I used to work for a large networking equipment maker out in the Bay area as a network protocol programmer. At the time I was working on an SNMPv3 agent module running on the headend rack unit (typical termination equipment at the carrier's many central offices). We had to fly down to DFW many times over AT&T escalations - they were very stringent and demanding (for good reasons) that our equipment's behaviors adhered to the letters in the RFC specs for the protocols. Pain in the asses they were.

Later I worked in similar role dealing with a large cable MSO. They were easier to deal with and less stringent.

All that is to say that it was no surprise to me that my Uverse DSL and now FTTH fiber services were rock solid, almost never down, when compared to my cable internet service, which had many hiccups, slowdowns almost on a monthly basis.

Given the choice, I'd pick a carrier's service over any MSO service. As a programmer dealing with issues, I'd much rather deal with the MSO but as a paying customer, wanting reliable service, it's the other way around.