Comcast Cable Rate Increase

Posted by rbutler on Tuesday, November 9 @ 3:04pm

During tonight's City Council meeting, the Council will vote on whether to authorize Comcast to increase their basic cable rate by $0.35 per month. This is likely the last opportunity that the City will have to affect cable rates. As it stands, the City is planning to approve the request, so this will be the only opportunity for citizens to voice their opinion.

Comcast recently filed for Effective Competition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the 42 cities they provide service to within the metroplex. Effective competition means that if there is more than 15% penetration from a competitor, including satellite customers, then they can file to be removed from all rate regulations. The reported penetration rate is 59% in Allen. If Comcast is granted this request from the FCC, this would mean the City would no longer have regulatory responsibility for basic rates. The timing of the decision is not likely to take effect until 2005.

On October 29, 2004, Comcast indicated they plan to implement an operator selected rate of $13.12 to charge customers for basic cable starting December 1, 2004. This indicates a $0.35 increase in their actual rates charged to customers. The City does not regulate Comcast's operator selected rates, but rather reviews the reasonableness of Comcast’s maximum permitted rate.

We apologize for the late notice, but this was just brought to our attention today.