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Originally Posted by ackees
We should not be fooled by arguments about markets and competition. NTL also inherited a few things and one of them is the streets and houses we live in, the potential customers they inherited are important, else you would have companies like ntl laying cables in the deserts where for a fraction of the tax they can lay as many cables as they like. We also know that markets can be cleverly manipulated and abused, total free for all are not allowed even in the most capitalist country †“ America.
I smell a rat with NTL promotions and there hike in prices and something needs to be done.
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Erm, unless I am much mistaken, when NTL bought those cable companies that did build the network, as well as the customers those cable companies built up, they also inherited the debt incurred in building the network. British Telecom (IIRC) had their debt paid off by the government before they were privatised. So, they effectively got the network (large parts of which were upgraded to their current state in the late 70s/early 80s while BT was still a nationalised company).
Anyway, I digress. NTL do have competition. In DTV, they have Sky & Freeview (which works out much cheaper if you aren't bothered about the channels it doesn't have).
For Dial up, most companies seem to require BT for unmetered access, but there may be some that support NTL. Also, some pay as you go options support NTL.
For Broadband they are competing with ADSL (which, admittedly, you need a BT line for) and Satellite (which is expensive). For phones, there are various companies (which require a BT line), BT themselves or the various mobile phone companies.
My point being that if you are in any way unhappy with your service, there are alternatives.