By Justin McIntosh
February 12, 2004

Nearly 7,000 cable residents will not see an increase or decrease because they subscribe to a special promotion or bundle package, Kelemen said. Those packages would include the high-speed Internet or digital package.

Charter Communications has increased its cable rates again as almost 3,500 Marietta area residents found out when they received their cable bill this month.

The sole area cable provider increased its expanded basic service 6.3 percent from $24.95 to $28.60 a month.
Since basic service was dropped from $16.95 to $15.95, expanded basic subscribers saw a net increase of $2.65 on their bills, bringing their total bill to $44.55.

Charter raised the rates because of a double-digit increase in the cost of providing satellite channels such as ESPN and Fox Sports, said Michael Kelemen, director of government relations for Charter Communications.

"At the new rate of $44.55 for both services, that's still a pretty competitive rate for a channel lineup that's as good as anything you'd find in Columbus," Kelemen said.

Continued @ Marietta Times