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Comcast to raise cable rates starting Jan. 1
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Related Topics: WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Comcast customers in the Washington area will start their New Year off ... poorer. The largest cable operator in the region will raise rates an average of 4 percent beginning Jan. 1.
The increase does not affect phone and high-speed Internet, but does affect television offerings and digital video recording.
How much customers will pay depends on their service package, Comcast spokeswoman Jaye Linnen said. For example, a person paying $59.99 per month for cable would potentially see about a $2.40 increase in his or her monthly bill. “Triple Play” packages, which provide cable, phone and Internet, will remain $99 a month.
Comcast serves about 1.1 million customers in the Potomac region, which includes D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The increase reflects the Philadelphia company’s more comprehensive services, Linnen said. Comcast has increased its “on demand” viewing library to more than 10,000 programs and broadened its high-definition options, she said. The company has invested $290 million in its infrastructure in the Washington area this year as well, she said.
Herndon cable provider RCN, which also serves the Washington area, announced a rate increase in November. Basic cable rose $2.99 per month, and customers who had the highest level of premium channels now pay an additional $4.95 per month, according to spokesman Mike Houghton. The company raised rates to cover the higher charges RCN is paying other companies for its programming and to fund technology upgrades, Houghton said. Comcast competitor Verizon will be charging more for its FIOS TV service, which is available in some areas here, in February.
Customers who sign up after mid-February will pay $47.99 for the FIOS service, which is $5 per month more than the old rate.
“FiOS TV is still very, very competitive, especially when you consider the value the customer receives for the dollar,” spokeswoman Christy Reap said. New customers receive about 20 more channels than customers who signed up in previous years, she said.
melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
11:28 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 22, 2008 re: "Comcast monopoly may face challenges"
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8:26 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 22, 2008
re: "Comcast monopoly may face challenges"
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6:15 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 22, 2008
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5:41 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 8, 2008
re: "Montgomery County fines Comcast nearly $13,000 following service complaints against cable giant"
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12:46 AM MST on Thu., Dec. 6, 2007
re: "Comcast to raise cable rates starting Jan. 1"
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12:45 AM MST on Thu., Dec. 6, 2007
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11:29 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 9, 2007
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11:25 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 9, 2007
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Examiner Reader said:
8:28 Why The money being placed in the hands of the politicians. More competition. No way that is a Republican ideal Democrats are as crooked as the day is long. I know they say they are for the little guy. They are for lining their pockets Dixon has already taken money. Do you think she is the only one.
98 agree | 95 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Why can the nearby Counties have more than one cable company? Those residents have a choice. Lets face it, Comcast customer service stinks. Get the politics out of it and lets have another provider in the City. The City always has excuses - look at the Counties. When they say they cant and Comcast is the only one that can provide decent service - sounds like someone is getting something under the table. Wake UP. I want Verizon.
104 agree | 98 disagree
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Paul Tupelo said:
HAHAHA, i love the part in this where the spokeswoman from comcast said that no company can offer what Comcast offers. I know people with Verizons FiOS and let me tell you, they were blown away by it. The pictures are clearer than Camcast HD because its not going through those damn coaxile cables. Besides, the people at comcast always seem nasty when i call them with a complaint or problem. Lets let someone else more qualified have a go at it. I'd pick cavelier or verizon over comcast anyday but then again, i have no options so i'm stuck with it i guess.
95 agree | 100 disagree
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Anthony Grimm said:
It always seems like the bigger the company, the harder you fall. Obivously a company of this size could not be bothered with fines.That's just the cost of doing business. Hiring more employees that follow this same destructive trend of poor customer service is not the answer, either. Cavalier is another service provider in the area and probably a better option. I've beeen using them for some time now and couldn't imagine paying a company to treat me like that. I too, used to complain about their terrible pricing and poor custimer service until I smartened up and switched over to Comcast. Those tpe of problems seem too easy to solve most times.
111 agree | 110 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The programs freeze everyday in Falls Church what did they spend it on bonuses?
138 agree | 156 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
With the absolute worse service they will raise your rates, and people like Kyle McSlarrow pinp for them The mafia bever had it so good in its heyday Only in the Nation's capital area can people get away with this. The most wealthiest county and no competition? This is what you get being sheeples Prohibition had nothing on the cable providers
167 agree | 179 disagree
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Jordan Fogal said:
Written Testimony Submitted by Jordan Fogal To The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law “Mandatory Binding Arbitration Agreements: Are They Fair For Consumers?” Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 10:30 a.m. I would like to humbly thank you for your invitation to speak on the subject of defective housing and arbitration clauses. Those two terms have become tantamount. There are a lot of people depending on me today, because I am a writer, to find the right words and to speak for them. I am charged with communicating their frustration, hopelessness, and the abandonment that they feel. They are not here; but I am, for all of them. There are hundreds of thousands of us, and we are in every state. We realize that everyone thinks their issue is the most important; but when an issue, that affects hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of Americans, goes unmentioned, we feel like subjects instead of citizens. Since your invitation, I have realized something about you and
224 agree | 228 disagree
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Jordan Fogal said:
No one will mention the real reasons for foreclosure, like bad builders, substandard construction, or arbitration clauses that protect bad builders and bad lenders. No one mentions we no longer have access to the courts. No one talks about the ridiculous red tape stopping victims and protecting builders: by paid for agencies like the Texas Residential Construction Commission in Texas ... or the other 30 states that are 'right to cure' bureaucratic mazes. The only reason for all the forecloses that is mentioned is subprimes by the stupid people. No, we are not called the stupid people but it is implied. We are for the most part middle class, hard working people, many first time homebuyers, and senior citizens like us. We had a 6% fixed mortgage and we could afford our payments. We just couldn't afford the astronomical repairs to our new Tremont Home/Stature uninhabitable dwelling. There are hundreds of thousands like us. In the great state of Texas, are we going to believe
213 agree | 219 disagree
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