Local 8 FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008 A newspaper with issues Time Warner in process of upgrading
EASTSIDE From the second floor of their apartment on Harvard Street, Thomas and Sibylle Djafari make a living programming video games and designing Web sites.
To be successful, the couple needs the fastest Internet connection available given the enormous size of the files they send through cyberspace. That’s why they decided to go with Time Warner’s Roadrunner service, which promises connection speeds as fast as 10 megabytes per second (mbps). The only problem is the Djafari’s have never been able to reach that level, resulting in hours of frustration from frozen computers. “It fluctuates daily, but the highest we have been able to get is 6 megs,” Thomas Djafari, who has been a video game pro-gramer for more than 15 years, said Thursday morning as he stood over his computer monitoring his Internet connection. “We definitely have a need for speed and we thought this problem would be corrected, but it’s been seven months and nothing.”
The Djafari’s are not alone. Other customers have complained about their inability to get what they pay for, claiming Time Warner is misleading them by offering a product they can’t deliver. Some customers are paying as much as $54.96 a month for Roadrunner, but are upset that they are not getting the speed advertised.
“Talk about misleading advertising,” Santa Monica resident Matt L. wrote on a message board loaded with comments from other unsatisfied customers of the multi-media giant.“It’s a right old bait and switch.”
Well, not really, Time Warner officials said. It’s all about reading the fine print.
While Time Warner does offer 10 mbps, customers in Santa Monica cannot expect to get that fast a service even though they are essentially paying for it. That’s because when Time Warner inherited Adelphia’s network in August of 2006 after the company went bankrupt, it also inherited Adelphia’s inadequate infrastructure in Santa Monica. The company is investing millions in Southern California to make upgrades, but until then, customers are stuck with 8 mgps or lower, depending on how many users are accessing the company’s servers at any given time.
“Adelphia was in bankruptcy for several years and could not make the necessary upgrades to its network,” said Patricia Rockenwagner, spokesperson for Time Warner. “Since we acquired Adelphia, Time Warner has worked aggressively to upgrade the infrastructure.”
In the last year, Time Warner has been able to increase Internet speeds by 2 mbps for each category, bumping up the 4 mbps service to 6, and the 6 mbps to 8, the highest available in Santa Monica.
“We are still working on addressing our customers’ need for speed,” Rockenwagner said.
On Time Warner’s Web site, there is a disclaimer at the bottom of a page that lets potential customers know that 8 mbps is what is available, but that too may vary depending on certain factors.
That said, Thomas Djafari, who spends $140 a month on Time Warner cable, telephone service, and the Internet, believes his provider has not been totally honest with him. He said customer service representatives with the billing department have continually told him that 10 mbps is the level offered in Santa Monica and that infrastructure is not an issue.
He also received a door-hanger from Time Warner advertising Roadrunner Service at 10 mbps.
“I think it is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing,” said Thomas Djafari, who worked for Time Warner early in his career.
Djafari said executives at the company have been helpful and Time Warner has agreed to give him a refund, however, he believes more information on Roadrunner should be sent to customers and those looking to sign up so that they fully understand what they are in for.
Rockenwagner said Time Warner does advertise both 10 mbps and 8 mbps, and understands that Santa Monica is home to many post-production facilities and tech companies that need fast connections. That is why the company is working to bump speeds up to 10 mbps and ensure that the speed is consistent throughout the city.
“It will not all happen at once,” she said. “It must be phased in to protect against any problems with the network. It is in stages to protect our customers. (Upgrading) is definitely at the top of our priority list.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 11, 2008. Read the original PDF.