Comments on: AP&T telecom, we hardly knew ye….

By: Andy Currid

Andy Currid — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:43:11 +0000

I don’t take cable TV service from AP&T, just internet. Their internet pricing is great, reliability is good, but customer support is horrible – mostly because it’s outsourced to a provider in B.C. that has gone through multiple support system updates in recent years. Their main differentiator relative to Comcast is pricing – perhaps one of many reasons why they’re financially in a hole?

(BTW, Lauren – if you picture quality is degrading solely due to number of outlets, that’s possibly your problem, not AP&T’s. As long as the cable provider is delivering some target nominal dB at the point they enter your house, their job is done. You may need an amp to support more outlets. And switching to digital/HD won’t necessarily fix this. Also, analog cable does not switch off in 2009 – only analog terrestrial.)

By: Lauren Do

Lauren Do — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:42:11 +0000

Picture quality from any cable provider will depend on how many cable outlets you have activiated. This includes if you are using one of your outlets for your internet as well. The more activated, the more picture quality for non HD channels will degrade. Eventually all channels will need to be broadcast in HD so this will gradually cease to be a problem once the switch happens and the analog signal we get now is shut off (February 2009) leaving HD as the only option.

By: APT Watcher (and user)

APT Watcher (and user) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:55:09 +0000

I usually stay with one ISP and had stayed with Comcast’s predecessors even though the company kept getting taken over every two years.

I finally decided to change to APT cable when I changed ISP and have had great experience on customer service responsiveness (more so than with Comcast). I subscribe to the Lieutenant package and have a digital cable and a DVR from APT and the picture on an HDTV is consistently top notch. Competition for cable services have kept Comcast’s rates low in Alameda. My friends in Hayward who have comcast pay about 10% more than I do.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:43:24 +0000

APT is the first cable TV service I’ve ever had, so I have nothing to compare it to, but am underwhelmed by it. Picture quality is very poor on some channels (very good/excellent many others). Repeated calls to tech support have never resolved this.

Anyone have a comment on APT quality vs. Comcast?

By: APT Watcher

APT Watcher — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:58:58 +0000

The $33 M balloon payment is due in June 2009, not three months from now. But you’re point is well-taken on market share.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:38:59 +0000

So now you think that govt shouldn’t be involved in businesses best suited to the private sector. Progress, John, I’m proud of you. When does your anti-cineplex column appear?