Or maybe they can’t get on the Inter-webs. (Ba-dum dum! Crash!)

Seriously, evidently this M-I venture is starting to contact potential customers and the grand start-up date is December 19.

Now as for prices and CATV tiers — I can find nothing on that on their Intar-tubes outlet, although I did find a chili recipe. Guess that is a benefit of local government ownership of the operation. This would make M-I unique among all cable providers I’ve ever heard of — publish nothing on prices or exact service offerings. As such, M-I fails one major test of its promise to offer superior customer service.

Better still, M-I customers will have to wait at least a year to get a digital phone option, something Time Warner customers have had for several years now.

And I’m still unclear how paying an arm of the TVA $11 million to manage the system really benefits local consumers. Maybe the county cable office can clear that up. Oh, that’s right — this deal is all about punishing Time Warner for failing to provide Mecklenburg County with its wish-list data center(s). Of course local ratepayers do not enter into the equation.

So far Davidson and Mooresville have a $75 million chili recipe. Super.