Comcast Prices Going Up Again in NJ: Here’s How Bad You’ll Be Hit

I remember when television used to be simple. You didn’t pay a thing. Of course, you only had a handful of channels. You had to watch everything when it was on or you were out of luck. No DVR. Kid shows? Those were Saturday mornings only. Now there are entire channels of nonstop children’s shows competing with others.

And television isn’t even necessarily television anymore. It’s laptops and other devices and streaming with WiFi and binge-watching entire episodes of a favorite show in one day then being left deflated that you have to wait a long time for the story to continue.

And you pay. An Amazon bill here. A downloaded rental there.

Well, if you’re a Comcast customer you’re about to pay even more.

The nation’s largest cable and internet provider just hiked rates a year ago. Here we go again.

Beginning Dec. 20, you will see a national average increase of 3.8%.

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This nearly 4% hike follows that 3% increase from last year.

Comcast says don’t blame them. Information in recent Xfinity statements said their costs were going up “in response to increases in expenses impacting our services” such as TV networks charging more for retransmission.

“TV networks and other video programmers continue to raise their prices, with broadcast television and sports being the biggest drivers of increases in customers’ bills,” company spokesperson Jennifer Bilotta told Philadelphia Inquirer.

More bad news. The price you’ll pay for a TV box and remote is going up to $10, from $8.50. That’s 17% more.

Renting a modem from Comcast? That’s up by 7% from $14 to $15.

If you ever wonder why it seems you can’t get ahead and have it worse than your parents and grandparents seemed to, think about it. While limited, television was free back then. We didn’t pay for things like cell phones. We didn’t pay for things like computers and laptops because they didn’t exist. We didn’t pay for a modem every month because there was nothing that needed one. The list goes on and on.

And we’ve set up society today so that these things aren’t luxuries. They’re necessities. Try managing things with your kid’s school communications without a laptop. So that Comcast increase? Sucks, but you’ll pay it.