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Time Warner Cable has mailed letters to subscribers in its Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania division announcing that “with many of our fixed costs escalating, we are forced to adjust the prices of some of our services accordingly.”
That price adjustment takes Road Runner’s 7Mbps broadband service to $49.95 per month, if the subscriber also takes cable-TV service from Time Warner, according to one subscriber in Cleveland. Another subscriber in Erie, Pennsylvania also noticed Road Runner Lite was also increasing in price to $24.95 per month with the rate change, effective November 24th.
A Canton, Ohio subscriber sent Stop the Cap! a copy of the letter their family received regarding the rate hike.
The company suggests customers might use the letter as a motivation to inquire about subscribing to even more services from Time Warner as part of a bundled package.
An Alliance, Ohio subscriber called the company’s rate increase pathetic, noting the division has some slow broadband speeds compared with other Road Runner service areas.
“With 768kbps upload speed, give us more then we will pay more,” he writes.
Time Warner's letter to customers in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania (courtesy: kba4)
Not that anyone appreciates a price increase, especially in this economy, but what were the old rates?
It’s tough to find non-promotional pricing on TWC’s website. The website seems to indicate $46.95 is the current price in Cleveland for 7/512 service.
Pricing may vary in different communities, along with the upload speed, because in Cleveland, standard upload seems to be 512kbps, not 768kbps.
A $3 average increase seems to be generally correct, as far as I can tell.
Here in Rochester, for $50, we get Road Runner Turbo at 15/1 speed.
That’s $50 if you’re a cable subscriber, it’s $55 if you don’t have cable and $50 for Standard Road Runner (10Mbps/768Kbps). Of course all tiers include both the PowerBoost gimmick and network throttling practices so actual speeds vary by the minute.
How long before TW does the same thing here in Rochester? With no competition except for Frontier’s DSL, what’s to stop them? Maybe they’ll say that since they don’t have usage caps, they have no choice but to raise the price.
And we will pound them for not raising prices in FiOS areas.
Everyone who gets that letter should respond with a phone call quoting Time Warner’s earnings over the past three years on Broadband, as well as the amount they’ve spent on infrastructure over the same period, which has DECREASED.
Higher fixed costs my ass.
??? I already have $50 a month for 5 Mbps service and 384k upstream. I would gladly take double upstream and 2Mpbs more for that same price! But Greensboro, NC will likely get further buggered because we didn’t want to be a guinea pig for their overcharging schemes. Meaning we will likely never see DOCSIS 3 or any upgrades or maintenance to the system that we have been paying for TV service for nearly 2 decades on, as well how ever long Road Runner service has been available. Where do i get this extra bandwidth from here?. Not to demean… Read more »
If I recall correctly OH TWC gets 768 kbps uploads on their Turbo tier only. I think the downloads on that tier are 10 Mbps.
For Greensboro customers, I sympathize. Have family in NC and their choices are Embarq or TWC. Embarq’s 3 Mbps DSL connection provides better upload speeds than TWC’s “Turbo” service.
Charlotte NC Time Warner is 10Mb down and 512Kb up on their elite turbo plan because I use to have it. Time Warner is always raising rates in my area. I seem to recall they raised the rates 3 times in one year. First it was the tv package raise. Then they uped the box rental fees. And then later it was something else.
I have the $19.95 Roadrunner Lite service, which will be raising to $24.95. That a 25% increase. Where else can you make a 25% upcharge like that? I live in Cleveland without any other cable option, so I’m stuck.
I have Road Runner from Time Warner, and I too received the letter about pricing increases. With the new hike, they will be expecting me to pay $49.99 for internet and an additional $10.95 for wireless service. I refuse to pay $60 a month for internet service alone!! The sad part is no other high speed internet provider services my address in Cleveland. I know they are only increasing the price because of lack of competition in my area. Time Warner sucks.
I got the same letter. The next day I called AT&T, they have 6MB down 768k up for $35/month. I’m switching. Suck it TWC!
Here in Austin, Texas, I got the letter from Time warner that says they will increase the price by $4 in December. I only have AT&T as alternative, but last I heard, they suck too.
I only have Internet on them (no cable/phone), and they are trying to sell me the bundle. I’m wondering those who have bundles already also receive the price increase?
Can you scan and send me a copy? phil at stopthecap.com will reach me. Let me know the old and new rate.
There is something odd going on in Austin. The Standard Rate for Austin Roadrunner is currently $39.99 for new customers — that’s $5 less than I’ve been paying for many years that I have been a customer. I complained to TW just a month ago and they gave me the $39.99 rate, but then got the $4 rate increase notice a couple of weeks ago. Funny thing is, the standard rate is still set to $39.99 — “effective December 1st” — if you are a new customer. This is not an introductory rate for 3/6/12 months, this is still the… Read more »
My guess is the place where you are learning about the $39.99 rate might be wrong. Whenever website updates occur for rate changes, someone messes something up. The promotional rate is usually $29.99 a month for 6/12 months and then the regular rate (was $39.99). If you are not taking a cable package, they charge you a higher price. Our round of rate increases in western NY usually comes with the glossy magazine in January or so, with the increases going into effect a month later. Last year, they upped premium channels quite a bit and I dropped two of… Read more »
Nope — the $39.99 rate is from the standard “New Customer” application page you reach after entering your street address and zip code, and this is what you get if you click on the details button. Service Details: ROAD RUNNER STANDARD (CTX) Description One-Time Monthly ROAD RUNNER STANDARD (CTX) – Rate effective December 1st, 2008. $39.99 Hardware: $0.00 Installation: Installation fees may vary. $0.00 Get more out of the Internet with Road Runner. Pay bills online, download files in a flash, share pictures with ease, and watch smooth streaming video. This High Speed Online package includes: 512 Kbps upload speed… Read more »
I notice the year that rate went into effect was 2008. If people were paying more for the last year, they owe additional refunds. If the rate is changing 12/1/09, it isn’t yet reflected on their website, based on the date presented.
Wow — you’re right. I didn’t even notice the year, LOL.
There is no way they’re going to give me or anyone else back some money though. I canceled my cable TV subscription recently anyway, so I’m already saving nearly $60 a month.
I’m reasonably sure that’s not the real date the price changed. I did the same exercise about three months ago and the price was $42.99, effective December 2008 if I recall correctly. I nearly pulled the trigger then but didn’t. Ah well. We’ll see what happens next month — Dec 2009.
I’m also in Austin, and received the same letter quoting a $4 increase in a few weeks. I currently pay $49.95 a month for a 15/2 connection (with “power bursts” up to 24 or 30 Mbps, which last a whole 2-3 seconds). My household probably consumes a lot of bandwidth compared to most, but I’m considering threatening to move to Grande Communications if they increase my rate… Compared to some of the more rural areas and their rates, we’re doing well, but it’s pathetic that Austin would have to threaten to build its own fiber network to get TW to… Read more »
I’m fed up with Time Warner myself! They have bullied their way through the internet giving those who bundled a better price and offering new customers a better deal. What about the customers who have been there since day one? It’s high time that the President and Vice president of marketing start to think about how to keep their present long-Term Customers happy. Or (like me), they are going some where else. I Have no problems with checking out the Dish or AT&T at their prices I have been quoted. Especially since I pay more than double than that for… Read more »
It’s July ’10 and I live in Maine. Just got a letter that they’re increasing the price of our internet again, another $5/mo. Swear they just did this last year. It really is ridiculous that they are charging more money for the same old product which has not gotten any faster but actually slower at times. When I moved out on my own in late ’02 I was paying $24.99/mo and now $49.99/mo. Now they want $54.99/mo and I feel trapped. Is DSL just as fast, or at least fast enough to fill my need for email, FB, Ebay, etc.… Read more »
Stephanie, and others:
If you are a standalone Time Warner Cable customer (you only take broadband, no cable)… or you want to avoid the latest rate increase, check out our latest article on this subject. We can probably save you a bundle:
http://stopthecap.com/2010/08/03/time-warner-cable-increasing-road-runner-pricing-in-rochester-for-standalone-customers-54-95-a-month/