As I wrote previously, our industry hasn't really applied the technology that we push on our customers. Don't you ever wonder Why Your Cable Company Doesn't Always Know If Your New Address Gets Service?

One reason is simple data logic. "That database suffers from the classic, timeless data-management problem of "garbage-in, garbage-out" -- they can't give accurate info if they don't get it to begin with. And short of going out to look at every property in a region and measuring its distance from existing infrastructure, there is no real way to know which data you should keep, and which is junk." [source]

(BTW, telcos don't know what goes where either - mainly due to years of laying off employees with domain knowledge and not capturing that knowledge in a database accurately before cutting said employees.)

So why? The article looks at the cable franchise agreements. I didn't realize that telco TV franchise agreements were more favorable and streamlined by the FCC. (The FCC DOES favor telco over cable. Cable franchise was total municipal coverage like telcos have for carrier of last resort obligations -- obligations that they are refuting today.) It is a good read on the regulatory history and its effect on service delivery.

The charts and maps you need to understand why Charter is buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House. It is about 2 things: (1) getting bigger for content negotiations like ATT-DirecTV; and (2) Internet. The money is in fat pipe Internet to businesses not to consumers. Ask Windstream whose revenue is 2/3 broadband.

Also, two decades of cable mergers in an infographic, a fancy term for a chart.

VZ uses big data to keep you from canceling your service! "In a presentation at a meetup of data enthusiasts in New York City, Verizon executive Mahmoud El Assir detailed what happens behind the scenes when customers call into the Verizon FiOS help line. It's part of the company's efforts to stay ahead of competitors in the increasingly fierce battle over TV and internet service." Read it here.

One day, the rep will say, "Sir, if you cancel we will email your wife with your Internet history last month when you spent 12 hours on some really weird porn sites. Now that we have your attention, how much can you spend?"