What’s The Trend for Broadband Prices?

For years, cable companies have been raising broadband prices annually. While price increases don’t hit every customer immediately because of customers on term contracts, every price increase reaches every customer eventually. The industry has changed, and it doesn’t seem as obvious as in the past that cable companies can raise rates and that customers will just begrudgingly go along with it. The cable companies have stopped growing. This seems to be for a variety of reasons. First, fixed wireless access (FWA) cellular carriers are thriving. What’s making FWA attractive is the price of $50-$60 for unlimited broadband—far below the prices charged by cable companies. The cable companies have to be feeling some sting also from the large telecommunications companies and others who are building and selling fiber in cable company markets. The rest of the industry is going to watch this issue closely because it’s going to be easier to compete against cable companies if they continue to raise rates. Higher cable broadband prices let other broadband providers creep up rates and still stay competitive.