Comcast raising cable rates twice in 10-month period

RCN customers will also see increases starting in February

January 17, 2012|By D.C. Denison, Globe Staff

Cable bills in Boston are on the rise again, just 10 months after sharp increases in fees charged by Comcast Corp. provoked both Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Senator John Kerry to request the Federal Communications Commission take action against rising prices.

Starting with next month’s billing cycle, the average bill for customers of cable giant Comcast will increase by 2.9 percent in Greater Boston. Comcast spokeswoman Doreen Vigue cited “the impact of higher programming costs and increased operating expenses,’’ for the rate hike.

RCN Telecom Services LLC, which also provides cable service in Boston, said many of its customers’ bills will rise beginning in February. The company is not raising rates, it said in a release, but some customers will pay more as they stop receiving discounts from promotional packages that are expiring. The average increase for affected customers will be between $2.50 and $7.75 per month.

But RCN’s changes do not differ significantly from a rate increase, said Edgar Dworsky, who runs the consumer advocacy website Consumerworld.org. “In the end, they are getting extra money, through one means or another,’’ he said.

Cable price hikes offer “the perfect time to look at the competition, look at your bill, and call your current provider,’’ Dworsky added. “There may be ways to reduce your bill by going to a different provider or changing your package.’’

The average cable bill in Boston was $65 a month last year, up from $62 the previous year and $58 in 2009, according to the city. Comcast has 1.8 million customers in Greater Boston; RCN serves 61,000 local customers.

Verizon’s FiOS cable service, which is available in suburban Boston but not in the city, is not raising rates, said spokesman Phil Santoro.

As for satellite TV services, DirecTV has said it will raise rates 4 percent for its customers nationwide, starting in February. Competitor DISH Network instituted a rate freeze until early 2013, after a price hike in February of $5 a month for most packages.

A dispute over programming is behind a blackout for DirecTV customers in Boston and South Florida of programming from Sunbeam Television Corp., owner of WHDH-TV (Channel 7) and WLVI-TV (Channel 56) in Boston, and a sister station in Miami.

Sunbeam is seeking an increase in the fees paid by DirecTV to carry its programming. When a deal could not be reached this weekend, Sunbeam cut off DirecTV’s access to its programming, affecting the NFL playoff game on Fox in South Florida, as well as NBC and the CW network in Boston. DirecTV said Sunbeam Television is seeking at least a 300 percent increase in fees.