Time Warner Cable increases cable and internet rates in New York after the state approved its $55 billion merger with Charter Communications. TWC will also increase the prices for its modems and set-top boxes.
The company released a statement, saying, "Charges in your bill are mainly driven by the increase we must pay to deliver your favourite channels." Consumerist enumerated the increases TWC will impose. Its standard TV plan will go up to $78.99 per month from $76.99. Its Sports Pass from $8.99 to $10 a month, its Digital HD or DVR set-top box will cost $8.50 from $6.98 a month, while its basic and standard Internet services will increase to $49.99 and $59.99 a month from $29.99 and $34.99 a month.
Times Union reported that Charter will takeover TWC's 2.6 million customers in New York. Charter offers affordable, high speed Internet to its consumers through user-friendly deals. Meanwhile, TWC has several hundred thousand New York customers.
Time Warner Cable spun off from HBO's parent company Time Warner back in 2009. The merger between TWC and Charter is not an attractive prospect for HBO and Time Warner representatives, according to a report by Fortune. The merger between the two companies would become the second-biggest cable provider in the US next to Comcast. HBO fears that the merger would affect its HBO streaming business.
The merger could be a strategy to combat the increasing threat of online video services, such as Hulu and Netflix. HBO Now is also a part of the online video services industry. Time Warner could also be adversely affected by this merger, because it can strengthen the bargaining power of cable providers over the fees that it pays programming.
The merger between TWC and Charter still needs the approval of the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. Both of these agencies rejected TWC's bid to merge with Comcast in 2015.
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