Comcast Internet And TV Customers Brace For Ill-Timed Service Charge Hikes In 2021
In the new year, Comcast seems to be trying to milk their customers of every last penny when it comes to their internet and cable TV packages. Earlier this week, new data caps were sneakily added by Comcast for some customers. Now, Comcast will be increasing cable and internet fees and standard prices nationwide starting in January; the same time the data cap takes effect.
TV customers will be particularly hard hit, as they will see a yearly increase of $78 due to a $4.50 a month Broadcast TV fee and a $2 a month Regional Sports Network (RSN) fee. Ars Technica found that this will affect all customers, as when it reached out for comment, Comcast stated that even for subscribers with promo pricing, “RSN and Broadcast TV fees will increase because they're not part of the promotional pricing.”
Besides the cable package fee increases, Comcast's six internet-only packages will increase by $3 a month. If you are still looking to buy Comcast after all of this happens, in-home service visits will increase from $70 to $100. Also, according to Comcast:
“Other changes for 2021 include a Broadcast TV Fee increase of up to $4.50 depending on the market; $3 increase for Internet-only service; and up to a $2.50 increase for TV boxes on the primary outlet, with a decrease of up to $2.45 for TV boxes on additional outlet.”However, the company claims that all these price hikes were due to “rising programming costs,” especially for broadcast TV and sports. On the other hand, Comcast owns “NBCUniversal and thus determines the price of all NBCUniversal content, including the national channels and eight RSNs in major markets," as Ars Technica writes. When it comes to the network and internet side of things, its goal is to invest in the Comcast network to “provide the best, most reliable broadband service in the country.” It was found, however, that “Comcast reduced capital spending on its cable division in 2019 and reduced cable-division capital spending again in the first nine months of 2020.” Hence, the claims are questionable at best.
All-in-all, it seems Comcast will be starting the new year on the wrong foot with most of its customers. Increasing fees, especially during economic turmoil and a pandemic to boot, is perhaps not a great look. Thus, if you are a Comcast customer, keep an eye on your bill in the new year to see what prices have increased and be wary over going over the new 1.2TB data cap.
