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  • Very limited internet options

    I am completely frustrated with the lack of competition and market supply here in Hawaii. The latest is the offering of internet, cable, phone. What do we have here.....I would say 2.5 companies.

    Oceanic Time Warner
    Hawaiian Telcom
    ....and the half goes to ClearWire.

    I am currently with Oceanic TW and am paying an arm and a leg to get cable, internet, and phone. Close to $200 for all three. What really irritates me is that I can't pick the channels I want. I get a lot more than I want. I think I only watch three channels and unfortunately one of them is what I have to pay an extra arm for.

    I recently came back from northern Europe. There it was completely different....they might be socialized but boy was there technology competition and advancement. I think I counted at least 10 internet providers. My friend pays $12/month for 10 channel cable, high-speed internet, and VoIP phone. If he wants more channels he can order them on monthly demand through a web interface. Very cheap and handy. Do you want mobile broadband? Their equivalent to ClearWire or Verizon is awesome. Here you have to pay $50 for 1.5mbps. Over there you only pay $20 for 7mbps. Imagine how cheap it would be if the dollar was stronger.

    What can I do? Are there any new options here in Hawaii? I'm losing my mind. I'm a very internet dependent guy.....do I need to move to get cheaper, faster, and better service?

    Thanks!

  • #2
    Re: Very limited internet options

    well, I truly don't mean to be snarky here but yeah, you can learn to love your choices here (as all the rest of us have to do) or you can move. Hopefully, you won't choose to move Things do tend to move slower here - I guess that also includes the internet!
    "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
    – Sydney J. Harris

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    • #3
      Re: Very limited internet options

      I don't mind slower internet.....I can live with the current Roadrunner speed. It's the high prices and lack of consumer choice that I can't stand. I wish I could pick my channels instead of paying for hundreds of them.

      Anyone have experience with the Dish network?

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      • #4
        Re: Very limited internet options

        Since Oceanic is pretty much the only cable game in town - you might as well give up.

        as for the Dish Network - they also have plans that include certain blocks of channels. You either take the whole package or move on to something else, just like Oceanic.

        I don't like it either but since I don't have a choice, I've learned to live with it. It doesn't do me any good to be unhappy about what is.
        "Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
        – Sydney J. Harris

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        • #5
          Re: Very limited internet options

          Amagab,

          I hear you on the lack of internet and TV media options.

          I can't say too much about the internet options, you pretty much stated the major ones for this market. Oceanic-TimeWarner, HawaiianTelcom and Clearwire. There are smaller providers such as LavaNet but you have to co-pay like DSL fees to HawaiianTelcom.

          As for TV, over the air sucks unless you live in a clear zone away from buildings, mountains and valleys. If you did you can get over the air signals for the price of an antenna, enhanced TV or converter (required after 2-17-09).... then there are about 15 free TV channels of varying quality.

          Unfortunately most of us in Honolulu live in areas where free TV can't be viewed very well due to a number of reception problems. So we are slaves to Oceanic Time Warner, or if you can choose, Dish Network (I heard it sucked) or Direct TV.

          None of those services give you AlaCarte channel selection. The cable TV industry and their networks force us to buy services by packages... hence you get all the unwanted channels in addition to the few channels that you do want. I would really love to have the option to pick only the channels I want and pay for them only and forget the rest.

          Unfortunately there is huge resistance to this by the TV networks, the cable TV industry and special interest groups to ala carte channel selection.
          I'm still here. Are you?

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          • #6
            Re: Very limited internet options

            This may sound like a dumb question, but if you're not getting value for your spending then is that channel really so important? Is high-speed Internet so crucial to your quality of life? Can you adapt to live without them, or can you adjust your budget to be comfortable with the expense?

            There are a lot of drawbacks to living here but I think there are more compromises & downsides to living anywhere else. Of course I don't watch much TV and DSL has enough bandwidth for what I want to do.

            I'd really love to see a la carte cable TV pricing. I think the cable companies fear it'd put them out of business...
            Youth may be wasted on the young, but retirement is wasted on the old.
            Live like you're dying, invest like you're immortal.
            We grow old if we stop playing, but it's never too late to have a happy childhood.
            Forget about who you were-- discover who you are.

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            • #7
              Re: Very limited internet options

              Originally posted by Nords View Post
              Is high-speed Internet so crucial to your quality of life? Can you adapt to live without them, or can you adjust your budget to be comfortable with the expense?
              I must admit high-speed Internet has become crucial to my quality of life. Guilty as charged. I could not adapt to life without it, and in lean times, I even limit my food budget, in order to afford the expense.

              Originally posted by Nords View Post
              Of course I don't watch much TV and DSL has enough bandwidth for what I want to do.
              Well if you can afford DSL (the most expensive form of personal household internet access), you obviously aren’t in a position to appreciate the budget-balancing act of those in the lower income brackets.

              Originally posted by Nords View Post
              I'd really love to see a la carte cable TV pricing. I think the cable companies fear it'd put them out of business...
              There is only one cable company here. That is the problem. We need more cable companies.

              We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.

              — U.S. President Bill Clinton
              USA TODAY, page 2A
              11 March 1993

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              • #8
                Re: Very limited internet options

                I agree with everything TuNnl said, even his signature. :-)

                I'm glad my venting started some discussions. I totally depend on the Internet....my job, my life, everything except caring for my family.

                What really bugs me is that I pay around $80 to watch two channels (CBS and PBS) and then an additional $32 to watch my third channel: NGN.

                Yes, we do indeed need a bigger market.

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                • #9
                  Re: Very limited internet options

                  How is DSL 'the most expensive form of personal household internet access'? I have it and don't pay even close to half the quoted $200/mo (in fact, I only pay close to $200/mo for internet, phone, water/sewer and electric combined). I get my HDTV over-the-air and reception is fairly reliable for all stations - although the stations do have recurring glitches, especially 5.1 and 13.1. I hope for some improvement when analog is switched off. Watching TV/movies/sports on-the-net is just as good as, if not better, than on cable. Sure, they may have cheaper data services 'over there', but you pay it back (and then some) in gas, if you like to drive... (and how about that income confiscation called taxes?)

                  I don't believe you're frustrated by the lack of competition, since you aren't likely to sign up for more than 1 provider anyway, but rather the higher cost (which isn't actually a result of 'lack of competition', since the lowest possible average cost can only come from a[n altruistic and efficient] monopoly provider), and the lack of choices in what's being provided. The best solution, if a solution is needed, is to start your own service - see if you can do better.
                  Last edited by salmoned; June 4, 2008, 09:19 AM.
                  May I always be found beneath your contempt.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Very limited internet options

                    Sorry, when I mentioned $200 for the whole package I wasn't clear. The bill is usually around $185 but gets close to $200 with all my international phone calls.

                    This is what I get for that:
                    - Digital cable including HDTV
                    - NGN Japanese channels add-on
                    - Three cable boxes including a DVR
                    - Digital Phone service
                    - High speed internet, currently at 5mbps

                    Hope that info helps. I do believe Roadrunner is more expensive than DSL.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Very limited internet options

                      Originally posted by mel View Post

                      Unfortunately there is huge resistance to this by the TV networks, the cable TV industry and special interest groups to ala carte channel selection.
                      the other thing to think about is you'll end up have the majority of people choosing what channels everyone watches... meaning a lot of the specialty networks and channels are supported because they are being subsidized by their larger counter part.

                      for example, in a la carte world A&E may no longer produce the Biography channel because they wouldn't have enough people paying for it to make it justifiable to keep.
                      website - http://www.brianhancock.com
                      blog - http://blog.brianhancock.com

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                      • #12
                        Re: Very limited internet options

                        Originally posted by LocalMotion View Post
                        the other thing to think about is you'll end up have the majority of people choosing what channels everyone watches... meaning a lot of the specialty networks and channels are supported because they are being subsidized by their larger counter part.

                        for example, in a la carte world A&E may no longer produce the Biography channel because they wouldn't have enough people paying for it to make it justifiable to keep.
                        You have a good and valid point. However, I believe in market demand and don't like to subsidize things. I only want to pay for the channels I watch. It's the same reason I don't like to eat buffets because I don't eat the expensive foods like lobster and steak. I'm better off ordering a la carte because if I buy the buffet I'm just subsidizing another patron.

                        I know a lot of people are WOW-ing the fact that they are getting over 200 channels when they sign up for Oceanic. I don't think they would be WOW-ing if people like me stopped subsidizing their viewing habits and Oceanic started charging true rates.

                        Why can't there be a choice like in many other services by offering both package deals AND individual rates? For big TV-viewers it would pay off buying the package but for people like me who only watch 3 channels it would pay off paying a la carte.

                        I believe the future holds the change.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Very limited internet options

                          I have t/w cable because I want road runner, which I recently was able to get, but still am out of range for DSL, because of the particular area of the boonz in which I live. But I have the most basic pkg possible, which means I pay less than $60/month for cable+RR.

                          TV doesn't matter to us. My kids watch their favorite shows almost exclusively on the network's website via our laptops.

                          pax

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                          • #14
                            Re: Very limited internet options

                            Originally posted by Pua'i Mana'o View Post
                            I have t/w cable because I want road runner, which I recently was able to get, but still am out of range for DSL, because of the particular area of the boonz in which I live. But I have the most basic pkg possible, which means I pay less than $60/month for cable+RR.

                            TV doesn't matter to us. My kids watch their favorite shows almost exclusively on the network's website via our laptops.
                            Wow, you're getting away "cheap". I didn't know you could get cable and rr for that little money. However, then you don't have digital cable, right?

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                            • #15
                              Re: Very limited internet options

                              Originally posted by amagab View Post
                              Wow, you're getting away "cheap". I didn't know you could get cable and rr for that little money. However, then you don't have digital cable, right?
                              Nope. No fancy tv, either. We have the big, old skool one from Walmart and there is a dvd player attached to it, though for the most part play our dvds on the laptops.

                              I have watched every episode of Project Runway, but we don't have Bravo. My girls have watched every episode of Ugly Betty, but never on a television.

                              I am also seriously debating turning off our house phone, as we all have cellphones. With that money, I may well sink it into a usb modem from verizon.

                              pax

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