Charter is raising the cost of its broadband service but the cable operator is sparing some of its video subscribers from the rate hike.
Stop the Cap intercepted an internal customer service document that said a $5 increase will kick in on December 1 for all Spectrum internet subscribers except those who also bundle in traditional video service. That means the price increase will also extend to Charter internet customers who subscribe to one of the company’s streaming video options including Spectrum Choice, Essentials or Stream.
Charter confirmed the incoming price increase.
“Spectrum is committed to continuously enhancing our communication products, providing superior connectivity services with the best overall competitive value in the marketplace. We are delivering faster broadband speeds and improved performance — all as the average price per megabit per second and per gig consumed declines dramatically,” the company said in a statement.
RELATED: Charter adds video subscribers for the second quarter in a row
The change comes as Charter continues to add new broadband customers at an accelerated pace. During the third quarter, the company added 537,000 residential and small business internet customers after adding another 850,000 in the second quarter.
With its broadband net additions elevated, Charter has managed to string together consecutive quarters of video subscriber growth, an impressive feat considering the consistent video subscriber losses that have impacted most of the U.S. pay TV industry.
Charter added 53,000 residential and 14,000 small and medium business (SMB) video subscribers for 67,000 total additions in the third quarter. The company ended the third quarter with approximately 15.7 million residential video subscribers, down just 0.1% year over year.
While Charter manages to grow, or at least offset the decline of its video subscriber base, peers like AT&T, Comcast, Altice USA and Verizon continue to record losses. AT&T lost 627,000 video subscribers in the third quarter while Comcast lost 273,000, Altice USA lost 86,000 and Verizon lost 61,000.