Andrew Cantwell

March 7, 2016
Dr. Jarice Hanson
Comm 497T
Comcast:
General Dissatisfaction
For my ethnographic project I interviewed a fellow student, Justin, about his habits and
attitudes regarding Comcasts broadband and cable service. I did this for a few reasons. First, I
have heard a lot of negative discourse around Comcast through many of my Communication
courses taken here. And second, as a fellow Comcast customer I wanted to compare and contrast
our opinions on the company. Most importantly however, as I was conducting my interview and
writing up the report I began to wonder what a new system would look like. If everybody is so
fed up with how Comcast is running, what changes to the institution or the industry could be
implemented to improve customer satisfaction and overall public satisfaction? Its this essential
question, that is the basis for this report. Through further evaluation of my ethnographic research
I will extrapolate what broader trends in society are reflected through Justins responses, and
how public opinion could enact real change. I will use outside scholarly sources and research to
find these links between my interviewees responses and greater societal attitudes. I will also use
this research to diagnose the conversation around change as it pertains to broadband and internet
service and even offer possible solutions of my own.
To begin its important to review some of the material covered in my ethnographic
interview with a classmate concerning his services provided by Comcast. Taking a look at this
study gives a personal perspective on Comcasts services, in contrast to, for example, a national
survey. Although their ability to report trends on a large scale is important, these surveys often

show little context. I conducted this study to find out where the animosity toward Comcast was
rooted. I found that where Justin centered most of his frustration and fears about Comcast was
related to how he used Comcast services. For example, Justins biggest fear was that Comcast
was going to get too big; through consolidation, and there will be no company to rival them or
force change within the company. This concern mirrors much of the general opinion surrounding
Comcast. However, some of his ideas of how Comcasts growth would affect their services was
different than the public dialogue around the matter.
Justin was not worried with this continued growths effect on advertising times and news
content. Specifically, that advertising time will increase, and news content will become less and
less about investigative journalism questioning power, and more about reinforcing elite corporate
leaders ideology. These arguments have been made by dissenters of the 2011 NBCU-Comcast
merger. I found that where Justin centered most of his frustration and fears about Comcast was
related to how he used Comcast services; attributing this discrepancy between Justin and other
Comcast critics to his habitual patterns of usage. He told me he rarely watched cable television
and uses Comcast mostly for their internet service, which he added was unreliable. With this
knowledge, it seems obvious that he wouldnt be concerned with advertising time and news
content as he rarely comes across these problems. Where Justins complaints did align with
others was in regards to reliability, customer service, and pricing. He worried that Comcasts
growth could allow them to continue operating with poor customer service and high rates with
no competitors to force them to adapt to the market, as they own the market. And it is this
concern where we can see public opinion reflected in Justins arguments.
The general publics dissatisfaction with Comcast is easily visible in the American
Customer Satisfaction Indexs yearly reports. Comcast was given the third lowest grade for

customer satisfaction in 2015 beating only Mediacom Communications and Time Warner Cable.
Comcast also saw its biggest decline, (-10.0%) in customer satisfaction from 2014 to 2015, since
they began these reports back in 2001 (ACSI). An even bigger problem may be that this
disregard for adequate customer satisfaction seems to have no end in sight. As Comcast
continues to push for consolidation, customers continue to see profits take priority to their needs.
Emily Steel of the New York Times comments on this atrocity in regards to the recent Comcast
Time Warner Cable merger:
In the letter, the senators said Comcasts unmatched power would harm competition, choke innovation
and lead to higher prices, fewer choices and worse service for consumers. They said they had fielded complaints
about the merger from consumers, advocacy groups and companies. (Steel)

If consumers and companies are continually ignored by Comcast, what does a brighter future
look like? While Comcast continues to dominate the broadband and cable provider industry with
attempts like the Time Warner Cable deal, the possibility of a changed system is bleak. The
deal would unite the countrys two largest cable operators, controlling just under 30 percent of
the pay television subscribers and 35 to 50 percent of the nations broadband Internet service, a
deal that would have made this conglomerate, a virtual monopoly. As grim as the future may
look, there are some solutions beginning to emerge.
Nick Wingfield discusses how he escaped the trap of bundled content offered by many of
the large telecommunication companies. With bundled packaging the basic premise is that a
customer gets a better deal when paying for all three services instead of paying for one or two of
them individually. The same logic is in effect at a convenient store that charges $1.50 for one
candy bar, but only $3.00 for three candy bars. However, in regards to services provided by
Comcast, this practice only gives off the illusion of saving money. By unbundling his services

with Comcast and going elsewhere for his home phone and cable services Nick was able to save
money and enjoy more reliable phone service and a cheaper television package. One could see
even more savings by ignoring home phones completely as almost 40 percent of homes in the
U.S have done (Wingfield). If someone were unlike myself and didnt care much for sports they
could also remove cable service from their package and pay only for internet, as much of news
content and television shows have shifted to other media outlets. By disassembling a bundled
package offered by Comcast and either searching for alternative sources for service or, removing
certain services, a person could see cheaper bills and higher reliability in their cable and internet
services
Another way in which the public has begun to combat Comcasts stranglehold on the
broadband industry is through a system known as community broadband. When Comcast has
control over most of the broadband market, they can also control where broadband is accessible.
In many states, cities, and counties around the country they are without broadband internet
because of inability to afford the high rates or because Comcast does not provide service in their
area. Without competition to Comcast, there is no one to drive the price down or provide a
rivaling service. Until recently this power over the industry seemed, inevitably, to continue. In
2015 the F.C.C voted to override laws regarding restrictions on community broadband that could
affect upwards of 20 different states (Lohr). As restrictions begin to get lifted, different
organizations and communities have started to offer broadband and other telecommunication
services at cheaper costs and more areas around the country. In his dissent of these state laws,
the chairman of the commission is quoted as saying that they raise barriers to the deployment of
and investment in new broadband networks and infrastructure (Lohr).

An interesting question to ask when discussing community broadband would be how a

similar system could be implemented in our community of UMass and the surrounding towns.
As Justin and many of my other classmates have attested, Comcast holds a relative monopoly on
the area, as it is near impossible to find any other service provider. Instead of settling for the
expensive Comcast bundle of cable and television what could a cheaper system look like? One
solution might be, that students of UMass that live off campus could be given access to the
Eduroam broadband network offered to all on campus students. The network is already in place
and students on and off campus know how to connect and use the service. This would allow for
students to completely cut out phone and internet costs from their bills, giving them the choice to
either pay for cable or stream content, eliminating their bill altogether. As student debt continues
to be a pivotal issue concerning youth today, any cost cutting at all seems advantageous to their
cause. The costs to expand the network could be high but when that fee is being spread out
amongst 27,000 students instead of a single young adult, it doesnt seem so bad.
With Comcasts continued aim to consolidate for profitability, at the consumers expense,
the public has to start creating realistic expectations of a different and improved future. Through
additional analysis of my ethnographic interview with Justin, and research about general
consumer satisfaction, we were able to focus where much of the user displeasure was rooted
from; reliability, customer service, and price along with increases in advertising and a decline in
credible news content. Although, identifying the problem is not enough. Coupled with this
research, was investigation done into some improvements to the industries or new ways to think
about receiving your telecommunication services. Whether unbundling packages, going
elsewhere for service, or utilizing and advocating for community broadband, new ideas of the
future are starting to sprout. Innovative ways of thinking of the future such as expanding

Eduroam services to off campus UMass students, are societies greatest tools to battle existing
power structures. Granted the Eduroam idea is an extremely rough sketch of a very difficult
task, the point isnt that every idea has to be perfect. The point being emphasized is that through
research, innovative thinking, and a little trial and error, existing power structures can be
combatted into change.

Works Cited
(2015) Benchmarks by Industry, Subscription Television Service. American Consumer
Satisfaction Index, http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=147&catid=&Itemid=212&i=Subscription+Television+S
ervice (Accessed March 7, 2016).
Steel, Emily. (2015, April 21) Comcasts Track Record in Past Deals May Be Hitch for Merger
With Time Warner Cable. New York Times magazine,
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/business/media/6-senators-urge-rejection-of-comcast-timewarner-cable-deal.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Business
%20Day&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article (Accessed March 7, 2016)
Wingfield, Nick. (2014, May 28) Finally Breaking Up the Cable Bundles. New York Times
magazine,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/technology/personaltech/finally-breaking-up-the-cablebundles.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Personal
%20Tech&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article (Accessed March 7, 2016)
Lohr, Steve. (2015, February 27) F.C.C. Moves to Free Up Community Broadband Services,
New York Times Bits blog,
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/f-c-c-moves-to-free-up-community-broadbandservices/ (Accessed March 7, 2015)