Comcast to boost county cable rates

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.

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.

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.

The Philadelphia-based company said it must increase rates because it is paying more for programming, gas and employee healthcare.

"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.

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.

"I think it's terrible," she said. "Something should be done."

Cable prices have jumped about 59 percent across Sonoma County since 2001 -- more than triple the pace of inflation.

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.

"We are not increasing our prices for our popular high-speed Internet or digital voice services," he said.

But Bay Area customers who subscribe solely to its TV programming will see their bills increase nearly 7 percent on average, Johnson said.

Comcast spends about $6 billion a year on programming, and the cost is rising, he said.

"While we've been aggressive at controlling costs, we expect continued increases in programming, particularly in sports," Johnson said.

In Sonoma County, Comcast serves Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Sonoma and much of the unincorporated county.

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.

The new rates don't include extra charges, including city franchise fees, regulatory fees and taxes.

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.

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.

It marks the latest salvo in a battle between Comcast and rival AT&T, which are vying to sign up customers for bundled communications.

Last year, AT&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.

Comcast beat AT&T in the race to deploy Santa Rosa's first broadband network, finishing its upgrade this month.

You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.