Satellite TV vs. Cable Company Services In My Area
If you’ve recently moved or your current subscription TV provider has upped your rates, likely you’ve been wondering, “How can I find out which cable company services my area?” And, “How can I compare satellite TV with cable company services in my area?” Likely, too, you’ve tried finding out using the Interwebs only to discover that most cable companies keep information about their HDTV and digital cable packages under lock and key.
There could be many reasons for this tightlipped behavior, but the most probable is that most HDTV and digital cable service providers don’t need to publish a list of their service regions. Most communities only have one HDTV and digital cable service provider because many communities in the U.S. granted a monopoly to whatever company was willing to lay coaxial—and, later, fiber-optic—cable in their areas.
This system of exchanging local monopolies for infrastructural upgrades has been standard practice for decades because communities want access to new technologies for as little money as possible. After all, HDTV and digital cable aren’t the only things to have come about because of fiber optics. Cheaper telephone services and faster Internet connections are other perks in the mix. Plus, both of these servcies are very attractive to the businesses that keep small-town inhabitants employed and contributing to the public coffers.
And yet, the other reason you might have trouble answering your question, ““How can I find out which cable company services my area?”, is this limited-monopoly system is coming to an end. In a few instances, communities have used their own money to lay cable lines, and recently the federal government has begun awarding grants to companies and towns that wish to install fiber-optic infrastructures. In both cases, service providers are required share the lines in an “open-access” arrangement.
This requirement is part of a greater overall push by the Federal Communications Commission to instate open-access laws that once applied to traditional phone lines for broadband networks. Those areas where networks have been installed using the federal grants already enjoy greater subscription TV competition. And if further regulation becomes law, companies might even have to share access to lines they installed themselves.
Now, naturally, telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verizon don’t want to lose their regional monopolies. But their loss is your gain as greater competition ultimately means more options and lower prices for you. In fact, if you live in one of these areas where a federally funded network was recently installed, there’s a chance that you already have quite a few alternatives to Comcast® Cable TV, Time Warner® or whoever your longtime regional provider was—which brings us back to our original question of how to compare cable TV rates to satellite TV rates….
How to Compare Cable TV Rates
Returning to the very beginning, the most important question you can ask if you live in one of the new open-access areas is, “How can I find out which cable company services my area and how can I compare satellite TV with cable company services in my area?”
And yet, you shouldn’t worry that finding alternatives to Comcast Cable TV, or some other provider, will be too difficult. In fact, the whole process is pretty easy, and now that you’ve come across this article it will be doubly simple.
You see, here at InternetLion.com we write comparison articles daily. And, to remain fair and honest, we must always compare companies’ packages in areas where the HDTV and digital cable providers we mention have a presence, In doing this, we’ve figured out ways to streamline our process. What follows then is a step-by-step breakdown of how we compare cable TV rates if we have a list of providers that are, for instance, alternatives to Comcast Cable TV, with satellite TV rates:
How to Compare Cable TV Rates Step-By-Step
Step 1: Determine if you know a.) Where you want to receive service OR b.) Which company you want to receive service from.
If a.) Go to step 6
If b.) Go to step 2
Step 2: Input the following keywords and characters into Google News: “(name of TV service provider)”+“fiber”+“optic”+“install”
Step 3: Search through the resulting list of news articles and press releases for a community news article announcing the installation of fiber-optic lines.
Step 4: In a new browser tab search Google for the following keywords and characters: “(name of town from news article)”+“real estate”
Step 5: Find an expensive, single-family home in a suburban neighborhood for which the full address is listed.
Step 6: Go to the homepage of the cable company you researched in your first browser tab in a third tab and cut and paste your chosen address into the company’s “Service Finder.”
Step 7: Repeat steps 2 through 6 for all subscription TV service providers you would like to research.
Step 8: Close out any tabs for companies that do not provide service to your chosen address, then compare packages and prices between the remaining providers.
Step 9 Repeat this process for several providers and regions to get the best idea of which cable or satellite TV provider offers the most channels for the lowest cost.
How to Compare Cable TV Rates With Satellite TV Rates
And now for the most important step: Input the address used above into the “Service Finder” on the DISH Network® website. Then compare the monthly fee and number of channels offered by DISH Network to the cable companies that you researched. The DISH Network satellite TV alternative to Comcast and other cable TV providers are available everywhere, nationwide and their deals tend to be far better than those of cable companies. Get more of your favorite channels, all at a lower cost to you.
DISH Network Satellite TV - The Best Value
We encourage you to read further on InternetLion.com about the DISH Network satellite TV alternative to cable. In fact, DISH Network has the best value in TV entertainment with the lowest all-digital price nationwide…every day. Learn more about how to switch to DISH Network and start saving today!
Disclaimer: Please note that this article was written when the satellite TV provider DISH was branded as DISH Network. As of 2/1/2012 DISH Network has changed their branding name to DISH. Article post date: 09/13/2010.
