- I had a video recently that showed that yes,
generally speaking cord cutting really does save us money
over cable or satellite.
But hang on says the almighty YouTube commenter,
you can't really cut the cord as long
as you're paying for cable internet.
And you know what?
Fair enough.
They've got a point.
A lot of the excitement about cord cutting is getting
out from under the thumb of those giant cable companies.
And as more people start streaming their TV
we hear more complaints from people who thought they
were getting freedom only to discover that they had to stick
with their cable company for internet access.
And the frustration makes sense, right?
Cable companies have among the lowest customer satisfaction
scores out there.
So if you're cutting the cord
because you're trying to ditch say Comcast or Charter
because you prefer not to be their customer anymore
then yeah, you're justified in feeling kind of frustrated
when you find out that you can't sign up
for CenturyLink or Verizon or one of those competitors
because they don't service your area.
So you feel stuck with no options.
It's a crappy feeling
but there may be more options than you think.
And even if not there's at least light
at the end of the tunnel.
I'll tell you what I mean.
Today I'm going to give you three things.
First, a kind of unconventional definition of cord cutting.
Second, a tool I just discovered that you may want
to try out and third, hope.
So let's dive in.
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Alright, let's dive in.
Now first of all, let's define what cord cutting is.
The name suggests snipping away the tether
that kept you with your cable company
giving you the freedom to watch TV
or not on your own terms, just using the internet to stream.
And that's fine enough as a definition.
I think the operative word there is freedom.
Cord cutting means freedom,
but let me offer up another word that's equally important.
Cord cutting means satisfaction
because isn't that what this is about?
If I'm going to part with my money
I'd rather be happy about it.
Well, or at least satisfied right?
And how is that going to happen?
How will we achieve this zen-like state of contentment?
Well, I think it will happen naturally
actually over the next several years.
But before we get to that though,
let's look at four reasons why you're unsatisfied
at the moment.
First of all, loyalty doesn't pay.
In fact, it's weirdly kind of the opposite isn't it?
Let's say you've been with, I don't know CenturyLink
for five years, 10 years, or maybe more,
do they thank you with a discount?
No.
I mean, even airlines have figured out loyalty discounts
at this point, right?
So why have an internet providers?
Well, I'll answer that in a sec
but it reminds of the second thing that keeps us unsatisfied
and that's contracts.
Now to be fair this is becoming less of a thing
than it was a few years ago, but yeah, it's still a thing.
One year contracts are one thing
but two year contracts are on another level.
Satellite TV companies are notorious for this,
give people one price for the first year,
then a way higher one during the second year
of the contract.
And lots of things like that.
Again, this is kind of the opposite of a loyalty discount.
The third source of dissatisfaction is add-ons.
Now you see the sticker price
and yeah maybe it's a little steep, but it's not too bad
until you add in the modem rental and the multi-room setup
and the regional sports fee and so on and so on.
And pretty soon that sticker price looks more
like a pipe dream.
But the last source of dissatisfaction is pretty simple.
Customer service.
Try as they might these big companies can't seem to tamp
down the customer service horror stories.
Long hold times, difficult agents,
incorrect information, take your pick.
It can be frustrating.
Yeah.
So how are we going to solve all these issues?
Well, time and technology.
Really it's time for technology, I suppose.
And we just need a little more time
for certain technologies to enter the mainstream.
And then we'll be really cooking with gas.
Now which technologies am I talking about?
Especially here, I'm talking about 5G
and satellite internet.
Now I should mention fiber as well.
Fiber is a more established technology
and we can already see the effect it's having
where it's rolled out.
Municipal fiber, that's where a city
or a county has invested in fiber installation,
can be a beautiful thing.
In fact, that's what finally got me to separate
from my long time cable provider.
Now I pay only a little bit less than I used to
but I get that a lot more for the price that I do pay.
So because of all there may be more options
in your area than you thought.
Maybe, maybe not.
If you want to check out your area and see what's available
to you there are two places you can go.
First of all, hit up reviews.org.
And on our internet pages you can use a zip code checker
to see which internet providers are already in your area.
There may be more than you thought.
So I'll link to that in the description.
If you want to go check that out.
But municipal network providers may not show up
on those lists, mine didn't.
So you can also check out this handy interactive map.
I found over at muninetworks.org.
Zoom in on your community to see if maybe you have
an extra option there.
That'd be pretty sweet.
But back to 5G and satellite internet constellations,
we're talking about things like Starlink and Kuiper.
You may have heard of these.
These technologies are coming up fast
and they will potentially massively
disrupt the internet provider ecosystem as we know it.
And if you want to know more
about the current state of 5G and satellite internet
and how these work we've done explainers on this channel.
So you should go check those out.
I'm not going to spend any more time on it right here.
Anyway, the point is this.
These technologies are the light at the end of the tunnel.
Think back to those four things that were so frustrating
about cable and satellite for so long.
Customer service, contracts, add-on fees,
and a lack of appreciation for your loyalty.
Every single one of these should be helped out
as more technologies and more companies are able to
bring the internet into your home.
And they don't even have to be new players like Space X.
If T-Mobile can use 5G to give you home internet
and they can, it's just still in its infancy.
And if Starlink can pipe
down your connection from low earth orbit,
then that's two more internet providers
for you to choose from.
And that's two more things that will make the cable
companies who have had a near monopoly up to this point,
stop and say, okay, hang on.
What can we do to keep these people around now
that they have more choices?
So yeah, they may have to lower their prices
and make them more transparent
and offer rewards or discounts for long time customers.
So the bottom line here will the cord cutting revolution
include cutting out the cable companies entirely?
Well for many people, it probably will.
They'll sign up for satellite
or bundle with their mobile provider.
For many though the cord cutting revolution will mean
that over time their relationship with their existing cable
company will have them feeling more like a customer
and less like a, well like a hostage.
At least that's the hope.
I think we'll get there.
It's just not going to be an overnight change.
It will happen in slow motion over the next several years.
But when we get there
we'll look back on our cable situation
the same way we look back at the ubiquity of Sears.
And if you're old enough, you know what I'm talking about.
If you're younger you may not have ever even been in a Sears
which honestly kind of proves my point.
Things change.
But let me know how hopeful you are in the comments below.
Do you think this will all shake
out to our advantage or is it doom and gloom
as far as the eye can see?
I'm hoping this will start a good conversation
in the comments.
Just remember to keep it friendly
and definitely remember to like this video,
subscribe if you haven't yet
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