Two months ago I started writing a heads up that home internet prices are going to have another big increase this year. Well, it’s here with about a 7% price increase by Shaw effective April 1st. Ah, the joy of having a semi monopoly!
The reason is really simple: Cable companies are losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers who are cutting the cord. It’s now a quarter of households who don’t have cable TV. But those people still want to watch TV – Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or whatever – but it’ll be on their phones or computers. So, the cable companies are losing massive amounts of money on TV packages, and will simply increase the cost of internet to offset their losses.
While their income from cable is down because of fewer subscribers, higher prices offset that. On the other hand, the mostly millennials do have unlimited data on their phones. That’s where the cable companies are making huge increases in profits. Shaw alone was up 60% in revenues last year from internet charges!
I would love to not have my cable TV bill. But I don’t have the know-how in what I need to still get what I want. I do have my laptop set up to talk to my TV, but for pictures only. And I’m not sure I can get CNN or the likes without cable. The biggest part of our cable bill are the sports channels. They’re a huge part of the cost. If you want Sportsnet and/or TSN, I think you’re stuck with that big cable bill for the time being. But do look through the channels you get and your cable company internet site as to what you can cut out to reduce your bill. It’s the only way to offset the continuous price increases!
They’re also going to try to get you into a longer-term internet contract at all costs. 5G speed is now a reality for later this year, and it’s 100 times faster than you now get from your phone company, and 16 times faster than cable companies currently offer. But if you’re in a long-term contract, you’ll be stuck at the higher rates and turtle-like speed for the life of your contract.
George Boelcke – Money Tools & Rules book – yourmoneybook.com