Although a trade publication speculates a deal is near, The World Company still owns Sunflower Broadband, a Lawrence-based provider of cable-television, Internet and telephone service in Lawrence and northeast Kansas. (The World Company also owns the Journal-World.)
Dolph C. Simons Jr., company chairman, issued a statement Wednesday after Multichannel News reported that Georgia-based Knology was "close to a deal" to acquire Sunflower.
"The World Company is complimented that a number of companies have expressed interest in its Sunflower division over the years," Simons said. "This continues today. There is no definitive agreement concerning Sunflower with any company at this time."
Knology operates in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
gsxr600 (anonymous) says…
Hmm the interwebz says
"They called me last month, Knology, about switching and I replied, "I like things to work. I'd switch to tin cans before you.""
brother_cumulus (anonymous) says…
Maybe they won't screw people over like Sunflower!
cheeseburger (anonymous) replies…
It COULD always be worse!
timetospeakup (anonymous) replies…
doubtful. I actually have seen sunflower remote into a server they were no longer under contract for and disable critical functionality so that the business had a "need" to renew the contract. Sleezy
onceinawhile (anonymous) says…
Can't a deal be near, AND World Company still own Sunflower Broadband, as of right now?
MasterShake (anonymous) says…
"There is no definitive agreement concerning Sunflower with any company at this time."
That's not a denial.
While I've never had any issues w/ Sunflower, taking away a 'Hometown' business and replace it with a corporate shell based outside Kansas may not be such a great thing.
fosso (anonymous) says…
I'd sooo be a Sunflower customer if they did an À la carte for cable channels and didn't cut you off (internet) when you bit-torrent open-source content. I love sunflower. Just way past my price range in the current state.
I'm happy with naked AT&T DSL with no extra charges. Speed is lower, but compared to Sunflower's insane pricing, it's a bargain.
Jane (anonymous) says…
Has AT&T improved their modems? I switched to SBB a few years ago because I had problems with two modems. Also wonder about AT&T's customer service, is it more responsive than in the past? Thanks.
jafs (anonymous) replies…
AT&T's customer service is absolutely dismal - the worst I've ever experienced, and that's saying quite a lot.
dulcinea47 (anonymous) replies…
Agreed... I have AT&T DSL, and the service itself works great, never had an outage, not too expensive, not SUPER fast but fast enough that it doesn't get on my nerves. The customer service, however, has been a nightmare every single time I've had to deal with them.
spinmama (anonymous) says…
I used to live in a Comcast area. Believe me, I missed Sunflower like crazy when I had Comcast. If you're a Sunflower customer, you don't know how good you have it on prices, internet speeds, customer service! My slow internet was $53/month plus taxes and charges. I hope they stay local.
ToriFreak13 (anonymous) says…
AT&T service has improved greatly...not to mention the price blows Sunflower away. Though AT&T will not tell you that you don't have to have their modems. Go to BestBuy and get a third party modem. Something is definitely up at Sunflower though. They have foot soldiers running around knocking on doors of non-subscribers trying to get them onboard. I wonder if they paid for a solicitation license from the city?
Guitarzan (anonymous) says…
http://stopthecap.com/2010/07/28/noto...
Notorious Usage-Capping Sunflower Broadband Close to Sale to Knology; Caps Could Be History
The days may be numbered for Sunflower Broadband
A Kansas cable system notorious for Internet Overcharging is nearing a deal to be acquired by a cable overbuilder that does not usage cap broadband customers.
Sunflower Broadband, an independent cable system providing cable, phone, and broadband service to 30,000 Lawrence residents, is expected to be acquired by Georgia-based cable overbuilder Knology, which has been on a buying spree of late. The asking price – $127 million dollars, according to a report in the cable trade journal Multichannel News.
Sunflower has been overcharging their broadband customers for years with schemes like usage caps and a flat rate service plan that delivers speed throttled broadband service to customers. Sunflower has remained a hot topic for Stop the Cap! because we hear so many complaints from their long-suffering customers. In fact, no independent cable operator has generated more reader complaints than Sunflower Broadband, almost all targeting the company’s unjustified usage caps.
Broadband Reports reminds us Sunflower was among the first to implement the idea of low caps and high overages ($2 for each additional gigabyte). Customers also routinely complain about Sunflower’s stingy upstream speeds, maxed out at just 1Mbps for their $60 Gold tier.
None of the details about Sunflower Broadband’s impending sale can be found in the local newspaper — the Lawrence Journal-World or the local “Channel 6″ news operation. That’s ironic, considering the same parent company that owns Sunflower Broadband, The World Company, also happens to own the newspaper and Channel 6. It took a cable trade publication based hundreds of miles away to break the story — not exactly a shining moment for journalism in Lawrence, especially considering an LJWorld reporter need not break a sweat to chase the story.
Part of the reason for the sale may have been AT&T bringing U-verse competition to Lawrence. U-verse does not have customer unfriendly usage limits. With AT&T ready to usher away many of Sunflower’s customers, management may have decided now was a good time to sell.
The good news for Lawrence residents is that none of Knology’s cable systems engage in Internet Overcharging schemes, so Sunflower’s usage caps may be gone after the sale.
(continued at source web site)
jafs (anonymous) replies…
Actually, Sunflower charges $1 per additional gig.
At the Bronze level, I am paying less for Sunflower than I did for AT&T - about $22/month compared with $30-35.
consumer1 (anonymous) says…
They sound like a conservative company. For all the local granola's that could spell trouble.
instead of the usual left wing propaganda we would all be bombarded with right wing propaganda. Might be a nice change.
happyrock (anonymous) says…
Say whatever you want about the Simons, but dumb ... they are not. In ten years the cable business may not exist. Look at the number of land lines in the US, they are dropping like a stone. In ten years all of you media content will be wi-fi based and Sunflower will be worth nothing. If the Simons can find a sucker to take this off their hands, they are genii.
The interesting question is ... 'what happens to the newspaper?' It has to be losing money and I am not so sure about the TV/radio stations.
dulcinea47 (anonymous) says…
I'm cancelling my cable in a couple weeks and I'm excited about it. Hate Sunflower.
mdrndgtl (anonymous) says…
I switched to U-verse a year ago to avoid the overage caps and I've never looked back. If this rumor is true, good riddance SB.
Cai (anonymous) says…
sunflower is a good deal - if you don't ever hit the bandwidth during normal usage.
Otherwise, it ends up costing more. Thats *why* they claim to do it.