Cable company increases prices As cost of Time Warner packages rises another 3-4 percent, provider says it's offering more
By LARRY RULISON, Business writer First published: Friday, February 29, 2008
ROTTERDAM -- Rates are once again going up for customers of Time Warner Cable in the Capital Region.
Time Warner notified customers about the hike in a glossy marketing mailing sent out this month. Except for basic cable, which is $12 a month for 19 channels, all other offerings and packages are going up starting in April.
That includes Time Warner's "triple play" offering of cable TV, Internet and telephone service. Known as All the Best, the package is going up from $129.90 a month to $133.90 a month.
Time Warner's standard TV offering -- which is 78 channels -- is going from $50.20 a month to $52.95 a month.
The most basic digital TV offering, known as DigiPic 1000, is rising from $57.90 a month to $59.95 a month. The package offers more than 200 channels.
Overall, the price increases are between 3 percent and 4 percent.
One thing that is going down is the monthly cost of an extra digital converter needed to view digital cable in other parts of the house. The cost of that box is going down from $7.65 a month to $7.15 a month. The first converter at the house is free.
The mailing sent to customers does not say if Internet or phone service on their own will increase. A Time Warner customer service representative said those services, which cost $44.95 and $49.95 respectively, will not go up in price this year.
Time Warner is the dominant cable television provider in the Capital Region with nearly 400,000 customers. Increasingly, it has become a larger player for phone and high-speed Internet customers traditionally served by the phone company.
The increases reflect the addition of new services and channels over the past year, including 41 new channels such as ESPN U, a college sports station, and FOX Reality, a reality TV channel, said Peter Taubkin, Time Warner's vice president of government relations and public affairs.
The company also added its Start Over feature that allows viewers to restart a show already in progress.
"These are examples of how we continue to enhance and build value into our products over a fiber-optic network that we have built and continue to invest in," Taubkin said. "In contrast, many products increase in price, but provide no added value."
Time Warner also increased its prices and added new channels and services last year.
Taubkin said Time Warner's competitors such as DirecTV, Dish Network and Verizon have increased rates for comparable services by 10 percent to 12 percent this year.
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MobileTerminal
February 29, 2008, 7:58pm
Guest User
Yippeeee! Did they send the lube shipment yet? My mailman sometimes doesn't always deliver here properly, figured I could check here to see if anyone else got theirs.
Now I am totally confused. My son called me just today and said that he received a call from TW today with great news. He was told that TW just negotiated with Rotterdam and the "all in one" package was now going DOWN from 129.00 to 99.00. My son asked if this was a special promo and the guy said "no". My son took the guys name and number and said he would get back to him.
Now after hearing this, my husband and I decided that we would probably make the switch too. So tomorrow, I will have to call my son and get this guys name/number and call him and see what the heck is going on. I'll post my findings.
CAPITAL REGION Time Warner raising most service rates BY EDWARD MUNGER JR. Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Edward Munger Jr. at 843-2830 or emunger@dailygazette.net.
Along with gasoline, eggs and movie tickets, consumers can add local cable television to their list of things that are costing more money. Time Warner Cable customers are being notified of rate increases in some services the company plans to implement starting in April. Broadcast basic service will remain $12 per month, according to information provided Friday by Time Warner spokesman Peter Taubkin, but many other premiums are increasing. Taubkin said the cable company is required to give customers 30 days notice of rate changes, though competing mediums do not. He said those competitors, including Verizon FIOS, DirecTV and Dish Network, all increased their rates as well. Though the price will be going up, Taubkin said Time Warner customers will see an increase in programming. “Associated with our announcement is the fact that we’ve continued to add value to our product,” Taubkin said. The company added a total of 41 different channels this year, half of which include highdefinition service. New channels include the NHL Network, Fox Reality, ESPN U, Think Bright, PBS World and ESPN Deportes, among others, Taubkin said. The “All the Best” package, which gives customers digital telephone with free long-distance, RoadRunner high-speed Internet and digital cable, is increasing from the current rate of $129.90 per month to $133.90, according to Taubkin. The package, he said, still costs less than its components cost separately. “Customers getting our All the Best packages are still saving significantly,” he said. Taubkin said the addition of channels to the service gives consumers more than they’re getting for the increased cost of gasoline and eggs. He said gasoline is up 65.4 percent compared to last year, and Grade A eggs cost 47 percent more than they did last year, and people aren’t getting more from their eggs or gas. The cost increases stem from Time Warner’s paying more for programs, Taubkin said. “We pay them for the right to put the programming on the system, and programming costs go up annually, especially sports programming, it’s the most expensive out there,” Taubkin said. “Like any business, as our expenses go up, ultimately it has some translation into the rate that we charge our subscribers,” Taubkin said. Though the rates typically change every year, Taubkin said the Road Runner Internet service hasn’t changed in price since it launched in 1997 and there’s been no change in the digital telephone rates, either.
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