A few months after Comcast started doubling high-speed Internet speeds for Colorado subscribers free of charge, the company has hiked the monthly fee for leased cable modems by $2, or 67 percent.
The majority of Comcast’s Internet customers lease modems from the company, and in January that monthly charge went from $3 to $5.
Comcast says the increase is related to its technology upgrades.
“We continually invest in providing customers with next-generation equipment and technology that delivers advanced Internet services with enhanced capabilities,” spokeswoman Cindy Parsons said in a statement. “Our costs for this new equipment will increase by 167 percent over the next two years.”
Parsons also noted that customers can purchase a modem from a retailer rather than leasing one.
Comcast is raising the fee nationwide, though it has been instituting the change market by market.
Toward the end of last year, Comcast doubled Internet speeds for the majority of its customers in Colorado from 6 megabits per second to 12 megabits per second.
Comcast has about 23.6 million cable-TV subscribers nationwide and 840,000 in Colorado. It doesn’t disclose Internet customers by state.
The Philadelphia-based company has 15.9 million Internet subscribers nationwide. If two-thirds of those customers lease modems, the $2 hike on the monthly fee would generate more than $250 million in annual revenue.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
