Commentary

ISPs Raise Broadband Costs -- And Advocates' Ire

Broadband in the U.S. already costs more than in many other countries. And it's about to get even more expensive.

The country's largest cable provider, Comcast, plans to raise rates for customers in the New Jersey area starting next month. Letters from Comcast posted at Broadband Reports show that subscriptions for the company's "economy" 1 Mbps downstream service and the "performance" service of 12 Mbps downstream will both increase by $2 a month -- for the former, to $40.95; the latter, $59.95. (Editor's Note: These prices have been updated; they were previously incorrect.)

Comcast hasn't yet announced any price increases for parts of the country other than New Jersey, a spokesperson tells MediaPost. AT&T also recently announced a round of price increases, according to Broadband Reports.

Not surprisingly, news of the rate hikes isn't going over well with consumer advocates. Free Press issued a statement this morning arguing that the price increases boost the case for new rules.

"Consumers need price relief, and are asking that the FCC do something bold and decisive to promote meaningful competition," Free Press policy director Ben Scott said in a statement.

The group has a point. Already 35% of Americans lack home broadband connections, according to a recent FCC report. Many of those without broadband told FCC researchers that the service was too expensive -- and that was before the recent round of price increases.

The fact is, the current broadband duopoly system -- in which many consumers only have a choice between a DSL line from their phone company or a cable modem -- doesn't lend itself to competition. And without more competition between ISPs, broadband is likely to remain too expensive for many Americans.

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UPDATE: Yesterday's Daily Online Examiner said that Google's Buzz initially revealed information about users' email contacts to the Web at large. To clarify, Google's Buzz only did so if users activated the feature without changing the defaults. Also, Google Buzz shared contacts' names, but not their email addresses.

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