Way back in the early days of cable modems, I was one of the first to get one from then TCI in CT. Worked well for about six months until there were some severe storms in the area, after that it was very intermittent. Having worked for a cable company myself previously, I did what I could to help the local techs resolve the problem, but unfortunately the cable modems were so new they really didn't have a clue.
This intermittent service went on for some time, and each call I kept a log of the date, time and summary of the call. Eventually I had enough and called and canceled service. As should be expected, they didn't even get that right and a little over a month later I was on the phone with them again to get them to cancel the service properly.
They started arguing with me about $17.77 worth of credit for their screw up. I simply told them that I had a two page log of every call I made about the service problems, and that if they did not give me my credit then, I would send a letter to my credit card company along with that two page log and would also CC it to the state DPUC. I had my credit in about 30 seconds.
I then noted that I was not going to inconvenience myself and bring the cable modem to them after I canceled service due to their inability to supply said service reliably. I told them that since they have techs in the area every day, I would wrap and label the modem and place it by the basement door where they could have a tech pick it up at their convenience. The modem sat there for about 10 weeks before I finally brought it back inside and put it in my misc. junk pile.
I'm in a pretty small town and I have a cable modem with CableOne. They have been surprisingly good for service the few times I've had issues. DSL hasn't quite reached this area yet, but it's close. Satellite is available as well, but doesn't work well with VPN.
Nope, franchise does not equate with monopoly. For voice in many areas you have a choice between the traditional telco, a cable company and the broadband providers. In many cases cell phones are now competitive with landlines for general voice service. For TV type entertainment, you have free broadcast TV (soon pay broadcast as well), cable TV, several satellite options and the local video rental options. For high speed internet you have cable, DSL, satellite and sometimes other wireless options.
Pete C.