Leaning on broadband for growth, cable and telecom companies push consumers toward premium internet tiers

Cable and telecommunication companies are leaning heavily on their broadband businesses to propel growth as demand for pay TV subscriptions declines. They are using a range of tactics to shift consumers onto faster, premium speed tiers. In some cases, that means boosting speeds free temporarily, then raising fees later. Some consumers say that when they call to complain about their bill, the provider assuages them by offering a higher speed at a promotional rate that eventually gives way to a higher price. Major internet service providers say they do offer complimentary speed upgrades to customers, and disclose that in emails or on a user’s bill. They say any fee increases down the road are unrelated to those higher-speed packages and simply reflect normal pricing changes. The companies say consumers are demanding faster speeds to stream more high-resolution video and use more devices in their home networks. 

Nearly 61% of U.S. households had speed packages of at least 100 megabits per second as of December 2018, according to research firm Kagan. Providers are pushing even faster speeds like 150 or 250 Mbps, or 1 gigabit (1000 megabit per second) connections for power users.