[Infowarrior] - Comcast to undergo a name change

[Richard Forno]

Feb 10, 2010 -- Comcast to undergo a name change
http://clarkhoward.com/shownotes/2010/02/10/17735/

Most companies that have an awful reputation with the public would want to fix their shortcomings, right? But apparently not if you have a government-granted monopoly! 

Comcast -- the nation's largest cable monopoly -- has decided it will simply change its name in an attempt to wipe the slate clean with consumers. After all, the name "Comcast" has become nearly synonymous with poor service. The February 2010 issue of Consumer Reports gives Comcast the following poor marks:

• No. 14 out of 16 for television service
• No. 19 out of 23 for phone service
• No. 23 out of 27 for Internet service
• No. 11 out of 12 for bundled services

So instead of fixing what they're doing wrong, Comcast plans to change its identity to Xfinity later this year! Clark likens it to rearranging the deck chairs on a very profitable Titanic while customer service keeps sinking. 

The real solution for our nation would be to destroy cable monopolies and open their service territories to competition like they did in the United Kingdom. The British created what's called a dumb pipe operator to provide the service backbone and any company can register as a marketer of telecom services. 

But not all is lost here in the United States. We have a variety of almost direct competitors to Comcast with phone and satellite companies offering TV; Internet providers offering telephone service; and phone companies offering Internet service.  (RICK -- EXCEPT UNLESS YOU LIVE IN A DOWNTOWN PART OF THE DC AREA WHERE VERIZON REFUSES TO LAY FIOS AND GETS NO GOOD SATELLITE TV RECEPTION - THEN YOU'RE STUCK WITH COMCAST.)