Cable rates going up, up, up

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Comcast customers, brace yourselves. It’s time for the annual rate hike, and this year’s is steeper than usual.

While the rate increase comes hot on the heels of Comcast taking over Adelphia in Colorado Springs, the two aren’t directly linked. Comcast customers in Denver are facing roughly the same increases.

Rates for standard cable — the most popular package, which used to be called classic cable — will break the $50 mark, climbing $3.26 a month from $48.29 to $51.55.At the low end, basic cable goes from $17.65 to $18.54, while at the top end, the platinum digital package goes from $105.99 to $111.99.

In recent years, Adelphia’s average increase was usually 3 to 5 percent. This year, that standard package is going up 6.7 percent.

Percentage-wise, subscribers to the digital classic package take the biggest hit, with rates rising 20 percent from $9.95 to $11.95, on top of the standard cable fee. And if you get HBO or one of the other premium channel groups a la carte, you’ll pay $3 more a month, as rates climb from $15.95 to $18.99.

Not every charge is going up: Customers who use a cable card in their TV instead of a separate box will see their fees fall for the first TV, from $1.75 to nothing. Additional TV’s with cable cards, however, will cost $6.95 each, instead of $4.20.

The new rates go into effect with customers’ March bills.

Comcast acquired the Colorado Springs market from the bankrupt Adelphia last summer and officially took over Dec. 14.

The satellite TV services, DirecTV and Dish Network, are also raising their rates. DirecTV’s basic package is going up 4 percent and Dish Network’s 3 percent.