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Customers say internet speeds are too slow and cable company agrees

By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com
By Jason Stoogenke, wsoctv.com

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — Brittany Reeves is taking online classes to be a veterinarian technician and her mother said the internet is so slow sometimes, it's hard for her daughter to do homework.

"You have to sit there and wait, and wait, and wait," Bridgette Reeves said.

Their cable company, Comporium, is aware of the problem.

The company told Action 9:

  • Comporium warned rural customers that speeds may be lower in their areas
  • This is an industry-wide problem. It is not a problem that is unique to Comporium.
  • Comporium is searching for technical solutions to this problem that are economically reasonable to Comporium and to its customers.

Comporium even spelled out some of this in a letter to rural customers last year.

That letter discusses how cable companies typically use three kinds of lines to provide internet service:

  • Coaxial cable
  • Fiber
  • DSL (which uses traditional phone lines) 

The first two have come a long way, leading to much faster internet speeds, but not the DSL, and that's the one serving these rural neighborhoods.

Bridgette feels if the internet speeds are slower than in other areas, rural customers should pay less than customers in other areas.

"It's a fairness issue," she said. "I just want it to be fair for everyone."

She started a petition and told Action 9 she has more than 80 signatures so far.

"I'm hoping that they'll either upgrade their material or at least compensate us for the loss of internet service," she said. "Basically, pay less than we're paying now."

Reeves and another customer said the company is trimming $20 off their bills each month.

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