Consumers have focused their outrage over storm-related power outages at local power monopolies. But what about cable?
In central Seattle Thursday, cable TV went off at noon and Internet access slowed to a crawl. In the evening a long wait on hold produced an electronic voice warning that wait times are longer than usual and that service is out in swaths from Whatcom County to Kitsap County to Seattle. Turns out, it isn’t an isolated incident.
It’s ironic that an area known for technology and the Internet is essentially make a consumer consider alternatives. Is there a lesson in the experience of Vancouver or Portland?
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One response to “Next up for storm-handling critique: Cable”
As for alternatives, don’t forget that we now have WiMax from ClearWire in addition to all the 3G wireless networks. Especially with Fios rolling out we have got to be one of the most competitive data markets around.
I’m hardly one to defend Comcast, but it is important to understand that they usually share rights of way with power and phone. If power is above ground, so is cable. And they have to get clearance from the power company before they can do repair work. During storm repairs the power company is usually more concerned with restoring power than clearing cable service.