Comcast to boost county cable rates

<p>The cost of watching cable TV will get more expensive in Sonoma County this fall as Comcast raises its rates for the eighth time in eight years.</p><p>Comcast announced plans Friday to increase its overall rates by 4.5 percent, on average, across the Bay Area on Oct. 1. It did not provide a specific number for its Sonoma County customers, but many will see even bigger increases in their monthly TV bills.</p><p>For most cable TV subscribers in Santa Rosa, bills will increase for the second time in less than a year. Comcast raised rates this spring and summer in Santa Rosa as it connected neighborhoods to a high-speed network that delivers more TV channels, faster Internet and a home phone service.</p><p>The Philadelphia-based company said it must increase rates because it is paying more for programming, gas and employee healthcare.</p><p>"Price adjustments are a necessity in view of the increased cost of doing business in this challenging economic environment," said Andrew Johnson, a regional vice president with Comcast.</p><p>Previous rate increases have been met with anger and dismay among subscribers. The back-to-back rate hikes are unacceptable, said Doris Trucco of Santa Rosa, who now pays $71 a month for Comcast's cable-only service.</p><p>"I think it's terrible," she said. "Something should be done."</p><p>Cable prices have jumped about 59 percent across Sonoma County since 2001 -- more than triple the pace of inflation.</p><p>Some Comcast subscribers will be spared from the rate increases. Customers who buy Comcast's bundled services -- cable, Internet and phone -- won't be affected by the October increase, Johnson said.</p><p>"We are not increasing our prices for our popular high-speed Internet or digital voice services," he said.</p><p>But Bay Area customers who subscribe solely to its TV programming will see their bills increase nearly 7 percent on average, Johnson said.</p><p>Comcast spends about $6 billion a year on programming, and the cost is rising, he said.</p><p>"While we've been aggressive at controlling costs, we expect continued increases in programming, particularly in sports," Johnson said.</p><p>In Sonoma County, Comcast serves Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Sonoma and much of the unincorporated county.</p><p>In addition to cable service, the cost of digital packages and per-channel services, such as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and The Movie Channel, also are increasing.</p><p>The new rates don't include extra charges, including city franchise fees, regulatory fees and taxes.</p><p>Since October, Comcast installed 182 miles of fiber-optic cables in its Santa Rosa network. The upgrade allows Comcast to deliver 125 new channels and video-on-demand programming, features that have been available in other Sonoma County cities for years.</p><p>The new network allows Comcast to begin marketing its phone service in Santa Rosa, opening a new era of competition to deliver phone, TV and Internet service to the city's residents.</p><p>It marks the latest salvo in a battle between Comcast and rival AT&amp;T, which are vying to sign up customers for bundled communications.</p><p>Last year, AT&amp;T began rolling out its next-generation U-verse system in parts of Santa Rosa, offering TV and high-speed Internet service over telephone lines.</p><p>Comcast beat AT&amp;T in the race to deploy Santa Rosa's first broadband network, finishing its upgrade this month.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.</p>