reader remarks
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with 3 posters taking part
Customers of a little cable company in Vermont are objecting the company’s pending sale to Comcast.
The sale of Southern Vermont Cable Co. (SVCC), which has about 2,450 customers and runs 123 miles of cable, is being evaluated by the Vermont Utility Commission. The commission has actually gotten 25 public remarks, all of them either opposing the sale or revealing issues that it will be bad for customers without suitable consumer-protection steps.
Southern Vermont Cable owner and president Ernest Scialabba established SVCC in1988 He is offering the company and prepares to retire after costs more than 40 years in the cable market. Comcast currently supplies service in surrounding locations.
“I am confident that an organization like Comcast will provide SVCC’s subscribers with quality customer service and will continue to invest in SVCC’S systems,” Scialabba informed the commission in testament. He kept in mind that “continued capital investment” is essential and stated that the sale “to Comcast will increase the technical, operational, and financial resources available to support the system.”
What customers are stating
While a sale of the company seems unavoidable, customers who submitted remarks would choose a purchaser aside fromComcast Here’s a tasting of remarks from 9 Vermonters:
- I have just applaud for the excellent folks at SVCable, and absolutely nothing however contempt forComcast As a computer repair work expert for 20 years, I have actually had numerous negotiations with Comcast/ Xfinity, almost all of it bad. I ‘d rather have no Web service than offer one cent to Comcast.
- SVCC supplies excellent service! They make fast repair work and provide a terrific item for a budget-friendly cost. They really look after and value their customers. I have actually had Comcast in the past and it is not inexpensive, their call center is not regional, they are not friendly and their company focus is makingmoney It’s a monopoly. Comcast is not for Vermont. If Comcast takes control of SVCC we can all bid farewell to the individual, diligent individuals, company and service we have actually all end up being familiar with!
- Comcast’s popular bad customer support is not invite in our location. Comcast has actually not shown that they have the ability to handle the numerous weather- associated failures typical here. It is clear that a company the size of Comcast will not be responsive to our service requires here Putney. A brief search on the Web shows how bad Comcast’s business practices and customer support are. What will take place to our expense of service? Comcast and Xfinity are FAMOUS for boosting costs!
- As a veteran Southern Vermont Cable consumer, I enjoy the quality of the service I get. I can stream anything I like, the Web speed is outstanding and the cost is inexpensive. I am surprised at the possibility that the company might offer itself to Comcast, popular throughout the United States for its high costs and poor service. Comcast is a mega-company without any regard for customer support. Combating with them can end up being a full- timebusiness Please do not permit this sale.
- Our experience with Comcast has actually been unfavorable and we would quickly look for alternative service.
- What issues me about this proposed merger exists has actually been absolutely nothing provided to customers about what type of service and expenses will be used by Comcast.
- We are customers of SVCC and dream to reveal our overall opposition to Comcast buying thiscompany Telecom giants like AT&T and Comcast currently enjoy monopolies over the on-ramp to the Web. They have actually hoovered up many media business and located themselves to control the media streaming over those connections. Keep our local business strong and independent!
- If this goes through, we will have segued in a single action from a family-run regional operation where the president of the company (or his bro) frequently visited for service calls, to a massive international corporation who will pay us as much appreciate and observe as a bug captured under a shoe.
- As a citizen of Dummerston and a Southern Vermont Cable subscriber, I am opposed to the sale of SVC toComcast There is no competition for Comcast and they seem unaffordable and predatory to the majority of people. Vermonters in this location need another alternative besides Comcast for cable, Web and phone choices.
If they presumed service for SVC,
“Safest option”
SVCC supplies service in Putney, Dummerston, Newfane, Williamsville, Townshend, Jamaica, and Rawsonville. SVCC has 4 staff members, according to a VTDigger short article the other day.
Scialabba informed VTDigger that offering to Comcast is “the safest option.”
“A fair number of small start-ups are looking to buy, but a lot of them want to get in and out and make a quick buck,” he stated. “The technology is changing so fast and everything is so much more expensive. In another 10 years, a lot of companies will be going away. Comcast is the safest option because it isn’t going anywhere.”
SVCC and Comcast prompted the commission to authorize the modification in a joint petition. Comcast local VP of federal government affairs Daniel Glanville informed the commission that “Comcast will provide increased reliability and network capacity” to existing SVCC customers. He continued:
Comcast prepares to incorporate the SVCC system into Comcast’s fiber foundation to offer redundancy and dependability. Comcast’s fiber network is carefully kept an eye on and kept by location, local, and divisionalpersonnel Fiber remediation, plant upkeep, and headend operations will be supported 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. By incorporating the SVCC system into Comcast’s route-diverse and redundant fiber network, SVCC customers will enjoy a more trusted network with higher capability.
A state legislator is prompting the state commission to enforce conditions on thesale VTDigger composed:
The General Public Energy Commission is anticipated to rule on the proposed sale by spring. State Rep. Michael Mrowicki of Putney has actually asked that approval be connected to a “high standard of service” with specified standards and continued growth into locations without protection.
“The reality that Ernie is getting out of the business,” Mrowicki states, “and there aren’t other options.”
