>It is still a free market, you do have a choice, and monopolies are not
>agaist the law.
But, in a free market, there is the room to choose which service you want to
buy from which supplier. Where I live that's easy-you either buy from the
local monopoly or you go without.
As to monopolies being against the law-a.) it defeats the whole theory of
supply/demand/free markets-doesn't it? And b.) What about the Standard
Anti-Trust laws that were passed under monopoly buster, Teddy Roosevelt?
Everyone has forgotten about that in their greed. (Including our own
government, it would appear.)
I was under the impression that deregulation and all sorts of things had
been passed to give consumers more choice, lower prices. I don't know anyone
who's cable bill has gone down.
In California, we're also supposed to have a choice of which electric
company we want to buy electric from-we all got the notice in the mail a
couple of years ago when that deregulation went into affect (and just that
piece of news surprised a lot of people who hadn't realized that electric
was being deregulated)but, we still don't have any choice in Orange County.
The places where they have a choice are really quite few. And again, no one
has seen their bill go down.
Speaking of which, if you don't like cable you could use
>one of its competitors, antennae is one choice (and no you don't need a
>roof
>antennae for good reception),
I have antenna's-in some areas, you really need something bigger and up on
the roof to get decent reception. And the owners of the apartment complex
know this. And yet, we're not allowed anything outside the building or on
the roof. But, they're very encouraging about getting cable when you move
in...
>What about DirectTV,
Not allowed to have the disk outside the apartment and as it's a small
apartment-where do I put it? Also, it's too expensive and I like my local
PBS stations which you don't get with Direct TV. At least with cable, we
still get the L.A. PBS station, but not the Orange County station.
DSL TV (very new, and
>available in only in some Major metropolitan areas,
Too expensive and we don't have it in my area.
and wireless cable?
>some of these are new. But hey they are viable alternatives.
If you have the money for installation, and can afford that much money every
month-and they're available. Remember-there's a monopoly in this area, so
you can't shop around for the best value or have mucj leverage when trying
to get the company to offer new channels or upgrade their overall service.
>If you have issues with the local cable company, take it to your city's
>Franchising Authority, these are the people that hire and fire the cable
>company. Whether or not you realize it you, through your local government,
>selected this company.
There's been plenty of protest and questioning. Nothing's happened. I live
in an area where there's the complacent with money and then there's the rest
of us. Who wins these issues? Not the rest of us (of whom, there are a
greater number, even by a smaller percentage), but the wealthier.
I realize my local government makes these selections. I also realize that
that same group of people carved their area between 2 companies-but one for
one area and one for another-no competition in either area. As long as
there's no competition, I doubt the situation will improve.
I just pretend that I live in some poor, South American country in the
1960s, because that's the type of reception I get. And keep making
complaints.
I also tried to make a complaint to the local cable monopoly that I don't
need to give them my social security number-that got me real far.
When I complained to the authorities, they just dismissed me as a nut.
But, thanks for the suggestions.
Laura G.
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