Altice is hinting that another notable price hike will hit the company's Suddenlink and Optimum cable TV and broadband subscribers in June. It will be the second such price increase since June for many of these customers. Local Connecticut news outlets obtained a letter from Altice to the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, informing the regulators that Altice customers will soon see another round of price increases on everything from the cost of set top box rentals to the various fees the company buries below the line to covertly jack up the advertised rate.
The hikes include a $1 price increase on the company's
sneaky (though now industry standard) "Broadcast TV fee" to $5 per month.
Altice USA customers will also pay an additional $30 more for installation, currently priced at $70 for a standard service install and $130 for premium service. The company will also impose a $1 price hike on sports programming; a $2 hike in the price of its premium tech support option; a doubling in the fees charged for those whose service is shut off for nonpayment; a $1 increase in the cost of renting a cable box (now $11); and fifty cents more per month to rent a CableCARD.
"We are investing in our networks, services, and the overall customer experience, from launching our Altice One entertainment platform to the deployment of our fiber network, which we are actively building throughout our footprint,” Altice said in a statement
circulated to the press. “Our rates, like those of other pay TV providers, continue to be impacted by skyrocketing programming costs, of which we pass just a fraction of those rising costs along to customers.”