Verizon raising CableCard fee to $4.99/mo Aug. 1st 2013

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RyC

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#21

Post by RyC » Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:31 pm

So Comcast for some reason has my only
Cablecard as "Additional Card IN Same Device" and does not charge me any outlet fee for the Cablecard. So it ends up being $1.10 for the Cablecard, but I get a "Customer-owned Equipment Adjustment" credit of $2.50. Very odd...

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STC

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#22

Post by STC » Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:43 pm

^ DON'T call them ;)
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buhockey21

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#23

Post by buhockey21 » Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:44 pm

IMO, the cablecard prices will continue to escalate as folks cut the cord and providers twist our arms to use their hardware. When I got my cablecard from XFinity 6 months ago, they charged me an additional $10/mo 'HD Technology' fee on top of the $2.50/mo charge for the card.

One technique I've used is to connect a second coax cable from my HD DTA output into my WINTV-HVR-950Q on a MCE enabled desktop. Note, you can also do this with a STB but the HD DTA costs are only $3/mo. I'm only subscribing to the Limited Basic package now since I only want the local HD channels and live too far away for antenna installation.

foxwood

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#24

Post by foxwood » Wed Jul 17, 2013 5:56 pm

buhockey21 wrote:IMO, the cablecard prices will continue to escalate as folks cut the cord and providers twist our arms to use their hardware.
Putting cable-card prices up makes me more likely to cut the cord!

richard1980

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#25

Post by richard1980 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:58 am

buhockey21 wrote:IMO, the cablecard prices will continue to escalate as folks cut the cord and providers twist our arms to use their hardware. When I got my cablecard from XFinity 6 months ago, they charged me an additional $10/mo 'HD Technology' fee on top of the $2.50/mo charge for the card.
FCC rules require everybody that has a CableCARD to pay the same price for the CableCARD, whether the CableCARD is in one of the cable company's own boxes or in some other device. FCC rules also require most cable boxes to include a CableCARD (the only exceptions to this rule are DTAs). Additionally, FCC rules prohibit charging fees to people that utilize a standalone CableCARD that aren't charged to people that are renting the cable box.

That "HD Technology" fee is not a fee for the CableCARD. It is a fee imposed on everyone that subscribes to HD channels. Obviously you signed up for a channel package that included HD channels. I don't agree with the fee, but I'm also of the opinion that if you don't want to pay the fee, you are free to tell Comcast you don't want any HD channels.

slowbiscuit

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#26

Post by slowbiscuit » Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:41 pm

Sure that's what the rules say but Comcast just ignores them, because each area is its own billing fiefdom. I'm telling you for a fact that Comcast card billing is all over the map, even within the same area - to give you an example in the ATL I get one card free and pay full outlet for a second card, minus 2 x $2.50 credits. Another user in the ATL over at TCF says he pays nothing for multiple cards and gets credits. My daughter gets charged $1.50 for her single Tivo card, with no credit. Users in other areas report that they pay $1.10 per card, $1.50, nothing, full outlets, etc. etc. etc. with or without credits.
Comcast's answer to the FCC when I complained that it was all over the map was that they were working to make the billing consistent, but nothing changes.

And yes, that's an FCC violation of their latest rules and they don't care, probably because there are not enough people complaining.

richard1980

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#27

Post by richard1980 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 3:05 pm

The FCC pricing rules apply per market, not per company. So market variations are to be expected. However, within a market, the pricing is supposed to be the same...so you and your neighbor are supposed to get the same pricing, but you and someone 7 states away may get different pricing.

slowbiscuit

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#28

Post by slowbiscuit » Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:49 pm

Yes, and no matter how you slice it they are violating the rules, but the FCC either doesn't care or doesn't follow up about their excuses.

richard1980

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#29

Post by richard1980 » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:41 pm

I was actually incorrect in my last post. I was thinking of the geographically uniform pricing rule, which requires the rates in a given area to be uniform throughout that area. Unfortunately, that rule only applies to cable operators operating in areas that are not subject to effective competition...meaning that if there is sufficient competition in the area served by a given cable operator, the rates can vary from customer to customer within that area.

blueiedgod

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#30

Post by blueiedgod » Fri Jul 19, 2013 5:35 pm

buhockey21 wrote:IMO, the cablecard prices will continue to escalate as folks cut the cord and providers twist our arms to use their hardware.
Cord cutters will most likely drive up the cost of broadband, since most so called cord cutters are still getting internet from their cable TV provider. I have yet to meet a real world cord cutter who cut off all of their ties with the Cable/Telco company and relied solely on OTA and Newspapers for information.

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