The Cable Industry Greets the New Year with a Flurry of Price Increases

Megalith

Megalith

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Despite the shift toward cord cutting, six cable providers have raised their prices for 2018. For Comcast subscribers, practically everything will be more expensive going forward: this includes channel bundles, streaming services, and even the price of renting a modem.

With cord cutting setting records, why doesn't Comcast feel the need to actually adapt to changing markets? It doesn't have to. The company is securing a bigger monopoly over broadband in a growing number of markets thanks to telcos that no longer think it's worth it to upgrade aging DSL lines.
 
God I am so thankful I kicked Comcast to the curb.

BSmith said:
Have to love an unregulated industry full of monopolies. Yes, I know it is supposed to be regulated,....or is it? Ah-hah!
Click to expand...

There are many aspects to regulation, and monopolistic regional controls are just one. It just so happens that it regulates local governments, benefiting the companies in the industry.
 
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BSmith said:
Have to love an unregulated industry full of monopolies. Yes, I know it is supposed to be regulated,....or is it? Ah-hah!
Click to expand...

Cable is extremely regulated, people fail to see regulation helps those in the largest market positions. One of the first questions in the FAQ for the Cable Act, that government claimed would make cable prices plummet is "why hasn't my cable bill gone down/why has my cable bill gone up?".

Cable prices are reviewed and set by your local government, you are also taxed for this "favor" and is listed on your cable bill. If you have issue with this, you can always contact their office, information for this is often also listed on the cable bill.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Cable is extremely regulated, people fail to see regulation helps those in the largest market positions. One of the first questions in the FAQ for the Cable Act, that government claimed would make cable prices plummet is "why hasn't my cable bill gone down/why has my cable bill gone up?".

Cable prices are reviewed and set by your local government, you are also taxed for this "favor" and is listed on your cable bill. If you have issue with this, you can always contact their office, information for this is often also listed on the cable bill.
Click to expand...
Then why did the cable prices drop when google fiber came to KC?
 
This is the year I convince the missus to drop all TV and switch to streaming apps. Not only could I get a faster internet pipe I would cut my bill in half. Of course this will also require me to setup Radarr and Sonarr so there are 2 more apps to learn now.
 
d8lock said:
Then why did the cable prices drop when google fiber came to KC?
Click to expand...

Competition. Pretty simple.

Google is one of the few who has the money and legal team to force their way into a market. They have been sued over and over again for this, and Google fiber has had massive legal battles pushing into markets because ROWs are restricted and controlled by local government, that gets kick backs and often times free internet/TV/POTs to government buildings to allow them to be an ISP for the area and the only one to get permits to install into ROWs. Much of the same applies with cable.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Competition. Pretty simple.

Google is one of the few who has the money and legal team to force their way into a market. They have been sued over and over again for this, and Google fiber has had massive legal battles pushing into markets because ROWs are restricted and controlled by local government, that gets kick backs and often times free internet/TV/POTs to government buildings to allow them to be an ISP for the area and the only one to get permits to install into ROWs. Much of the same applies with cable.
Click to expand...
So the real reason is corruption. Wonderful.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Cable is extremely regulated, people fail to see regulation helps those in the largest market positions. One of the first questions in the FAQ for the Cable Act, that government claimed would make cable prices plummet is "why hasn't my cable bill gone down/why has my cable bill gone up?".

Cable prices are reviewed and set by your local government, you are also taxed for this "favor" and is listed on your cable bill. If you have issue with this, you can always contact their office, information for this is often also listed on the cable bill.
Click to expand...

And that is what they would have you believe. Well, I tried for tongue-n-cheek there, seeing as local government(s) are mostly corrupt. At least in most major metropolitans, I have worked with, have demonstrated "money talks" on more than one occasion.

So yes, they are "regulated", if you are reading the law. In practice,...not so much.
 
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d8lock said:
So the real reason is corruption. Wonderful.
Click to expand...

BSmith said:
And that is what they would have you believe. Well, I tried for tongue-n-cheek there as local government(s) are mostly corrupt. At least in most major metropolitans, I have worked with, have demonstrated "money talks" on more than one occasion.

So yes, they are "regulated", if you are reading the law. In practice,...not so much.
Click to expand...

The technical term is "regulatory capture".
 
katanaD said:
im sure these price hikes are to help offset those tax cuts they got..

oh wait..
Click to expand...

Tax cuts have nothing to do with this, supply and demand does. Also, if you want more competition then speak to your local government who controls easements.

Also, do you have a retirement account (401k, IRA, etc) that is invested in the market? If you do then you will DIRECTLY benefit from corporate tax cuts. No, you don't have to be rich to ship a percentage of income to retirement.
 
prices always rise. Employees get a raise and then the companies take it back by raising prices. It used to be called working for the company store but today, we're too sophisticated to call it that
 
I was on Comcast's 250Mb plan ("Extreme 250") until the promotional pricing ended and they threatened to hike my price per month from $90 to $150. Also, my employer will only pay up to $90/month to reimburse my internet service. So, I stepped down to their "Blast Pro" 200Mb plan at $87. Well, with these price increases, that tier goes up to $97, but also the speed is being increase to match my old speed at 250Mb. Yet, they still offer the "Extreme 250" plan, at 250Mb, for $150/month. Brilliant people there, let me tell you.

Also, my employer will not just pay me the $90 and let me cover the rest. Either they cover it all, $90 or under, or not at all. So, now I have to step all the way down to their 100Mb "Blast" plan because of their pricing, at $67/month. Essentially, they're going to get $23/month LESS because of this pricing change, and I'm stuck with inferior internet.
 
_l_ said:
prices always rise. Employees get a raise and then the companies take it back by raising prices. It used to be called working for the company store but today, we're too sophisticated to call it that
Click to expand...

People don't get raises anymore. That ended in 2008. I got a single 1% raise between 2010 and 2016 from my last employer. (During that same time frame, my rent alone went up by $490/month.) They started this policy that they only give raises if the employee "significantly raises their value to the company", such as taking on extra duties outside of their job description.

I tried changing employers because of this BS, and essentially got a 5% decrease, and my new employer has pretty much the same policy regarding raises. While I was interviewing for other jobs back then, and still searching now, I pretty much get the same response time and again. Thanks to recent business education theories and recent business degree graduates arriving in the management market, despite the likely massive inflation we've seen in housing and healthcare prices, and more inflation to come from the after effects of certain economic policies of the last few years (inflating the money supply), most employers at planning on staying right at the same pay levels for most jobs. (Colleges are actually teaching that this is a good idea, and apparently have been since about 2000.) So, we're all screwed.
 
Look, this pricing model update doesn't happen annually (I don't think).
So something's up, we all can agree.
I wouldn't be surprised if this a step in a new model regarding charging people for online services (now that we are stripping away net neutrality in America).
I don't think I'm sounding like a conspiracy theorist, but I might be.

Regardless, whatever is causing this, it's not good for the bottom end.
 
dgingeri said:
I was on Comcast's 250Mb plan ("Extreme 250") until the promotional pricing ended and they threatened to hike my price per month from $90 to $150. Also, my employer will only pay up to $90/month to reimburse my internet service. So, I stepped down to their "Blast Pro" 200Mb plan at $87. Well, with these price increases, that tier goes up to $97, but also the speed is being increase to match my old speed at 250Mb. Yet, they still offer the "Extreme 250" plan, at 250Mb, for $150/month. Brilliant people there, let me tell you.

Also, my employer will not just pay me the $90 and let me cover the rest. Either they cover it all, $90 or under, or not at all. So, now I have to step all the way down to their 100Mb "Blast" plan because of their pricing, at $67/month. Essentially, they're going to get $23/month LESS because of this pricing change, and I'm stuck with inferior internet.
Click to expand...


Try living in "Flyover land". Fastest internet I can get is 50mbs, I make do with 30mbs, 50mbs is higher than what you pay for 100mbs.
 
Spoke with one of the Google Engineers who is still assigned to the Kansas City Market and he assured me that Google is not selling and they will absolutely not have slow / fast lanes.

While other ISP's might control the flow of data, Google will not. Google has 80% of the Internet market in Kansas City I was told. That number was given to me by the last Google Tech I had over which I admit, seems rather larger, but still.

If some of you are on the fence, and can .... MOVE to a Google Fiber market. We did.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Cable is extremely regulated, people fail to see regulation helps those in the largest market positions.
Click to expand...

Eh, depends on the regulation.
Common sense regulations benefits the market. Chrony-capitalism regulation benefits the largest players because they likely paid for it.
 
_l_ said:
prices always rise. Employees get a raise and then the companies take it back by raising prices. It used to be called working for the company store but today, we're too sophisticated to call it that
Click to expand...

Lol. You think these companies are giving anyone outside of execs a bunch of raises.
 
King of Heroes said:
You'll be hooking that up to an HDTV. Use the one on your HDTV.
Click to expand...
And watch commercials on live TV, are you nuts? The only way to watch live TV is to record what you want, and then skip the damn commercials. Of course, you need a DVR function for that as well.

I'll stick with my TIVO for the moment. Now if they would only support some sort of TV streaming service on the thing...
 
Derangel said:
Lol. You think these companies are giving anyone outside of execs a bunch of raises.
Click to expand...

Curious where people who complain about wages stand on "open borders" and unchecked immigration. It is a simple supply and demand issue.
 
dgingeri said:
I was on Comcast's 250Mb plan ("Extreme 250") until the promotional pricing ended and they threatened to hike my price per month from $90 to $150. Also, my employer will only pay up to $90/month to reimburse my internet service. So, I stepped down to their "Blast Pro" 200Mb plan at $87. Well, with these price increases, that tier goes up to $97, but also the speed is being increase to match my old speed at 250Mb. Yet, they still offer the "Extreme 250" plan, at 250Mb, for $150/month. Brilliant people there, let me tell you.
Click to expand...
Well lucky you were able to navigate all the double speak to find these price differences. I find it's infuriating trying to find prices that actually apply to me, they don't want to show me "downgrade" package pricing, and if I go in on another computer they show me "new customer" pricing, if I get on chat I get Rajib who doesn't fucking listen to me and just tries to sell me up some package instead of telling me prices of lower packages.
 
All well and good to say you're going to cut the cord but in a assload of markets the same company you're "cord cutting" from also controls the bandwidth so.....good luck!
 
dgingeri said:
I was on Comcast's 250Mb plan ("Extreme 250") until the promotional pricing ended and they threatened to hike my price per month from $90 to $150. Also, my employer will only pay up to $90/month to reimburse my internet service. So, I stepped down to their "Blast Pro" 200Mb plan at $87. Well, with these price increases, that tier goes up to $97, but also the speed is being increase to match my old speed at 250Mb. Yet, they still offer the "Extreme 250" plan, at 250Mb, for $150/month. Brilliant people there, let me tell you.

Also, my employer will not just pay me the $90 and let me cover the rest. Either they cover it all, $90 or under, or not at all. So, now I have to step all the way down to their 100Mb "Blast" plan because of their pricing, at $67/month. Essentially, they're going to get $23/month LESS because of this pricing change, and I'm stuck with inferior internet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they just increased my 150 tier by $15. I called and dropped to the 100 tier for $50, so now they are losing $25 per month compared to my old plan. I don't get their logic. I was fine paying $75, not $90 and now they lost out on $25.
 
Spidey329 said:
Eh, depends on the regulation.
Common sense regulations benefits the market. Chrony-capitalism regulation benefits the largest players because they likely paid for it.
Click to expand...

It depends on the enforcement. Politician enforce it on enemies of their friends, and fail to enforce it on their friends. Bank of America and Citigroup had TONS of fraudulent mortgages and TONS of illegal behavior, including foreclosing on people who had completely paid off their home, revealed in the mortgage crisis, yet nobody pushed to prosecute them, yet at the same time they prosecuted tons of small banks for minor bookkeeping slipups, with tons of attention in the news media.

No regulation works so long as their is a choice in who gets hit with it or not, and that will ALWAYS be the case. Any power the government has, guaranteed, it has been and will be abused.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Well lucky you were able to navigate all the double speak to find these price differences. I find it's infuriating trying to find prices that actually apply to me, they don't want to show me "downgrade" package pricing, and if I go in on another computer they show me "new customer" pricing, if I get on chat I get Rajib who doesn't fucking listen to me and just tries to sell me up some package instead of telling me prices of lower packages.
Click to expand...
They (Comcast) typically have a promotional package but it varries by market. Typically you can switch to it at any time. Just call and check periodically.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Well lucky you were able to navigate all the double speak to find these price differences. I find it's infuriating trying to find prices that actually apply to me, they don't want to show me "downgrade" package pricing, and if I go in on another computer they show me "new customer" pricing, if I get on chat I get Rajib who doesn't fucking listen to me and just tries to sell me up some package instead of telling me prices of lower packages.
Click to expand...


I worked for AT&T briefly. As a result, I learned one way to find lower prices for lower packages or a better price for your current service is to call your provider and ask to speak with the retention's dept. Tell them you are having difficulty paying your bill, perhaps a change of income, and you may have to cancel your service as a result. It doesn't really matter, they shouldn't hassle you for details. Basically it's the job of the retention's dept. to retain you as a customer and they have more ability to offer lower prices than a customer service rep will have. A CSR will not be able to modify pricing and may not even have the ability to make changes to your service or add/remove service.

It's not exclusive to AT&T or cable service. I had Cox internet (not cable or phone) for a few years. After the stupid promotional pricing ended, I called Cox and spoke to them about finding a way to lower my monthly bill, they offered to double my internet speed from something like 50Mbps to 100Mbps for the same price per month. So technically I didn't lower my bill, but I got a faster internet package for the same price. These days everything is done with the click of a button. Unless you're installing a satellite or something, a technician won't have to be dispatched to change or add/remove services.

Not a guaranteed plan, but it's worth the phone call.



// EDIT: ISP's/cable providers are absolutely a monopoly or one small legal loophole behind being a monopoly. They operate like the power companies or the Federal Reserve... I've never lived in an area with more than 2 providers and I've lived in at least 6 different cities in 2 states. A few places I lived there was only 1 provider. Unless you were willing to go with satellite internet and/or TV, if they were available, your only choice was "do I want this service or not?"
 
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dgingeri said:
People don't get raises anymore. That ended in 2008. I got a single 1% raise between 2010 and 2016 from my last employer. (During that same time frame, my rent alone went up by $490/month.) They started this policy that they only give raises if the employee "significantly raises their value to the company", such as taking on extra duties outside of their job description.

I tried changing employers because of this BS, and essentially got a 5% decrease, and my new employer has pretty much the same policy regarding raises. While I was interviewing for other jobs back then, and still searching now, I pretty much get the same response time and again. Thanks to recent business education theories and recent business degree graduates arriving in the management market, despite the likely massive inflation we've seen in housing and healthcare prices, and more inflation to come from the after effects of certain economic policies of the last few years (inflating the money supply), most employers at planning on staying right at the same pay levels for most jobs. (Colleges are actually teaching that this is a good idea, and apparently have been since about 2000.) So, we're all screwed.
Click to expand...
You must work in either a shitty industry or for shitty companies. I've doubled my income since 2008. Also, I went to business school from 2012-2014 getting my MBA, and they definitely do not teach that you shouldn't give raises.

If your company is not giving raises - at all, not because of poor performance or whatever - you need to move on.
 
dgingeri said:
I was on Comcast's 250Mb plan ("Extreme 250") until the promotional pricing ended and they threatened to hike my price per month from $90 to $150. Also, my employer will only pay up to $90/month to reimburse my internet service. So, I stepped down to their "Blast Pro" 200Mb plan at $87. Well, with these price increases, that tier goes up to $97, but also the speed is being increase to match my old speed at 250Mb. Yet, they still offer the "Extreme 250" plan, at 250Mb, for $150/month. Brilliant people there, let me tell you.

Also, my employer will not just pay me the $90 and let me cover the rest. Either they cover it all, $90 or under, or not at all. So, now I have to step all the way down to their 100Mb "Blast" plan because of their pricing, at $67/month. Essentially, they're going to get $23/month LESS because of this pricing change, and I'm stuck with inferior internet.
Click to expand...

wait wait wait, you were paying 90 a month for 200mb before or after your employer subsidy?
 
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