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Chattanooga: December rate hike second for Comcast this year

By: Jason Reynolds
(Contact)

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File Photo by Margaret Fenton Comcast headend technician Phil Coulter talks with a field technician about static in feed coming into the system from customer modems. The engineering team is constantly looking for disruptions and large amounts of traffic in specific lines to improve service to customers.

Comcast is raising its rates for the second time this year, and customers will pay an average of 1.8 percent more starting Dec. 1.

“We’re very focused on controlling our costs to benefit our customers,” said Russell Byrd, senior director of government and public affairs for Comcast’s Knoxville and Chattanooga offices. “The timing is based on external costs.”

The previous price increase was 3.8 percent on Jan. 1 this year.

The 1.8-percent hike will affect customers in Chattanooga, North Georgia and Athens, Tenn., said Laurie Shipley, government affairs manager for the Comcast’s Chattanooga office.

The increase is necessary because of higher prices the company is paying, including electric bills, employee health care, gas prices for its fleet and programming, Mr. Byrd said.

The price increase comes at a time when EPB and AT&T are planning to compete with the cable company.

EPB will start a cable, telephone and Internet test program by February, said Danna Bailey Cannon, EPB vice president of marketing. Downtown and surrounding neighborhoods of Chattanooga, plus Red Bank and East Ridge, will be the first areas to receive residential telecom service. EPB hopes to go live in May, she said.

An AT&T official on Tuesday would not say when the company would start offering cable and high-speed Internet services in the Chattanooga area.

“Our competitors would love to know our plans,” spokesman Bob Corney said. “We are moving as quickly as possible.”

Comcast already competes with satellite providers, Mr. Byrd said, and will compete with other cable providers by having good customer service. He predicts that each of the service providers will have similar prices.

David Spangenberg, a Lookout Mountain, Tenn., Comcast customer, said he looks forward to trying EPB’s fiber-to-the-home service.

“We’ve had Comcast in three or four other cities,” said Mr. Spangenberg, who moved to Lookout Mountain about 2 1/2 years ago from Southern California. “Comcast has got a monopoly. Once a cable company gets in town and gets in your good graces for a couple of years, they jack prices up.”

Along with higher electric, gas and health care costs, Comcast spends about $6 billion a year on programming costs, according to a statement. Mr. Byrd said his corporate office did not tell him by how much the content service increased.

Mrs. Shipley said Comcast also continues to improve service for all customers, including those whose bills will not increase.

Among the price changes, the digital starter package is increasing from $52.50 per month to $54.95 per month, according to a Comcast price guide. Expanded basic is rising from $41.40 per month to $43.85, the guide states.

Chattanooga customers’ limited basic package will remain the same at $8.10 per month. However, North Georgia and Athens customers will pay $1 more per month for limited basic. North Georgia customers now pay $11.50 per month, and Athens clients now pay $12.95 per month, said Valerie Gillespie, vice president of Comcast’s Chattanooga office.

The convenience fee, which a customer is charged when paying the bill over the phone by talking to an agent, is going from $4 to $5.

Telephone prices will remain the same, Mrs. Gillespie said. High-speed Internet service will remain the same if a customer subscribes to more than just the Internet service. If Internet is the only service someone uses, the price will rise $2, she said.

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