Spectrum Increases Internet rates once again. There are many ways to avoid rising interest rates, but some come with complications.
America’s second-largest cable provider has not implemented annual rate hikes: Charter Communications’ Spectrum service is raising TV and broadband prices for the second time this year.
The most significant change this round affects some of the lowest-income customers on the spectrum: Online Assistance, an entry-level option limited to households with family members enrolled in one of three federal assistance programs, will increase from $19.99 to $25.99. But Spectrum also increased plan speeds from 30Mbps download and 4Mbps upload (slightly above the FCC’s 2015 broadband definition of 25/3Mbps) to 50Mbps download and 5Mbps upload.
Spectrum’s “advanced WiFi” rental for Wi-Fi-equipped modems will range from $5 to $7. This is Spectrum’s first price increase, spokesman Rich Ruggiero said in an email.
On the TV side, Spectrum’s mandatory local radio premium will increase from $23.20 to $25.75, while the cost of renting an HD-compatible set-top box will increase from $10.99 to $12.50. Some channel packages will go up even more, with streaming box-free TV essentials ranging from $24.99 to $29.99 a month.
Spectrum points to the rising cost of producing TV programming, since Comcast, America’s largest cable company, raised prices in December. That makes sense. TV channel owners wanting more cash have forced streaming services like YouTube TV to jack up prices. It even made Disney yank its channels off Spectrum around Labor Day.
Spectrum customers can dodge these higher costs in a few ways, but some have their own issues:
- If you qualify for online help, you might meet the looser rules for the $30 monthly Affordable Connection plan. This’ll stay free even after prices go up. But the ACP’s money is tight. Some Republican lawmakers call this program, which helps 22.5 million families useless and want to cut its funding.
- If you want to steer clear of Wi-Fi roaming, don’t get a Wi-Fi model from Spectrum. Instead, buy your own wireless router and hook it up to your modem.
- Reset your cable account with one of Spectrum’s free streaming apps for connected TVs and streaming players. The company offered this option to customers years before other cable operators.
- However, to avoid the trap of year-on-year TV service base rate hikes and mandatory but unannounced surcharges, you need to cut the cord. You can use an antenna to watch local channels for free and then rely on independent streaming services for more entertainment.
Americans have been abandoning cable television in large numbers in recent years, to the point that traditional linear television appears to be in steady decline. Parent company Spectrum Charter should know that as well as anyone: Last quarter, the company reported 30.6 million home and small business broadband customers, but less than half of that, 14.4 million video customers.
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