Time Warner to raise rates

Feb 12, 2013 (The Fayetteville Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The average customer who buys programming, Internet and telephone services from Time Warner Cable will see an increase of about 3 percent in their next monthly bill. That does not include, for the time being, those who are locked into promotional packages.

The new rates go into effect on the March statements, according to a notification letter mailed out in bills this month.

"The good news -- the vast majority of customers in the Carolinas won't see a change in their monthly price because they're in a promotional package," said spokesman Keith Poston. "Seventy-seven percent of Time Warner customers in the Carolinas will not see a change. For customers whose bills will change, the average increase is about 3 percent." Once those promotional offers run out, he said, the higher prices will kick in.

All customers who are not locked into company promotions will see their costs increase over the next month or so. "And it depends on what kind of (service) package they're on and what services they get from us," Poston said.

The higher rates, he said, reflect "dramatically higher programming costs, especially for local broadcasting channels. It's really a combination of higher programming costs along with additional content and features, as well as investments in our network and infrastructure." About 70 percent of the customers in the company's eastern North Carolina division are digital cable customers.

If you're a digital cable subscriber and your service package bundles together basic cable, the digital tier, the digital equipment and Navigator interactive guide, the cost is going up $5, from $85.49 to $90.49.

Together, basic cable bundled with standard Internet and home phone unlimited nationwide is also increasing by $5, from $162.89 to $167.89.

Other price increases on services are not as dramatic.

This is Time Warner Cable's first rate increase on television programming since late 2011.

In November, the company first started charging its high-speed Internet customers a monthly $3.95 fee to lease their modems for Internet service. Those customers have the option of buying a cable modem from a company list of approved models sold by a third-party retailer and, as a result, will not be charged a monthly lease fee.

"We certainly know customers have choices and options," Poston said. "We look at what our competitors are doing. ... They're facing the same thing -- increases in the same programming costs that we're facing. The cost of programming has grown double the pace of the price of our TV services. We have continued to absorb the costs as much as we can." About 40 cents of every dollar the customer pays to Time Warner Cable goes toward the cost of programming, Poston said. "It is a growing cost," he said. "We obviously take into account our costs. We try to keep it as minimal as possible." As for those customers who expect more bang for their extra buck, Poston said the biggest additions in the lineup have been the NFL Network and NFL RedZone. About 30 channels have been added over the last few months in the Carolinas, he said, citing Disney Junior, Bloomberg HD, TV Land HD, BBC World News, Retirement Living Television (RLTV) and Magic Johnson's Aspire TV Network.

Staff writer Michael Futch can be reached at futchm@fayobserver.com or 486-3529.

___ (c)2013 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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