable card to my order and within a minute everything was restored, including the additional channels (I switched from 125 channels to 185 channels). No cost for the cable card and now I'm now paying only $20/mo more for 800/20Mbps, up from 400/10Mbps, 185 Channels, up from 125 channels, and added HBO Max, Epix, and 150 hours of cloud DVR.

I finally found the new Rate Card for our area and all Packages have been removed and every offering is listed separately and has a price listed next to it, and I mean everything. Internet speed, base channels (Choice, 125, or 185+), any equipment offered for rent, installation options, etc. There is no way to figure a cost without the web order page or calling Customer Service.

I initiated a 'Conversation' regarding Berkley/Jefferson WV Comcast/Xfinity.

 

[IraF]

I did find a way around the CC restriction, Xfinity's new web site to make changes to your Package. It starts out with Internet speed, do you want to rent a gateway or use your own devices, do you want xFi Complete, etc. The next section is TV Services; Choice, 125 Cannels, or 185+ Channels? Do you need a set top box? Do you want extra DVR capacity, etc. There are also sections for Telephone, both lane line and cellular, and home security. The new online ordering system keeps running costs, including discounts for multiple services, on the right-hand side of the current web page as you select options. I went through the ordering process online and selected the no set-top-box option. There was no warning about Cable Cards needing to be returned, so I submitted the order. Within 30 seconds of order submission, all I could get on my TV was "Channel not Authorized".

As could be expected, my wife was very displeased, so I called Tech support to reactivate my cable card. The tech could not activate the cable card, so he called his supervisor. The Supervisor told him to manually add the cable card to my order and within a minute everything was restored, including the additional channels (I switched from 125 channels to 185 channels). No cost for the cable card and now I'm now paying only $20/mo more for 800/20Mbps, up from 400/10Mbps, 185 Channels, up from 125 channels, and added HBO Max, Epix, and 150 hours of cloud DVR.

I finally found the new Rate Card for our area and all Packages have been removed and every offering is listed separately and has a price listed next to it, and I mean everything. Internet speed, base channels (Choice, 125, or 185+), any equipment offered for rent, installation options, etc. There is no way to figure a cost without the web order page or calling Customer Service.

I just happened to be looking at the same online ordering system yesterday. Or, a very similar one. (Last time I looked, back in July, Comcast was still using the older plan selection dialog - so they migrated here to Simple & Easy fairly recently.)

But for me, there was no obvious, straightforward way to avoid having an X1 TV Box included. I thought it wasn't going to be possible except through some customer service intervention.

But, I finally found the option. I had to click "Edit" next to the X1 TV Box line item that is listed as "Current equipment"; then have to open a drop-down section called "Don't want a TV Box?" And the way to decline the box is to answer that question by clicking the link "I'll watch on Xfinity Stream." Then you finally wind up with no X1 TV Box. Obviously they've made it difficult to figure out how to do this.

I ran through the exercise both as an existing customer looking for new contracts, and as a new customer (can simulate this, to see what deals they are offering new customers - when logged out, try some nearby addresses till you find one that doesn't currently have cable service).

As an existing customer, it showed me that the new plan would continue to include my one cablecard.

Even though I'm no longer on contract, my plan is currently as good as any new one I could get, and in one year when the discounts expire, the new plan would be much more expensive.

But that price differential might be temporary - they have announced that new price hikes are coming. It's possible that these 1 year bundles are already reflecting higher prices, and my own bill has yet to go up. If my bill does go up, I'll check again.

 

[Yuterald]

I just happened to be looking at the same online ordering system yesterday. Or, a very similar one. (Last time I looked, back in July, Comcast was still using the older plan selection dialog - so they migrated here to Simple & Easy fairly recently.)

But for me, there was no obvious, straightforward way to avoid having an X1 TV Box included. I thought it wasn't going to be possible except through some customer service intervention.

But, I finally found the option. I had to click "Edit" next to the X1 TV Box line item that is listed as "Current equipment"; then have to open a drop-down section called "Don't want a TV Box?" And the way to decline the box is to answer that question by clicking the link "I'll watch on Xfinity Stream." Then you finally wind up with no X1 TV Box. Obviously they've made it difficult to figure out how to do this.

I ran through the exercise both as an existing customer looking for new contracts, and as a new customer (can simulate this, to see what deals they are offering new customers - when logged out, try some nearby addresses till you find one that doesn't currently have cable service).

As an existing customer, it showed me that the new plan would continue to include my one cablecard.

Even though I'm no longer on contract, my plan is currently as good as any new one I could get, and in one year when the discounts expire, the new plan would be much more expensive.

But that price differential might be temporary - they have announced that new price hikes are coming. It's possible that these 1 year bundles are already reflecting higher prices, and my own bill has yet to go up. If my bill does go up, I'll check again.

I got my email over the weekend and when I checked my latest bill (12/8/22) it states my bill is going up >$10 a month. The bundles are locked but not the fees and that's what's going up. Broadcast and Regional Sports fees. Doesn't make sense when one of my local stations is crawling at the bottom of the screen that Comcast is going to drop the channel and to call them to prevent this. Why jacking up my broadcast fees if you're threatening to drop one of them! (CBS BTW)

 

[bwhitney]

I also got my new Xfinity bill with the changes I recently made and found another round of price increases.
Broadcast fee $21.00 -> $25.40
Sports Fee $11.00 -> $11.60
TV Box $8.50 -> $10.00
DVR Box $8.50 -> $10.00
Additional TV with TV Box $8.50 -> $10.00
Choice TV Select (Local Channels and a few other channels) $32.50 -> $37.50
Choice TV Select with TV Box $41.00 -> $47.50

This for the NE Region Greater Washinton DC area.

I just don't understand why Xfinity can charge so much for these fees when so many streaming services offer reasonable TV packages without such heavy fees.

I recently read two articles that may answer my own question. The first was a summary of a recent Investors teleconference with the Xfinity CEO discussing falling revenues, and they had a team working on strategies to replace the shrinking revenue. The second article was discussing recent calls to migrate OTA TV channels to streaming and satellite to free up RF spectrum for other services, such as cellular phones and data.

 

[IraF]

I got my email over the weekend and when I checked my latest bill (12/8/22) it states my bill is going up >$10 a month. The bundles are locked but not the fees and that's what's going up. Broadcast and Regional Sports fees. Doesn't make sense when one of my local stations is crawling at the bottom of the screen that Comcast is going to drop the channel and to call them to prevent this. Why jacking up my broadcast fees if you're threatening to drop one of them! (CBS BTW)

I have my price changes now too. Overall my bill is going up $10.70.

My package (no longer in a contract), is going up by $5.00.
Broadcast going up by $2.25
Sports going up by $3.45

The package was one from last year, called "X1 Preferred Pro+ DP", which in English was 800 Gb (called "Extreme Pro+" at the time), and 185+ channels, with free Showtime and 200 hour DVR service included. They recently raised my speed to 1000 Gb, which would map to the current "Gigabit" plan. (My personal modem doesn't reach that speed, but I don't care - this is a home, not a data center! I'd be fine with 400 Mb actually.)

Not impacting me, but the Internet tiers are mostly going up by $3.00; the autopay discount is dropping from $10.00 to $5.00; the TV box going up from $7.50 to $9.00, and voice modem rental going up from $14.00 to $15.00.

Those are San Francisco prices.

It's depressing. Almost time to start looking at Sling TV again, and switching my Bolt to antenna. I have excellent HD OTA reception here.

 

[Pokemon_Dad]

Good news: here in Silicon Valley, I still get this reassuring message when I begin to look at changing my plan. Could be because we're near the original TiVo HQ, and there are many TiVo owners in the area.

 

[laria]

You got me excited, because it's been literally years since I've been able to load the account changing page, it has always just given an error.

I got excited because it loaded up a page that looked like it was going ot actually show me something! But... then it finished loading and gives an error again. Womp womp.

 

[Pokemon_Dad]

You got me excited, because it's been literally years since I've been able to load the account changing page, it has always just given an error.

I got excited because it loaded up a page that looked like it was going ot actually show me something! But... then it finished loading and gives an error again. Womp womp.

View attachment 77963

No guarantees it won't do the same to me next time I go in there. (I decided to upgrade my cable modem before changing the plan.) The Xfinity website is horrible. You've probably already tried this, but I suggest turning off any ad blocker or other relevant extensions, or maybe just switching over to a browser you seldom use.

 

[laria]

No guarantees it won't do the same to me next time I go in there. (I decided to upgrade my cable modem before changing the plan.) The Xfinity website is horrible. You've probably already tried this, but I suggest turning off any ad blocker or other relevant extensions, or maybe just switching over to a browser you seldom use.

It is truly horrible. It's gotten even worse for us too since we moved in Fall 2021, and somehow our old address is stuck to our account still. Sometimes when I try and load my bills, it gives a weird error about no bill available, because even though my current address is set as the default and the site would say it was displaying the bill for this address, it was still trying to get a bill for the old address. And today when I tried to load up the plan changing page to see if maybe it works now for me, the first thing it asked me was which address I was looking to change the plan for.

 

[Yuterald]

It is truly horrible. It's gotten even worse for us too since we moved in Fall 2021, and somehow our old address is stuck to our account still. Sometimes when I try and load my bills, it gives a weird error about no bill available, because even though my current address is set as the default and the site would say it was displaying the bill for this address, it was still trying to get a bill for the old address. And today when I tried to load up the plan changing page to see if maybe it works now for me, the first thing it asked me was which address I was looking to change the plan for.

I suggest having someone else in your house 'sign up' and you cancel your current plan (when time to renew). This way, all the old stuff is 'gone' and you'll get the best deal since it's a 'new' customer.

 

[WVZR1]

I got the CABLECARD notification on the 'Change Your Plan' page but there was no way that I could configure anything that might save me money. I DO NOT SPEAK and after Xfinity removed SMS from their VOIP service there was no need for the VOIP. I own my own modem that will do easily anything I would care to have for Internet. I'm billed for 800/1000 and I tried to do 400, eliminate VOIP and retain my XG1V4 and of course the CableCARD(s). Any configuration I did increased my bill by nearly 60$. I have an area code/exchange that XM & Verizon can't PORT so I use AT&T for mobile/cellular.

*** Live alone so there's no cancel and have someone else subscribe.

 

[chiguy50]

I finally found the new Rate Card for our area and all Packages have been removed and every offering is listed separately and has a price listed next to it, and I mean everything. Internet speed, base channels (Choice, 125, or 185+), any equipment offered for rent, installation options, etc. There is no way to figure a cost without the web order page or calling Customer Service.

You can indeed use the rate card to compute the net retail pricing (less taxes and other locally-assessed pass-through charges such as franchise fees) for any subscription package by adding up the cost of the individual services and equipment and deducting any applicable "always-on" published Xfinity discounts. This is one of the improvements under Simple & Easy, which was designed to standardize and rationalize customer charges system-wide (although it has still to be fully implemented across Comcast's entire footprint). Whereas the previous pricing scheme offered bundled discounts and an array of disparate charges among and even within the regions, under S&E all of the services are separate and discrete in the form of "packs" with supplemental "add-on packs" for such upgrades as, e.g., the premium channels or More Sports & Entertainment line-up.

But for the current promotional discounting you have to rely on other, more topical sources such as the plan builder web site or an in-store or on-line CSR.

 

[chiguy50]

the autopay discount is dropping from $10.00 to $5.00

Although true in a sense (the $10.00 discount was never granted for just Autopay alone), this is not the whole picture. Previously there was a $10.00 monthly discount for Autopay and Paperless Billing. But that was changed (as of January 1 of this year if memory serves) to separate out the discounts for those two optional account features, with each pegged at $5.00 so that customers could receive one or the other if not both. However, now in order to qualify for the $5.00 Autopay discount, your payment must be via a bank account; credit or debit cards do not qualify. Existing plans were grandfathered in, but once a term agreement expired, the customer's account fell under the new arrangement.

IOW, if you set up your payment via EFT from a bank account, you will be eligible for the full $10.00 discount.