The price of cable TV through Cox Communications will increase by $2 or $5 for some customers beginning July 15.
Limited basic cable, which is the entry-level product, will increase by $2 to $21.95 per month, and expanded cable will increase by $5 to $47.95, said Michael Dunne, a spokesman for Cox Communications in Southern Arizona. The change affects 39 percent of customers statewide.
The costs of digital cable and other packages won't change.
A letter sent to Cox customers lists rising operating and programming costs as the reasons for the increase.
Fuel — up 30 percent from a year ago in Pima County — is "an amazing line item for anybody's budget," Dunne said, and that's especially true for a company with a fleet of vehicles for home service calls.
Additionally, TV networks are increasing the rates they charge Cox to carry their programs, he said.
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Comcast, another local cable provider, has not raised its rates this year. Limited basic cable costs $16.99 per month, and standard cable costs $53.99 per month. "Like any business, the price of gas has affected us, but we've been working with our technicians and employees on ways they can reduce gas expenditures," said Kelle Maslyn, a Comcast spokeswoman.
Cable prices "continue to outpace the general level of inflation," according to a Federal Communications Commission report last fall about competition in the industry.
Cox's letter to customers says: "In the past two years, the inflation rate for our industry has increased approximately three times the rate of inflation for consumer goods. Cox will minimize the impact to our customers by absorbing the majority of these rising costs."
The rising Cox cable bill
Tucson-area rates for Cox Communications cable-TV service, not including taxes:
Service type 2005 2008 % change
Limited basic $17.99 $21.95 22%
Expanded $39.99 $47.95 20%
Digital cable $45.99 $52.95 15%
Sources: Star archives, Cox Communications