I've never seen billions of dollars in profits dismissed so casually.
>ISPs have terrible customer service because most of their efforts are going into keeping those wires and fibres intact.
ISP's in other countries, even ones of similar scale to the US, don't have to chose between quality customer service and quality internet service. To call your argument facile would be overly generous.
Comcast has around 25 million customers [0], so that's around $65/year/customer. So if you cut that profit to $0, you can return $5/month on combined TV and internet to each customer. When people say "cable and internet are so expensive," they don't generally mean "if I got a $5 price cut I would be happy."
[0]: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/comcast-statistics/
But that wasn't even my main point. My point is that Comcast is more interested in providing a return to their shareholders than they in providing effective and satisfying customer service.
What makes you think that? A huge chunk of an ISPs' operating expenses go to paying people to move dirt around, and the metal and plastic they put in the dirt. How do you expect to disrupt that?
The math is for you to see.
> It's also because they are really bad at providing it.
And how many ISP companies do you have experience running ?
> My point is that Comcast is more interested in providing a return to their shareholders than they in providing effective and satisfying customer service.
What is wrong with it ? Has worked well for Google.
It's not math.
>And how many ISP companies do you have experience running ?
Indirectly, 2. I worked for both my father's and my uncle's ISP's, both of which they owned and operated.
>What is wrong with it ? Has worked well for Google.
Alright, fair, you got me there.
Which are those countries ? India, China?
Common myth. - Comcast made merely $2B in profits last year.[verified] - ATT made around $5B from wireline data last year. [unverified]
A lot of people think these are monopolies with the help of government without realising that a lot of companies including Google tried to bring disruption and have failed. Part of the reason why not many people are wasting their capital on wireline is because it is unlikely to give better results.
ISPs have terrible customer service because most of their efforts are going into keeping those wires and fibres intact. I would rather have a good working internet service and a bad call center rep than opposite.
Not to mention when you don't allow companies like Comcast etc. to bring cheaper labor from India, they will be forced to spend more hiring American college grads and spend more cash on their training etc. We have to pay for it in the bill.