as someone who works in telecom - for one of the largest 3 providers in the world...
this particular SP has had 8 different iterations of TV service since I started in 2013. cable has been dying for a while, but it's so insanely profitabletthat these major companies won't let it.
why kill a product that locks people into a malicious 2 year contract with hidden price increases along the way to boost profit even more?
Even the fucking streaming service version of their latest TV product is a 2 year contract. Can you even imagine? 2 year contract on an app that let's you watch live TV... Lol
Yeah but they are starting to get the competition. It is true that the cable cos switched the revenue stream from television to internet. But that is getting competition too.
Cord cutting 1.0 really hit hard. Now we are seeing the onset of cord cutting 2.0. What is that? When people switch their internet.
Elon, Bezos, and the mobile cos are going to vie for that over the next 5 years. They need to improve their service but that will likely get done.
yep, there's a major push for glorified hotspots these days too. Tmobile home internet, Verizon home internet, AT&T Internet Air, and the list goes on... don't even get me started on the TV streaming platforms.
interesting to watch people cutting the fiber optic cord to go to a hotspot but i guess the mentality is "i can take it anywhere" and these devices are typically much cheaper than a standard internet connection.
something i've noticed, maybe related, maybe not. i tend to associate this need for portable devices and services with the fact that a lot of people my age are struggling to buy a house. it's weird but think about it. can't buy a house, so it's not really mine. might as well have a service i can take anywhere like netflix and a hotspot... that way if i end up having to move for whatever reason, i'm good to go.
maybe it's just a newer-generation thing
Could be. There is a lot going on.
Disruption comes in waves and tends to hit different layers. The entire broadcast world is facing that. Hell we are waiting on video to be an alternative to YouTube and TikTok. Major fragmentation.
So why not at the infrastructure level? I am not going to say the mobile or even satellite competes yet but it will. This is going to really affect these mobile companies.
Of course, telcos are now getting into bitcoin mining. The smarter ones will adapt. AT&T is still huge even though their long distance service died.