All cable companies have a way of getting under our skin, but Charter might be the best in the business. On Monday, the Asheville Citizen Times was among the first to report that Charter will be raising rates for Spectrum TV customers starting next month. For customers with “a full suite of Spectrum services,” that could total $7.61 a month.
“We’ve notified customers and franchise officials that beginning in November, the rates for some Spectrum services and equipment are being adjusted,” Charter told the Citizen Times. “The new rates will affect all markets.”
Here is the full list of price increases, as revealed by Charter spokeswoman Patti Michel and Ars Technica:
- Broadcast TV surcharge will increase from $8.85 to $9.95/month.
- Spectrum receivers will increase from $6.99 to $7.50/month.
- Increase from $54.99 to $59.99/month for Spectrum Internet for customers who subscribe to Spectrum TV.
- Increase from $64.99 to $65.99/month for Spectrum Internet for customers who don’t subscribe to Spectrum TV.
- Digital adapters will increase from $4.99 to $5.99/month.
- An à la carte Latino TV channel package will increase from $7.99 to $8.99/month.
“The price of Spectrum Internet reflects the dramatically faster speeds and investments we’ve made in reliability and quality,” Michel said. “Earlier this year, we doubled the starting download speed of Spectrum Internet from 100 to 200 megabits per second. Lastly, our receivers are still comparable or lower in price than our major competitors’.”
As Ars Technica notes in its report, Charter covers more than 26 million customers in 41 states. While not all of these customers use Charter services exclusively, the price hikes will affect virtually everyone, whether it’s as little as a few extra dollars a year or possibly over $90, as is the case for those who do use all of Charter’s services. Those under contract with promotional pricing won’t be affected until the promotion runs out.