Cox Cable customers in Arizona, Florida and beyond face a significant rate hike for cable, broadband, and phone service in 2013 according to a notification from the company. Rates are going up for most individual services, although customers in selected package bundles or on promotions will avoid increases for now.

Cox claims “increasing programming expenses” and the “rising costs of doing business” are responsible for the forthcoming higher bills.

In Arizona, Cox’s prices change as follows:

Cox TV and Advanced TV:
Cox TV Essential will change from $60.79 to $63.99.
Advanced TV will change from $62.59 to $63.99.
Preferred TV will change from $69.59 to $73.99.
Super Mix will change from $69.59 to $70.99.
Premier TV will change from $80.59 to $83.99.
Ultimate TV will change from $122.58 to $125.99.
Advanced TV standard definition receivers will change from $6.99 to $8.50.

Plus Package fee will change from $10 to $5. (only decrease)
Variety Pak will change from $7.00 to $10.00.
Sports and Information Pak will change from $7.00 to $8.50.
Single premium channel rate will change from $14.99 to $15.00.
Two premium channels rate will change from $23.49 to $25.00
Three premium channel rate will change from $31.99 to $34.00.
Four premium channel rate will change from $39.49 to $42.00.

Telephone:
Cox Digital Telephone Essential will change from $19.99 to $21.99.
Voice Mail will change from $7.99 to $8.99.
To comply with federal regulatory guidelines for the Access Recovery Charge, the FCC Access Charge will increase by $0.12. Toll Restriction will change from $2.75 to $1.49.
Simply 5 Long Distance will change from $3.99 to $4.95.
For information on other telephone rate changes, please visit Cox.com

Internet:
Starter will change from $25.99 to $26.99.
Essential will change from $37.99 to $39.99.
Preferred will change from $53.99 to $55.99.
Premier will change from $64.99 to $67.99.
Ultimate will change from $94.99 to $99.99.

(Thanks to ‘BryanInPHX’ for compiling the changes.)

In Florida, Cox customers will pay $68.49 for “Advanced TV” service — nearly $70 for what some would consider “basic cable.” Equipment is going up as well.

Advanced TV standard definition receivers increase from $6.99 to $8.50 a month. Advanced TV High Definition and DVR receivers rise from $7.99 to $8.50.

Many Cox Internet customers in Florida will also pay between $3-4 a month more for their broadband service.

All new homes must be equipped with fiber broadband connections if they are located in a county or city where fiber service is provided, according to a new mandate from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The Chinese government has learned turning over national broadband policy to self-regulating providers reluctant to invest in super-fast broadband service is a mistake other countries will pay for dearly as they fall behind in broadband rankings and digital opportunities only available to the broadband “well-connected.”

Now the government has taken measures to level the playing field for ordinary consumers and businesses who will share the right to equal service from various telecommunications companies over the country’s state-of-the-art fiber to the premises network.

The mandate takes effect April 1, and is anticipated to bring explosive growth in domestic fiber broadband, according to the China Daily.

With an open fiber network, expensive network redundancy and cherry-picking lucrative customers are reduced or eliminated, allowing the country to deploy fiber more rapidly in areas providers would typically deem “unprofitable.”

The new fiber policy will mean at least 40 million Chinese homes will have fiber broadband by 2015. China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., the nation’s second largest telecom company, is among the most aggressive providers, adding 10 million Chinese families to its fiber network in the last year alone.

The bare minimum fiber speeds for Chinese families will be 4Mbps in rural areas, 20Mbps in urban zones, with 95 percent of the country blanketed with broadband within a few years.

The Chinese government’s broadband plan is laser-focused on fiber optics, with satellite and wireless service filling in rural coverage gaps. The country sees 21st century broadband as a national priority and is well on its way even as North American broadband companies are pulling back on fiber deployments. Instead, American and Canadian companies are incrementally upgrading inferior copper wire and cable HFC broadband networks. The Chinese government does not believe these older technologies will suffice.

Optical fiber manufacturers who assumed telecom companies in North America would continue aggressive fiber deployments and ramped up optical fiber production as a result have taken a financial beating, slashing prices to reduce inventory. The price for fiber cable has dropped at least 90 percent in the past decade. The Chinese government has even resorted to tariffs to stop American and European manufacturers from dumping fiber cables and equipment at rock bottom prices to the detriment of its domestic manufacturers.

China remains the largest driver in global fiber demand. In 2011, China accounted for about 50% of the global demand, reaching nearly 60 percent by the end of 2012.

Comcast Corporation has announced its intention to pay $150 million for part-ownership of Arris Group, Inc., which manufacturers set top boxes and cable modems.

Comcast will own 10.6 million shares of Arris when the deal is complete.

The investment comes at the same time Arris is completing its acquisition of Motorola Home Business, which has been a major supplier of cable equipment for years.

With the investment, Comcast is signaling its intent to remain committed to Arris and Motorola brand equipment, but also more strongly influence its future development.

Cable operators have often griped about proprietary software powering set top boxes and the cost of buying and maintaining equipment. Many operators plan to leverage their broadband networks to develop new, cloud-based software to improve the user experience and reduce the cost of equipment.

“This investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers,” said Bob Stanzione, Arris chairman and CEO.

Time Warner Cable has soft-launched a new Ultimate speed tier offering 75/5Mbps service in the Dallas metro area, first to Signature Home customers promised free upgrades to the new speed.

That is 25Mbps faster than the company’s usual top speed, for $10 more than Ultimate 50 customers pay.

Dallas customers report Time Warner is offering some promotional pricing on speed upgrades, charging $79.99 for 50/5Mbps service, $89.99 for 75/5Mbps, and 30/5Mbps for $59.99. These prices are good for one year. Existing customers who cajole customer service about committing to a speed upgrade in return for a better price are achieving some success.

“We do have a 75Mbps tier in Dallas and a 100Mbps tier in Kansas City, both of which are part of our larger announcement on speed increases,” Time Warner Cable’s Alex Dudley tells Broadband Reports. “As far as those two tiers are concerned, we don’t have anything else to announce, though I think it is fair to say that we have been making an effort to increase speeds and will continue to do so in the future.”

In other words, expect a gradual rollout of speeds greater than 50Mbps in other cities across Time Warner’s footprint, particularly in areas where competitors cut into Time Warner’s market share.

Upstream speeds continue to be no greater than 5Mbps across all of Time Warner’s DOCSIS 3 speed tiers.

AT&T provides limited U-verse competition in the region, but their speeds are not competitive with Time Warner’s latest speed upgrades.

Time Warner Cable’s speed tiers and priced differently in various regions of the country. This shows pricing and speeds in upstate N.Y.

A CenturyLink official made a remarkable concession in the state of Minnesota last week when he admitted the state’s community-owned broadband networks are better equipped to deliver 21st century broadband speeds that CenturyLink simply cannot provide.

Duane Ring, midwest region president for CenturyLink publicly told an audience at a Minnesota High Tech Association-sponsored discussion in Minneapolis that community-owned networks don’t have to meet shareholder demands for return on investment and other corporate metrics that have left CenturyLink broadband customers with far lower speeds than municipal broadband customers. Minnesota Public Radio was on hand:

Noting that CenturyLink wants every customer it can find, Ring pointed out that the company nonetheless needs a return on investment that satisfies shareholders and meets the demands of larger commitments and fiduciary responsibilities.

The small phone companies that have laid high-speed fiber networks, some of whom are cooperatives whose customers are the owners “can make decisions that maybe the economic return is 25 years,” Ring said. “They can do that.”

CenturyLink concedes Paul Bunyan offers better speeds over a superior network.

Only 62 percent of Minnesotans can today purchase what qualifies as broadband service. Those lucky enough to be served by public providers like Paul Bunyan in the Bemidji area and Farmers Mutual Telephone in western Minnesota benefit from some of the fastest broadband speeds in the state. That is because those cooperatives and public ventures laid fiber optic cables connected to individual homes. Those in rural Minnesota served by CenturyLink or Frontier get much less from slow speed, copper-based DSL, if they can get broadband at all.

CenturyLink has proven itself an obstacle for community broadband, opposing the construction of improved networks in areas they already service, condemning rural customers to substandard broadband speeds indefinitely. While the company says it is not opposed to public-private partnerships, any attempt to bypass them will result in a hornet’s nest of legal protests and blocking actions.

While community-owned networks struggle for financing and approval in a hostile atmosphere created by incumbent providers, the government is handing out money to companies like CenturyLink to get them to extend their slow speed DSL network. CenturyLink is spending $11 million in Connect America funds in Minnesota alone.

In other areas, residents have no interest in waiting around for single digit DSL speeds. In Lac qui Parle County in western Minnesota, local officials have joined Farmers Mutual Telephone to build a fiber network.

CenturyLink’s admission proves it answers first to shareholders, much later to customers.