On Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 8:04 PM Pocket <poc...@columbus.rr.com> wrote: > > > On 12/20/23 19:48, The Wanderer wrote: > > On 2023-12-20 at 19:39, Felix Miata wrote: > > Pocket composed on 2023-12-20 17:55 (UTC-0500): > > Actually I can not change as the ISP has exclusive rights to the high > speed internet in the area I reside in. > > No other providers are allowed. > > That could be a historical concept, depending exactly on where you live. Some > of > us mericans who formerly had no access to real broadband except via > prohibitively > expensive, high latency satellite dish now have broadband provided > wirelessly. All > the big cablecos have been slowly rolling it out. The areas covered are > limited, > with limited overlap among providers. The targets so far have been mostly > areas > unserved by traditional cable, but there is overlap. Maybe you should check > with > T-Mobile: > https://www.allconnect.com/local/oh/columbus > > It is my understanding that there are (or at least have been, and I know > of no reason for this to have changed) some apartment buildings, et > cetera, in which there is a provision of the tenancy agreement (or > whatever else applies) requiring that Internet service be exclusively > through the provider chosen by the management of the apartment building. > > (The question of motivations for doing this, on the part of both the > management and the provider, I leave un-discussed for at least the time > being.) > > If that is correct, and if Pocket resides in such an environment, then > it is possible that even if wireless "high-speed" Internet access could > in a technical sense work in that area it might be prohibited in a > contractual sense. > > You are exactly correct > > wireless "high-speed" Internet access is prohibited as stated in the > agreement (made in the year 1995) between city council and time warner who > was bought out by charter/spectrum
This does not pass the sniff test (to me). Service providers are usually not allowed to enter into those types of agreements because it is anti-competitive for the consumer. I know the FCC forbids it between landlords and service providers in multi-tenant environments (MTEs). See <https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/consumer-faq-rules-service-providers-multiple-tenant-environments>. I would probably contact the FCC and see what their [the FTC] position is when a city attempts to grant a monopoly to a service provider. I also fail to see what a mail service provider has to do with your internet service provider. They are different services, and one should not affect the other. If you use Spectrum for internet access, then that's your business. It does not affect your decision to use Yahoo or Hotmail for your email service. Jeff
