![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Spectrum.png?resize=275%2C183&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe second-biggest cable operator in the US is not imposing yet another annual rate hike: Instead, Charter Communications\u2019 Spectrum service is raising TV and broadband rates for the second time in a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cord Cutters News\u2019 Roger Cheng reported the latest set of rate increases Tuesday, which Spectrum then confirmed to PCMag on Thursday. They go into effect on Jan. 31, six months after a round of hikes imposed in July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most notable change in this round affects some of Spectrum\u2019s lowest-income customers: Internet Assist, an entry-level option limited to households with a family member on one of three federal assistance programs, will jump from $19.99 to $25.99. But Spectrum is also raising this plan\u2019s speeds from 30Mbps downloads and 4Mbps uploads (which barely exceeds the FCC\u2019s 2015-vintage definition of broadband as 25\/3 Mbps) to 50Mbps down and 5Mbps up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spectrum\u2019s \u201cAdvanced WiFi\u201d rate to rent a Wi-Fi-equipped modem will go from $5 to $7. Spokesman Rich Ruggiero said in an email that this is the first time Spectrum has increased the rate for this, which he said \u201coffers the most advanced technology to deliver speed, security and reliability to every connected device in the home\u201d but did not go into further detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Non-Wi-Fi modems remain free at Spectrum, a contrast with most cable operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the TV side, Spectrum\u2019s mandatory surcharge for local broadcast stations will ratchet up from $23.20 to $25.75, while the fee to rent an HD-compatible tuner box will inch up from $10.99 to $12.50. Some channel bundles will see additional hikes, while the streaming-only, no-box-required TV Essentials will rise from $24.99 to $29.99 a month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spectrum points to programming-cost inflation for the TV hikes, much as Comcast\u2014the nation\u2019s biggest cable operator\u2014did when it increased its own rates in December. It\u2019s a valid explanation, as demands for more money from channel owners have led streaming-TV services such as Google\u2019s YouTube TV to raise their own rates and resulted in Disney taking its channels off Spectrum around Labor Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spectrum subscribers have a few ways to avoid these hikes, some with their own issues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Anyone who qualifies for Internet Assist should also meet the more lenient criteria for the government\u2019s $30\/month Affordable Connectivity Program, which would make that package free even after the rate hike. But money is running low for \u201cACP,\u201d with some Republicans in Congress calling the program, which now reaches 22.5 million households, \u201cwasteful\u201d and deserving of defunding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To dodge the Wi-Fi hike, get a no-Wi-Fi model from Spectrum, buy your own wireless router, and plug that into the modem.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Zero out the cable-box bill by using one of Spectrum\u2019s free streaming apps for connected TVs and streaming-media players. The company offered this option to subscriber\u2019s years before other cable operators.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To get off the treadmill of annual increases to core TV service fees as well as mandatory but unadvertised add-ons like broadcast fees, however, you\u2019ll need to cut the cord. You can watch local stations for free with an antenna, then rely on standalone streaming video services to keep you otherwise entertained. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In recent years, Americans have turned to cord-cutting in such large numbers that traditional linear TV now looks locked into a permanent decline. And Spectrum\u2019s parent company Charter should know this as well as anybody: In its most recent quarter, it reported 30.6 million residential and small-business broadband subscribers but less than half as many video customers, at just 14.4 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are ways to dodge these rate increases, but some carry complications The second-biggest cable operator in the US is not imposing yet another annual rate hike: Instead, Charter Communications\u2019… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"4","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[7188],"class_list":["post-40683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-spectrum-to-hike-rates-again-including-its-low-income-internet-option"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}