Well, not to defend these guys, but they did assume several operating networks here in Virginia that were originally installed by "Mom and Pop" cable providers. In my area, it was Prestige Cable that was later purchased by Adelphia. We all know the story about Adelphia. Comcast has since taken over their territory in my neck of the woods and to be honest, some two-year old problems that I had were fixed rather promptly.
True, there are tons of above-ground temporary fixes here too. I think that they have a lot of catching up to do after having been left with such a rinky-dink infrastructure. Now that these networks are carrying voice and data traffic, cable TV service is no longer considered a luxury. It's a utility and the regulatory bodies are starting to treat the cable companies that way.
I agree about the pads in the LE's (amplifiers) needing to be replaced to compensate for cold or hot temperatures. I went through that with Prestige and then Adelphia for years. For the most part, my service has been stable for the better part of a year and to be honest, the service offerings are much better. Yes, the rates went up when Comcast came to town, but you get what you pay for in my opinion. Prior to the take over, our services sucked.
