Did you notice the increase in your Comcast cable bill?

Bet you can’t wait for the Comcast merger with the other cable provider? Here’s another instance of how monopolies gouge, or operate. Without warning to Customers, Comcast has imposed a “broadcast TV” charge on their bills. We googled “broadcast TV charge” and found this November announcement – wonder why Comcast didn’t send an email to its Customers, too?

Instead, they just added the charge to the bills. “According to their latest quarterly report, Comcast has 22,525,000 video customers and 17,550,000 high speed Internet subscribers.” So the monopoly just added a cool $33,787,500 to their coffers.

AND THE CHARGE FOR INTERNET SERVICE WAS BOOSTED BY $2.00 A MONTH!

Despite the reports that state the merger of two cable giants is good (here and here and here), we believe that the ability to stick on charges whenever they want does not bode well for consumers. Google’s coming with Internet connectivity to some cities. Otherwise there are few alternatives since Comcast has already paid communities to be their provider company.

Since commenters to big media often provide clearer, more independent thought than the retransmission of a press release, this commenter to this article speaks a clearer shade of truth: “LOL, give me a break. Americans pay more for slower broadband than any country in the world, and this merger does nothing to fix that. In fact, I read this article twice looking for your argument on how this is “good” for competition, and failed to find it. You also mention that other companies are poised to capture dissatisfied customers- implying that customers actually have a choice in picking their cable provider (which they absolutely don’t.)”

Again … can someone explain why isn’t Comcast regulated or overseen by the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission?

COMCAST BILL – January 2014

COMCAST BILL – March 2014