Cable Needs '10-Year Commitment' to Fixing Customer Service, Says NCTA's Powell
Customer service in the cable industry is “completely unacceptable” and cable should make “a 10-year commitment” to fixing it, NCTA President Michael Powell said in an interview on C-SPAN’s The Communicators that was scheduled to air Saturday. Powell blamed cable's…
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poor customer service record on the industry’s growth and focus on upgrading its networks, and said customer service has “suffered” as a consequence. The cable industry also needs to work to stay “a middle class industry,” he said. “We can’t survive selling to some elite,” he said. Cable needs to stay affordable, he said. Though new services like Dish’s Slingbox have been touted as being a cheaper alternative to cable, Powell said the price difference in reality is slight once subscription fees to services like Hulu and a broadband connection are factored in. The industry also should invest more in innovations for its product, such as better user interfaces, Powell said.