Cable War Fails to Offer Rate Relief in Montgomery

Instead, Kenney expects the companies to compete over bundled services. All three offer customers packages of phone, Internet and cable television service. Comcast, for instance, has improved its Internet speeds four times over the past three years without increasing its prices.

Harry Mitchell, a spokesman for Verizon, said such moves are "purely related to competition" and are signs that "competition is fully engaged."

Cable administrators cautioned that competition takes time to develop and might not reduce prices. Company officials would not publicly discuss subscriber figures. But according to estimates from the county cable office, Comcast has the largest share of the market in Montgomery, serving more than 200,000 households. RCN has fewer than 10,000 customers, county officials said, and Verizon had fewer than 1,000 as of the end of last year.

Under the county's agreement with Verizon, the company's television service will be available to most households within four years. Mitchell acknowledged that it would take time to build the network but said Verizon began with the capacity to serve 75,000 households and will aggressively ramp up over the coming months.

Margie Williams, project manager for the cable office, said Montgomery residents are fortunate to have three options. "We're thinking in a year maybe that Verizon will come around," she said. "That's the goal."

In the meantime, the price for Comcast's basic preferred cable TV service, which includes 150 channels, will increase 4.3 percent, to $58.05. After January rate increases, RCN customers pay $53.95 for full basic cable, and new Verizon customers pay $42.99 for its premier television package, which the company says features 200 channels.

Although customers are being notified this month of Comcast's rate increases, complaints are likely to roll in when the new prices show up next month, said Keith Watkins, the county employee whom customers call with complaints when they have exhausted all options with their providers.

"They get angry," Watkins said. "They want to know why."

Overall, complaints collected by Watkins's office last year about Comcast's multiple services were down to 1,438, compared with 2,125 in 2005. But in the third quarter of last year, Comcast did not meet any of the four cable TV-related customer service standards for answering customer calls, making repairs or installing new services. As a result, the company was fined a total of $13,500 in the past six months.

"People are waiting on the phone too long, and they aren't getting the kind of appointment assistance they deserve for the money they pay," said Del. Jane Lawton (D-Montgomery), the county's cable communications administrator.

Comcast officials attributed the lagging response to weather-related power outages, a system virus and increased customer demand as the company expands its services. With the addition of hundreds of workers, Altman said, the company is "looking at ways to provide the best customer service."