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November 30, 1999
Cable rates increase in 2000NEW ULM -- Time Warner Cable has announced that cable prices will increase in January 2000. The changes are due to complicated formulas given from the Federal Communications Commission, said Mark Hamerstrum, Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service for the Minnesota Division of Time Warner Cable. Increased programming costs, system improvements, inflation and other factors also contribute to the raise in rates, Hamerstrum said. Area sports fans will be pleased to hear that Time Warner will be adding ESPN2 to the Standard Package. "We've been receiving requests for it for some time," Hamerstrum said. "ESPN2 is great for sports fans. It has NHL hockey, which is what we had the most requests for in New Ulm." Time Warner will make minor channel adjustments to make the change. ESPN2 will be shown on channel 35 and the QVC will be relocated from that channel to channel 99. The cost of Basic Cable will increase from $6.72 to $7.37 per month, while the Standard Package will increase from $27.82 to $29. Prices for premium services will also go up as HBO will cost $12.95 per month, up from $10.95, ShowTime from $9 to $10.95 and the Disney Channel from $7.95 to $10.95. The HBO/ShowTime special's price will expand from $19.95 to $23.90 and the HBO/ShowTime/The Disney Channel package will go from $23.90 to $26.85, but the HBO/The Disney Channel will decrease in cost from $18.90 to $16.90. Costs from the Showtime/The Disney Channel special will remain the same at $12.95. Although many of the channel prices went up, installation charges will actually go down. An unwired installation will decrease in price from $43.89 to $38.68 and prewired from $27.22 to $25.69. To receive an additional outlet charge at the time of initial installation, it had been $29.15, but will decrease to $24.04 and the charge for a separate trip to install an additional outlet will go from a cost of $43.89 to $38.68. If customers had wanted to upgrade their cable package to another level of service, it used to cost $27.27, but will now be $24.04. The hourly wage service charge will decrease from $39.75 to $35.04. Hamerstrum said the lower costs were determined by the FCC. "It's an illustration of what the FCC intended to do with some of the regulations," he said. Notifications of the Time Warner price changes were mailed Nov. 24.
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