Well, my one year contract came up for renewal again. They wanted to raise me from $153.00 to $172.00 for a 2 year contract with the only benefit being increased download/upload speeds (from 20/5 to 25/.20). Since I rarely upload, and the download gain was marginal, I passed on this. I was then told that I could continue my current plan without a contract (month to month) for an additional $10.00 a month. Of course, I am at their mercy as far as their raising the fee at any time, but I decieed to go with this for the time being.
It is ironic - costs are going up in a weak economy when people have to cost their expenses wherever possible. I am getting solicitations from my local cable company (Cablevision). Even though I prefer FIOS service, I will probably investigate their startup package. I suspect that the gain will not be as good as it looks for a number of reasons:
- Their quotes, like FIOS, do not inclue the STB costs.
- I would want to keep my land line with Verizon, so I would be paying for this separately.
- I have a VOIP second line through Vonage at $17.95 + taxes and fees per month. I would cancel this in favor of Cablevison's service, which would be $29.95 per month.
At the end of the day, I doubt that I will be that far ahead (if at all).
Once again, the consumer gets the short end of the stick. Makes you wonder if these companys are really interest in competing for our dollar, since there is little or no real price competition, despite what they would like us to believe.
