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No More Modem Lease Fee, But Only Two Choices for Internet Service
The good news is Charter does not apply any modem lease fees and there is a good chance if you already purchased your own modem, Charter will continue to let you use it. The bad news is that if you were used to sticking with a lower-speed broadband tier to save money, those days are likely coming to an end. Charter’s “simplified” menu of broadband options cuts Time Warner’s six choices and Bright House’s five options to just two:
60/4Mbps for Spectrum Internet ($59.99)
100/5Mbps for Internet Ultra ($109.99)
This is likely to be a red flag for regulators concerned about broadband affordability. Although it is likely Charter may offer concessions by grandfathering existing Time Warner Cable and Bright House customers under their current plans, Charter has nothing comparable to Time Warner’s “Everyday Low Price Internet” for $14.99 a month or a 6Mbps Basic broadband alternative far less expensive than Charter’s entry-level Internet tier. Bright House customers are not likely to experience something similar. The entry-level 15Mbps broadband-only plan is $65 a month without a promotion, according to Bright House.
Charter is rumored to be testing speed boosts for those two tiers for deployment in areas where they face fiber competitors. The first phase would raise Spectrum speeds to 100/25Mbps and Ultra to 300/50Mbps with plans to further increase speeds when DOCSIS 3.1 arrives — likely to 300/50Mbps for Spectrum and 500/300 for Ultra, at least where Google Fiber, U-verse with GigaPower, and Verizon FiOS offers competition.
Recently, Charter has followed Time Warner Cable’s marketing script and is actively promoting the fact the company has no data caps on broadband service, but Charter had a history of loosely enforced “soft caps” for several years in the recent past, so we’re not convinced data caps are gone for good at Charter.
Charter's main promo for Internet-only is $40/month for 12 months for the 60/4 service. It drops to $30 if you bundle with TV or phone.
If this is true, it should hold me over until Google comes to my house in Cary. I'm figuring a few more months before the Charter takover (???) and then a year after that... Puts me near the end of 2016, or later.
Anyone know if the 12-months is under contract, or is it no contract like TWC is?
I'm figuring a few more months before the Charter takover (???)
The FCC approval process for the merger will probably take a full year.
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