A couple of weeks ago Comcast gave a half-assed denial on leaked reports of upcoming price hikes to their cable services for this coming 2018. It was a bad sign of what we all knew was coming, the continuing deregulation of the cable industry typified by the end of net neutrality protections, and the general eroding of what little was left of consumer protections. Now, DSLreports is saying that numerous big telecom companies have begun informing their (usually) monopolistically imprisoned customers that they have a New Year’s present—for themselves.
Comcast is joining Dish, Cox and DirecTV in informing customers that they'll be paying significantly more money for the same service in the new year. Users in our Comcast Xfinity forum say they're being told that the company is preparing monthly price hikes of $1 to $5 for most of the company's pay TV services. Comcast's is also jacking up the price it charges for premium channels, as well as its monthly "Regional Sports fee" from $5 to $6.75 per month.
The cable giant is also bumping up its “Broadcast TV fee” from $7 to $7.75 a month. If you don’t remember the fraud that is the Broadcast TV Fee,”here’s a refresher from last year.
Comcast's "Broadcast TV Fee" has increased from $1.50 a month to $6.50 since 2014, while its "Regional Sports Fee" has gone from $1 to $4.50 since 2015, according to the complaint filed last week in US District Court in Northern California (PDF). These fees are in addition to the advertised rates.
"Comcast’s fraud pervades the entire life cycle of the customer," the complaint says. "First, Comcast conceals and misrepresents the fees in its advertising and in its communications with prospective customers. Second, Comcast commits billing fraud by subtracting the invented fees from the top-line service price in its bills and instead hiding and disguising the charges elsewhere in the bill. Third, to any customers who question Comcast about the bogus charges, Comcast staff and agents explicitly lie by stating that the Broadcast TV Fee and the Regional Sports Fee are government-related fees or taxes over which Comcast has no control."