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Oceanic Time Warner Cable Ends Discounts for Non-Profits; Rates More Than Double for Some

Phillip Dampier October 2, 2013 Consumer News 1 Comment

oceanic twcHawaiian non-profit customers of Time Warner Cable are receiving letters warning the cable company is terminating its discount program for charitable and community groups that could result in rates more than doubling for some customers.

Oceanic Time Warner Cable had provided free or heavily discounted cable or Internet service to qualifying organizations. Those discounts are ending, explains a letter obtained by Pacific Business News.

Time Warner Cable has adopted new policies regarding discounted or free service in light of IRS regulations that require 1099 forms to formalize the value of discounts or forgiven cable bills. The cable company is using the occasion to review its discount programs – ending some while tightening requirements for others.

“If we do not receive a reply from you within 30 days of this notice to update your account, it will be necessary for us to disconnect your existing services,” the letter explained.

Becky Dunning, managing director for the non-profit Honolulu Theatre for Youth called Time Warner to learn what “update your account” meant.

“The biggest thing is that when I called the number I was told that they aren’t offering discounted rates to nonprofits anymore, and that we’d have to pay their existing business rates; for our organization that means we would go from paying $106 a month to $227, which is a big difference — more than double,” Dunning said. “We can’t exist without Internet service.”

Dunning said the group would probably stay with Time Warner and attempt to make up the difference from somewhere in the organization’s budget.

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Mike Swanson
Mike Swanson
10 years ago

Mahalo for exposing this new and disappointing policy implemented by Oceanic TWC. I would like to kindly suggest you use the term Hawaii instead of Hawaiian (as in “Hawaii non-profit customers”) so as to avoid confusion between residents of the state of Hawaii and Native Hawaiians who may or may not reside in Hawaii. This may seem an insignificant distinction but it’s important to note that people who live in Hawaii (of Hawaiian ancestry or not) are accustomed to associating the term “Hawaiian” as one relating to the Native Hawaiian community. So where a resident of Iowa or Texas can… Read more »

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