I would like to expand on a letter by Ben Myers and a related article by Lynda King in the March 7 Harvard Press regarding Internet and cable TV services to Harvard. I have been dismayed by poor TV cable service in particular, and have moved to satellite TV services as a result. However, a fiber optic based service such as Verizon’s FiOS has the potential to vastly upgrade the level of service provided to Harvard. But the town must take action if we are to improve these communication services.
It is not surprising that our current provider, Charter Communications, consistently receives poor customer ratings. It apparently does not have the financial resources to provide better service or technology. Charter has been losing huge amounts of money for some years and recently the loss has been accelerating, as reported by Thomson Financial News on Feb. 28. On Feb. 29 Reuters reported that Charter has $19.9 billion of debt, and is currently rated as CCC or “junk-level” investment grade and may be downgraded to an even lower rating as reported on Feb. 28 by Fitch Ratings, a major company financial ratings company, on concerns that Charter may not have access to sufficient additional borrowings to continue operations.
The February issue of Consumer Reports magazine rated customer satisfaction with services of all major communications carriers. Out of 10 carriers that provide Internet, cable TV, and long-distance phone service, Charter ranked number 10, the absolute worst. Worse yet, for Internet service providers Charter ranked number 21 out of the 22 carriers rated; for TV service, number 13 out of 14 carriers; and for telephone services, number 17 out of 17. Verizon FiOS ranked number 1 in all four categories.
While some other company will probably purchase Charter eventually, service will not likely improve significantly for some time unless a competitive carrier is authorized by the town. As suggested by Ben Myers, I urge all concerned to make their feelings on this matter known to our representatives and the governor at the e-mail addresses listed in Myers’ letter. There is no need for us to put up with such poor communications service.
Thomas Horrall
Bowers Road
