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Updated 9/7/2016: Please check our latest coverage on promotional packages for Bright House and Time Warner Cable customers that are being introduced in September 2016 by new parent company Charter Communications. Some of the prices reflected below are now out of date!
Charter’s plans for Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks customers are now potentially clearer thanks to the apparent leak of several informational slides from a presentation given to employees to familiarize them with Charter’s forthcoming service plans.
A reader of DSL Reports in California shared what purports to be informational slides from a company training course. Los Angeles is among the first markets to be offered the new Charter/Spectrum service plans, likely to arrive as early as mid-September.
We’ve condensed the information down into a more readable format to give you an idea (subject to change, of course) about Charter’s pricing and plans. Existing customers may not need to give up their current plans right away, and some customers may not want to. Charter has recognized Time Warner Cable Maxx’s network upgrades in its plans and pricing, which means customers already upgraded for Maxx service will get better value from Charter’s plans than those customers who never made the upgrade list before Time Warner Cable was sold.
Keep in mind Charter will start by offering all “New Charter” customers a “new customer” promotion, priced low the first year and then increasing incrementally in price during the second and third years. Year three pricing will be equivalent to Charter’s regular price, which will be substantially higher than customers on Time Warner Cable customer retention plans have paid. Charter’s service plans offer improved broadband speeds, but at a significantly higher price. Standalone broadband customers in particular will feel an immediate sting. Charter’s entry-level price for most customers is $59.99 for 60Mbps, about $25 more than Time Warner Cable’s promotional rate for Standard 15/1Mbps service, which has been selling for about $35/mo for the first year. Charter will point out that it includes a cable modem for free while Time Warner Cable charged $10 a month, but that offers no solace to customers who have purchased their own equipment.
Please note these plans and prices have not been officially confirmed by Charter. In fact, we would not be surprised to see some pricing changes before the plans are officially available.
TELEVISION
There are big changes in store from Charter. First, the company will end distribution and support for Digital Transport Adapters (DTAs) — the small boxes designed for older analog-only TV sets. Charter expects you to have a traditional set-top box on every cable-equipped TV in the house. Second, it seems Whole House DVR service is being discontinued. Charter prefers the alternative of placing DVR boxes on each set where you want to record and watch TV shows. There is a significant cost for Time Warner Cable to install Whole House DVR service and it involves a technician coming to your home. Charter seems to want to cut truck roll expenses, and traditional DVR boxes are easy for customers to install themselves.
DVR pricing is still confusing for customers. A single DVR box is priced at $4.99 for the equipment + an $11.99 DVR service fee. DVR’s 2-4 cost $4.99 per box + a $19.99 DVR service fee. We are not sure if the $19.99 inclusively covers all DVR boxes in the home or if that is charged for each additional DVR. (Update: STC reader Ricardo reports the $19.99 fee is inclusive, so it is only charged once regardless of how many extra DVRs you have.)
For the first year, traditional set-top boxes for New Charter customers are a bargain at $4.99/mo. Legacy Charter customers pay $2 more, and we predict you will pay more as well after the first year, but the equipment fees are less than what Time Warner Cable charged.
Customers will choose from three plans: Select, Silver, or Gold:
- Select: 125+ channels (HD included), Spectrum App (comparable to TWC TV app), 10,000+ On Demand Library ($64.99)
- Silver: 175+ channels (HD included), Spectrum App, On Demand, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, NFL Network ($84.99)
- Gold: 200+ channels (HD included), Spectrum App, On Demand, premiums shown above + TMC, Starz, Encore, Epix, NFL Redzone ($104.99)
Charter’s pricing is built to encourage customers to bundle multiple services together, because substantial discounts are provided, especially when combining TV and internet service.
INTERNET
(All presentation slide images courtesy of Tech_Guy 88/DSL Reports)
Charter moves to just two tiers of service available to the public (except in New York where TWC’s $14.99 Everyday Low Price Internet continues to be an option for the next two years — although it has been removed from TWC’s website) and standalone broadband pricing is considerably more expensive with Charter than with Time Warner Cable.
Perhaps special promotional offers will bring standalone internet prices closer to the $34.95-39.95 most new customers have gotten for Time Warner’s Standard Service (15/1Mbps) for years. We expect most customers will be more sensitive to price vs. speed and standalone internet at these prices will be a shock. We are not certain if Earthlink will continue to be an alternative option.
Upload speeds in non-Maxx areas are conservative, if these slides are accurate, topping out at just 5Mbps. This still leaves Charter as one of the slower U.S. providers.
In TWC Non-Maxx Areas (maximum TWC speed now 50/5Mbps):
- Spectrum Internet 60/5Mbps: Standalone $59.99/mo or $29.99 as part of a triple play package (first year promo price), $59.99 standalone or $53.99 as part of a bundle (regular price);
- Spectrum Ultra 100/5Mbps: Standalone $119.99/mo or $99.99 as part of bundled package (first year promo price), $119.99 standalone or $113.99 as part of a bundle (regular price).
In TWC Maxx Territories (maximum speed now 300Mbps):
- Spectrum Internet 100/10Mbps: Standalone $59.99/mo or $29.99 as part of a triple play package (first year promo price), $59.99 standalone or $53.99 as part of a bundle (regular price);
- Spectrum Ultra 300/20Mbps: Standalone $119.99/mo or $99.99 as part of bundled package (first year promo price), $119.99 standalone or $113.99 as part of a bundle (regular price)
Spectrum Wi-Fi, for those without their own routers, can be added to any internet plan for a $9.99 setup charge and $5 a month.
Charter’s discount plan for the income-challenged carries the usual restrictions. The most unconscionable effectively forces current Charter customers to go without internet access for 60 days before they can enroll in Spectrum Internet Assist. They also must not owe any past due balance to Charter.
Assuming you qualify (eligible for the National School Lunch Program and senior citizens 65 years and older eligible for the federal Supplemental Security Income program), $14.99 will get you up to 30/4Mbps, plus an extra $5 a month if you want Charter to supply a Wi-Fi enabled router. The usual $9.99 activation fee is waived. Self-installation is free. If they have to send a truck to your home, the prevailing standard installation rate will apply. This is the only level of service Charter sells that will not require a credit check.
PHONE
Time Warner’s phone service had been promoted for years at $10 a month as part of a double-play or triple-play bundle. Charter’s triple play bundle pricing seems to show the price for phone service will now be effectively $20 a month.
Charter’s digital phone service has never seemed to be a marketing priority for Charter in its legacy service areas, and will likely be treated as an afterthought going forward. No further information about any service or calling area changes from what Time Warner Cable offered is available yet.
Interesting, I have only seen 4megabits/sec advertised as the upload speed. They should be forced to show the upload speed in their advertisements, that is the true embarrassment. For me paying $70/mo for standalone TWC internet at 30/5, It looks like I will see a drop in my cost with a doubled download speed. I wonder if there is more of a discount for using my own modem. The most frustrating part is that my location was supposed to get TWC MAXX this year, and now wont. And if Charter ever does upgrade the lines, their plans are garbage in… Read more »
Regarding the modem, from what I’ve heard, Charter includes the price of the modem rental in the price of the Internet access. They don’t break it out. So, you get charged the same whether or not you have your own modem. I’m in the Rochester, NY area. We were close to getting Maxx. The number of downstream channels went from 8 to 16 a few months ago. I was looking into going streaming only, no cable TV when we got Maxx. Still might try it. Buy a Roku and subscribe to Sling TV and see how well it works. I… Read more »
If you’re in NY, and you’re not getting the speed you’re paying for, you can also submit a claim for a refund with David, Inc. They’ll do all the work for you with TWC and they say that 50% of claims get refunded: http://bit.ly/2du1Wyz
The article is misleading. You compare the price of 15/1 internet to the price of Charter 60? I have 50/5 from a TW non max area, but I’m paying close to $100. So this looks like good news to me to get 60Mbps for cheaper. And wasn’t it part of the FCC agreement on the merger that caps are not introduced? So far, I’m not worried.
You missed my point. Many customers prefer a lower price over faster speed. You started with 50/5Mbps. Most TWC customers choose to pay for 15/1Mbps because it is cheaper. They will now be compelled to pay more for faster speed they would not choose if they had a choice. It isn’t misleading to point out the price vs. speed choices people make.
I have 15/1 at full price, so this sounds great to me.
The DVR is treated as an umbrella charge. For example: customer wants 4 DVR’s so cost would be 4.99 a piece and one 19.99 DVR service fee. Modem cost is included. ALL Triple Plays requires an install at $34.99. SIK’s are only for cable and internet or combination of cable and internet. Texas markets go live on the 20th of September.
That is a relief. I have WH-DVR service here, mostly so I can watch MSNBC Morning Joe and get annoyed by the always mercurial Joe Scarborough, which is a great way to be jolted awake in the morning. I stopped watching commercials in 2007. I record it, stream it, download it, or I don’t watch it. A $34.99 install fee for Triple Play? I assume that won’t apply for existing TWC/BH customers who switch to Spectrum plans. I’ll also bet those Self-Install Kits will become extremely common because the CEO obsesses about truck roll expenses and how much he hates… Read more »
It’s also worth noting that in Maxx areas, 50/5 is the same price as 15/1 in non-Maxx areas. So without the Charter buy out, you would have eventually gotten a better deal than Charter will offer (assuming TWC rolled out Maxx nationwide).
if you need a set top box on each tv for $7 my price will go up for that also unless I use a roku stick.
$7 x $4 is $28
TWC I only use 1 hd box and 3 dtas
11.75 + 3.25(3) = 21.50
TWC Maxx 300mbps would have been a better deal @ $110. I think that would have been retail. Charter is basically forcing you to pay for the modem @ the 300MBPS $119.99 price.
We argued vociferously that TWC Maxx was a much better deal for customers and regulators should have required that be the minimum upgrade standard for Charter. Unfortunately, in 95% of the states, they just rubber stamped whatever Charter filed. Only New York and a much lesser extent California fought for improvements, but they are still inadequate.
You actually don’t need a full-fledged cable box for every TV. I know we’re pushing those, but there’s another option called a cable card. It comes with a tuning adapter (so it can work with any TV), and is, in my opinion, a better deal than DTAs. You can get all the same channels as the regular boxes (unlike DTAs), minus the guide and On Demand. Right now, they’re $2.50 each (cheaper than DTAs), and they actually might be going down to $2 each under the new Spectrum Pricing Plan. Call TWC when you get a chance. I’m not sure… Read more »
I think the average customer is probably going to have trouble trying to navigate the CableCARD and the tuning adapter. I still think Roku is a better solution for linear TV on non-primary televisions. Buy it once and you are done and can access other services on it.
Why would you say that? You just change the channels like you normally would.
Because with a CableCard you also need a CableCard ready device. You must not be in TV/Video repair if you’re confused by this conundrum. I am. It’s a whopper. A third of our callers can’t even figure out that when the TV has a no signal message it’s because they’re on the wrong input. A Roku is what I recommend to avoid the box costs, and then I toss in the CableCard as a less popular option. CableCards also come with the problem of support. I support the card, but I don’t support the device it goes in (usually a… Read more »
All I can say is LOL!
I wonder what is in store for New York, wondering if 100Mb/ s will be standard service or not, NYSPC requirements say 100 required, though I am not sure if that is offered, or required as standard service.
If you are not Maxx now, you will get 60Mbps as Standard and 100Mbps as your only upgrade option. The 300Mbps requirement is still in place in NY, but they have until 2019 to deliver it. I doubt they will wait that long.
Here in Pinellas County as a new BHN customer you can get 200/20 for 54.28 a month for the first year. After the first year it jumps to 108 and stays there. How are Charter prices cheaper?
As the name suggests, I actually work at TWC (in Texas), and while most of this is correct, there’s actually a lot that’s incorrect. Here are the incorrect bits that I can spot right away: “Charter’s entry-level price for most customers is $59.99 for 60Mbps, about $25 more than Time Warner Cable’s promotional rate for Standard 15/1Mbps service, which has been selling for about $35/mo for the first year.” $59.99 is not the entry-level promotional rate. That’s the standard retail rate, which is actually equal to the current 15/1 standard retail rate. (We’re only talking non-Maxx markets here.) The promotional… Read more »
What was the point of twc saying twc maxx was coming to wisconsin , then about 2-3 weeks later charter canceling it for good?
why does charter say the modem is free but they want to charge maxx markets $120 for 300mbps? That’s $10 more than time warner if have your own modem
As I indicated, all the pricing information came directly from those slides, and not confirmed by Charter. We have not yet seen any promotional pricing for entry level broadband-only customers and Charter listed their entry level price with NY regulators for internet-only service (that was of special interest to them) at $59.99 with no promotions planned at that time. As I said, I expected that would change, but that was the information we had at the time. You are understandably confused about the Everyday Low Priced Internet $14.99 plan because you are in Texas. One of the things we pushed… Read more »
Actually, there are promotions planned. I just couldn’t remember every single price off the top of my head. But how is it fair to compare the standard retail rate to a promotional rate? And you even wrote that it was a promotional price in the article.
When you can share promotional pricing for broadband standalone service, that would be great. The standard retail rate was (and remains) the only -confirmed- price Charter intends to charge for broadband-only service. The promotional rate for TWC is confirmed and easy to get. That is why there is a comparison, but we made clear which was a regular price and which was a promotion. When further details emerge that we can confirm, that information will be part of the record. If you ask me to compare the relative value of TWC Maxx pricing with Charter Spectrum, TWC remains a much… Read more »
“Keep in mind Charter will start by offering all “New Charter” customers a “new customer” promotion, priced low the first year and then increasing incrementally in price during the second and third years. Year three pricing will be equivalent to Charter’s regular price, which will be substantially higher than customers on Time Warner Cable customer retention plans have paid. Charter’s service plans offer improved broadband speeds, but at a significantly higher price. Standalone broadband customers in particular will feel an immediate sting. Charter’s entry-level price for most customers is $59.99 for 60Mbps” This implies that the $59.99 is a promotional… Read more »
The only thing better about charter is when the promo is done you are still at 60 mbps. Every other plan and everything else will be worse espcially cuz they decided that no one else is worth getting maxx speeds now.
I do see that you edited the article to be more fair with regards to the pricing, so thank you for that. I did check at work today, and I have a document that shows the new customer promotional rates (Spectrum Internet alone is $39.99/month, by the way). It’s in PDF form, so how could I get it to you?
[email protected] and I’ll add the details to the article. Thanks!
also 300mbps promo rate was $65 not no $99.99
I think the “with” in “to go with internet access for 60 days” should be “without”.
Good catch! You are right. I fixed it.
All i know is as a 13 year TWC customer we were told we couldn’t sign up for Charters plans unless we cancelled our TWC service.no upgrades nothing,heading back with a baseball bat right now to see if results vary when i apply the pressure to the side of the managers temple.
Charter’s (Spectrum) Ultra plan (the higher speed internet – speed varies by market) is $60 on top of your base internet rate. Standard base rate (Internet Plus – 60mbps in most areas) is $59.99 for stand alone internet, but is discounted to $53.99 when bundled with TV, and usually comes stand alone with an introductory rate of $39.99/mo for the first 12mo, but sometimes has a $29.99 online only offer of 29.99 for 12mo, or when bundled with TV AND Phone at $29.99 for either 12mo or 3yrs depending on the offer available at the time (offers vary), so if… Read more »
I think charter/spectrum is moronic – they are losing tons of time warner customers such as myself because of their rigid pricing policies and endless games – taking advantage of previously loyal customers in favor of new customers.
Why spend billions to acquire time warner customers only to do everything you can to piss them off? Makes no sense but I guess you can’t expect anything but nonsense from corporations this size.
The agents at the retail stores and at the call centers are instructed to not use retention campaigns at all. I don’t understand it at all.
They literally don’t have access to retention save offers. You have to ask for retention or just say you want to cancel. They don’t even give the supervisors access to the save offers.
You already know what you need to do if you know the term retention, so stop wasting time with a front line agent…