I'm surprised our whole community hasn't risen up in protest against Armstrong's cable hikes over the past decade. Many of us living in rural areas or apartments have no alternative to Armstrong's services, and I believe the company has exploited this fact.

While I understand cable companies have increased costs to create new infrastructure for advances in fiber optics and transmission of internet services, the additional subscribers to those services should more than offset the initial investment.

Moreover, Armstrong's regulation of bandwidth for their internet plans is unnecessarily strict. If you've ever visited outside of the Butler area, you've probably experienced how much faster internet access is elsewhere. Armstrong's basic internet plan is barely faster than most phone-line based services, and even their business packages aren't that speedy in comparison (plus, why should a family need to purchase a business plan?). If you're running more than one computer at the same time, as is increasingly the case in households with working parents and school-age children, or working from a wireless router (which cuts bandwidth speeds in half if you're also using ethernet), chances are you'll need a business package to provide the online horsepower you need.

It's a shame that Armstrong is leveraging its local monopoly in such a manner. Their exploitative business strategy is undoubtedly holding back many Butler families and small businesses from realizing the full power of the internet, and it is forcing our entire community to remain a step behind the rest of the world.