By Enigma E
My grandmother is on a fixed income and her Cox bill recently shot up from $100 a month to $190 once her one year promo package ended. That was for the second slowest internet and the basic cable channel package. I have to play the same charade with Cox every time the bill goes up. I call them with intentions to cancel because the bill is so expensive, then they send me to the non-retention department where they then “magically” find a way to lower the bill. This is a sinister business practice, where they take advantage of folks who don’t have the time/patience or the negotiating skills to reach a compromise with the money hungry company.
We have where the City Council is supposed to regulate these companies via the “Utility, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology Committee”, yet they allow them to be a monopoly ripping us off. They don’t really regulate anything; if they did, we would have a higher quality of service at a much lower cost. Much like many other politicians, the utility committee works on behalf of big business instead of the working class people of New Orleans.
Cox offers the slowest internet service for low-income students at a reduced rate. This is merely a tease for the working class families that receive this service because the tier of internet service does not accomplish all that you need in an efficient manner, such as viewing videos for homework help, being able to live chat with someone when dealing with a billing issue, job training or health care assistance.
This problem isn’t unique to just New Orleans either. A Center for Public Integrity analysis of internet prices in five US cities and five comparable French cities found that prices in the US were as much as 3.5 times higher than those in France for similar service. The analysis shows that consumers in France have a choice between a far greater number of providers — seven on average — than those in the US, where most residents can get service from no more than two companies.
So, we as the working class people in this city, state and country must demand that the utility commission boards tell Cox they will lose their franchise unless they roll back the cost. Public pressure can force laws that favor the vast majority of the people and not the greedy pockets of a select few. #AllPowerToThePeople