Comcast rates to increase for cable, modems

Comcast Corp. is raising Spokane cable rates an average of 2.7 percent starting Oct. 6, the company said Tuesday.

In addition to rate hikes for TV viewers, subscribers with a Comcast cable modem for high-speed Internet will see rates go up $2 a month.

While Comcast isn’t raising the monthly Internet fee, it is raising the lease fee for its cable modems from $3 to $5 a month, spokesman Walt Neary said.

For Web subscribers paying $40 a month to Comcast, the net effect of the new modem fee is a 4 percent increase.

People who buy their …

Comcast Corp. is raising Spokane cable rates an average of 2.7 percent starting Oct. 6, the company said Tuesday.

In addition to rate hikes for TV viewers, subscribers with a Comcast cable modem for high-speed Internet will see rates go up $2 a month.

While Comcast isn’t raising the monthly Internet fee, it is raising the lease fee for its cable modems from $3 to $5 a month, spokesman Walt Neary said.

For Web subscribers paying $40 a month to Comcast, the net effect of the new modem fee is a 4 percent increase.

People who buy their own cable modems avoid that fee.

Those few TV subscribers with more than one digital video recorder also will see a price hike. Those paying $14.05 a month for a second DVR will start paying $15.05 starting in October.

Comcast phone service costs won’t change under the new rates, Neary said.

Neary also noted the 2.7 percent “average” is based on the fact that Comcast’s Spokane phone customers will see no increase, but many TV viewers and high-speed Web subscribers will see increases of 4 percent and more.

TV subscribers will see varying increases based on the number of channels they get.

For example, those getting the Limited tier of channels will see monthly rates go from $17.99 to $19.69, an increase of about 9.4 percent. Those using the Digital Starter tier will see rates rise $1.70, from $72.74 to $74.44 a month. That’s a 2.3 percent increase.