Comcast is introducing a new $1.99/month fee for equipment that allows customers with older televisions to watch the cable television lineup they already pay to receive.

Customers with Digital Transport Adapters, also known as DTAs, will soon find the new fee on their Comcast bill. Comcast formerly offered up to two DTA boxes for free in areas where the company reclaimed space on cable systems by moving analog television channels to digital. Customers needing more than two boxes paid $1.99 for each additional box, but now Comcast will charge everyone for the devices.

Comcast expects to earn more than $550 million in new revenue nationwide from the introduction of the new fee.

Customers are unhappy.

“So after paying more than $60 a month for a television package, we now have to shell out even more for the equipment to watch it,” asks Stop the Cap! reader Deepak in Philadelphia, one of the first cities where Comcast will levy the fee. “Comcast says we cannot buy our own box or buys theirs outright to avoid paying the fee either.”

The devices cost Comcast an estimated $35-50 each, depending on their capabilities, so Comcast will book the additional revenue as profit as early as mid-2014.

AT&T has announced its intention to acquire the last remaining pieces of Alltel that were left behind after Verizon Wireless acquired most of the company in 2008.

AT&T will pay $780 million in cash to Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., and add 585,000 Alltel customers to the AT&T family in six states: Idaho, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.

Prior to the Verizon sale, Alltel used to operate in 34 states, targeting small and medium sized cities. The company was well-regarded for its innovative plans and features that distinguished it from its larger rivals. Among them: Alltel Family Finder helped parents keep track of children, My Circle allowed customers to make and receive unlimited free calls to and from any number in a calling circle, including landlines, and U Prepaid offered customers the chance to make unlimited calls to one number of their choice.

Alltel’s cellular network is based on CDMA technology, incompatible with AT&T’s GSM network. Alltel subscribers are expected to receive credit towards the purchase of new GSM equipment as Alltel’s network is retired.

AT&T says its acquisition will allow Alltel customers to enjoy a better wireless experience and also benefit AT&T customers who roam in Alltel service areas. But customers will likely lose access to Alltel’s service plans and will eventually be asked to choose a different plan from AT&T, potentially at a higher price.

The acquisition further reduces competition in the American wireless marketplace.

Time Warner Cable customers in southern California are bracing themselves for a rate increase that will raise prices by 8.2 percent — almost four times the rate of inflation.

The price for digital basic cable, the most popular cable television package, will rise from $67 to $72.50 per month. The price charged to record shows from that package is also going up. “DVR service,” which does not include the DVR equipment itself, is rising 18.6% — from $10.95 to $12.99 a month.

Stop the Cap! reader Steve in Carlsbad adds his rate increase notification also mentions price increases for bundled packages:

All Standard and Basic packages and bundles will increase by $5.00 and all digital video packages and bundles will increase by $3.00.

The rate increases are by no means over. As Time Warner mails its price change notifications for 2013 to customers, it also signed a 25-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for yet another regional sports channel showcasing the baseball team. Industry insiders estimate the deal is worth between $7-8 billion and could eventually cost cable subscribers an additional $5 a month, whether they watch the channel or not.

It is likely the latest rate increase does include the cost of the 2012 launch of Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which features the Los Angeles Lakers. Time Warner asks competing satellite and telephone company video services to pay between $4-5 a month to provide SportsNet to their customers.

The rate increases will not affect customers on retention or promotional packages until they expire. As usual, Time Warner blamed the rate hike on increasing programming costs, notably for sports and broadcast television stations.

Although many Californians have alternatives, ranging from AT&T U-verse to two satellite television providers, those companies are raising prices as well:

• Comcast (San Francisco Bay area) rates went up 4.3% last year and will increase again this summer;
• DirecTV rates will increase Feb. 7 by about 4.5 percent;
• Dish Networks’ most popular packages rose $5 a month on Jan. 17;
• AT&T U-verse will boost prices on components of its service by around $2 a month each on Jan. 27.

Customers facing price increases can use the rate increase notification as the trigger to threaten to cancel service to win a lower price with a customer retention offer. Stop the Cap! published a comprehensive guide on how to win a lower rate from Time Warner in 2012 and those tips are still working for our readers today.

If Time Warner seems unwilling to bargain, customers can also consider taking their business elsewhere by signing up for a promotional introductory offer with a competitor. When that offer expires, Time Warner will take you back with a new customer promotion as well.

In general, bundling all of your services with one provider will save the most money. Triple play packages consisting of television, broadband, and phone service are the most economical when considering the cost of each service. But it is also a good idea to consider whether you need all three services.

The weakest link of the triple play package is the landline. If you subscribe to broadband and cable service, consider switching to a broadband-based phone company like Ooma, which received a high rating from Consumer Reports. After an initial investment of around $150 for the equipment, the price of the phone service itself is next to nothing and includes nationwide unlimited calling. Ooma basic customers only pay for FCC-mandated fees and local taxes and surcharges. Combined these are usually well under $7 a month. Ooma Premier customers pay $119.99 a year and get a free number transfer, free calling to Canada, the choice of a Bluetooth Adapter, Wireless Adapter or Extended Warranty, a large list of calling features, a second line, voicemail, and free mobile calling minutes.

This digital adapter cable box is free through 2015. A traditional set top box from Time Warner costs $8.49/mo.

Next consider your current cable television package. Scrutinize your bill for add-on fees, especially for digital/HD add-on packages for channels you may never watch. Do you still need to pay for HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz? Consider Netflix, Redbox, and Amazon video — among others — to satisfy your movie needs without paying more than $15 a month for HBO alone.

Equipment fees may also make up a substantial portion of your bill. If you pay separately for DVR equipment and service, you are probably paying Time Warner’s regular customer rates. Seize the opportunity to demand a better deal. Customers with multiple set top boxes may want to consider ditching them on secondary sets, especially if they don’t need an on-screen program guide or access to on-demand programming.

Time Warner is offering customers “digital transport adapters” (DTAs) at no cost through 2015. These boxes, a fraction of the size of a traditional set top box, will allow older sets to access most digital channels that are included in your cable television package. But a DTA won’t work with on-demand programming or premium channels, at least for now. The devices also do not support a handful of digital channels that Time Warner provides under a bandwidth-saving scheme that only delivers a network if a customer with a traditional set top box actually starts to watch. In western New York, we found about 10 unavailable channels, virtually all very minor networks that won’t prove much of an inconvenience. Using a DTA instead of a set top box can save up to $8.50 a month for each cable box it replaces.

If you subscribe to Time Warner Cable broadband and are paying the company’s $3.95 a month modem rental fee, you are throwing your money away. Invest in purchasing your own cable modem. They are simple to install and are reliable. You’ll earn back the purchase price in as little as a year. Now may also be a good time to review your speed needs. Time Warner recently boosted its standard broadband speed to 15/1Mbps. If you pay extra for Turbo, this might be a good time to consider dropping it if you don’t need the incrementally faster 20Mbps download speed Turbo offers.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act strikes again.

Effective this week, a temporary provision that protected consumers taking their existing, newly-unlocked phone to another carrier has expired. As a result, anyone who attempts to unlock a cell phone without permission could be liable for up to $1,000,000 in fines, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both. Phone companies are exempt, but the customers who purchase phones from them are not.

The DMCA was never specifically written to stop customers from moving phones between wireless companies, but because its provisions are so broad, the Act caused a number of unintentional problems that leave copyright lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation scratching their heads.

“This shows just how absurd the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is: a law that was supposed to stop the breaking of digital locks on copyrighted materials has led to the Librarian of Congress trying to regulate the used cellphone market,” says EFF attorney Mitch Stoltz.

The DMCA’s overly broad provisions are slightly tempered by the Library of Congress, which maintains an extensive exemptions list designed to cover for the law’s more ridiculous overreaching consequences. But those exemptions only last three years, and the one covering cell phone unlocking expired Sunday.

Jailbreaking your phone to strip away carrier-installed and mandated bloatware remains technically legal, but you won’t get far taking your phone to another provider without getting your current carrier’s permission. Some companies will gladly unlock cell phones for customers who have maintained an account for a certain number of days or have fulfilled their two-year service contract. But not all.

If your current phone company wants you to stay, your only recourse may be to buy a new cell phone from your new provider, who may never want you to leave either.

Verizon Wireless has been making a killing herding customers into its Family Share data plans.

Originally introduced last year, Verizon charges outrageously high prices for a paltry mobile data allowance that can be shared (think Oliver Twist on a diet) with other wireless devices attached to your plan.

The company’s latest financial report shows growth in average revenue earned from each account shot up 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter to a budget-busting $146.80 a month. The more Verizon can push customers to its shared data platform, the richer the company will get. With just 23 percent of Verizon customers currently on such plans, there is plenty of room for even more earnings.

Even though the value for money has deteriorated, Verizon has placed its data plans on a usage allowance diet for two years running.

Originally, Verizon charged $29.99 a month for unlimited data usage. In 2011, the company kept the price the same but slapped on a 2GB monthly allowance. This year, new customers pay $50 for just 1GB of data on the company’s data share plan.

The lower the limit and the more devices added to your wireless account, the more money Verizon will collect as customers are forced to upgrade to more expensive plans with more generous data usage allowances.

At the same time, Verizon’s network costs are dropping because the company’s LTE 4G network is five times more efficient moving data than the older 3G network it may eventually replace.