[mikeash]

My local electric, gas, and water company provide great service. Their stuff Just Works, it's cheap, and on the very rare occasions I have to interact with them, they handle it well. I'd have no qualms signing up for internet service from any of them, if somehow they offered it.

To be fair, Verizon is pretty good to me as well, but that's probably because I'm paying $$$ for a high-end business account.