Comcast Conundrum

It's hard to miss the lastest Comcast advertising campaign these days - from flyers in the mail to ads plastered on primetime TV. The company, which provides digital cable, broadband Internet and phone service, is trying to lure new customers with package bundles, offering steep discounts for people who subscribe to more than one service. The "Triple Play" allows new customers to purchase all three services for $99 per month for the first year and customers who already use Comcast for one or more of those services can buy the remaining products for $33 each per month. But if you already have two, and don't want the third, you're out of luck.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been a cable broadband customer for almost 8 years - through TCI Cable (remember them?), then AT&T and finally Comcast. Since the companies kept merging with each other, I've never been eligible for any "new customer" promotions. So I keep chugging along paying the going rate (currently $42.95 for high-speed Internet). This new campaign at least says I can add phone service (which I don't need) for a lower rate, but what else do they do to reward their loyal customers? Instead, my outrageous monthly fee of over $90 for high-speed Internet and extended basic cable goes to paying for advertising campaigns and discounts to lure in new customers who will be sharing my broadband connection and possibly bogging down my service. Thanks Comcast.

In the interest of fairness, my broadband Internet service through Comcast has been fairly fast and reliable. It's just expensive, and not getting any cheaper.