Why Is Comcast So Expensive? (Top 10 Reasons)

 

Comcast, better known as Xfinity, brings the internet to millions of homes and businesses.

Like any internet service, it has various plans and features.

Some of those plans can be extremely expensive.

Considering that many people rely on the internet to do work or schoolwork, the high price of the internet may seem even more expensive.

The call to make the internet a right rather than a privilege could eventually impact the prices of internet providers.

However, until then, the high cost of Comcast internet is something many people must pay every month.

Here are 10 reasons Comcast is so expensive.

 

Why Is Comcast So Expensive? (Top 10 Reasons)

 

1. Lack Of Competition

 

One of the main reasons Comcast is so expensive is that it lacks competition in many areas.

There are usually only two or three internet providers that deliver fast internet service to homes in urban areas.

The same holds true for many rural homes, although they likely won’t have access to the same speed of internet as urban households.

This creates a problem because it allows those few companies to set the price of the service.

Since there isn’t enough competition to keep their prices low, they’re able to raise them high.

At some point, they might face some customer backlash.

The problem is that these customers don’t have another option to run to when the cost of the internet becomes too high, or if they do, that other company may have an even higher cost or lower quality of internet service.

They’re essentially held hostage by the lack of competition.

The choice ends up becoming to either pay the high price for internet or give up access to the internet at all.

With more competition in the market, Comcast would have to lower its prices to keep its customers.

Otherwise, they’d flock to the new company which delivers a faster internet connection at a lower price.

Until then, you can expect Comcast to continue to control the price of internet service.

Comcast is expensive because there isn’t enough competition in the market to drive down prices.

 

2. Bundling

 

One of the ways that internet providers like Comcast sell their internet plans is through bundling.

It’s a common sales tactic.

By bundling two services together, it gives the illusion that the buyer is saving money.

They might be, too, in terms of those services with the specific company.

For example, Comcast may charge $50 a month for their cable TV and $60 for their internet.

If you paid for those services separately from Comcast, then you’d have a monthly bill of $110.

If they offer you a bundle where you pay $90 for both internet and cable TV, then it seems like you’re saving money.

However, you only need to do some shopping around to find that it doesn’t save you money at all.

Other companies might have a cheaper TV rate or internet rate.

You could end up paying $60 or $80 at one company.

Comcast isn’t lying when it says you’ll save money by bundling.

It’s only that you’ll save money with their services alone and not that you’ll save money on the entire scope of TV and internet services.

It’s the illusion of saving money, however, that makes Comcast expensive.

You may find that bundling your plans with Comcast actually makes it more expensive than plans and services from other companies.

It’s worth shopping around and doing the math if you want to save money on Comcast.

Comcast is expensive because it uses bundling tactics to make its services seem cheaper.

In reality, its services are only cheaper than its own services at full price and not necessarily the services of other companies and providers.

 

3. Hidden Fees

 

Comcast and other providers are notorious for hidden fees.

They do try to warn you about some fees, but to see what fees they’re talking about, you usually have to set up an account with them.

That account also means you usually need to put in your credit card.

Not everyone wants to do that and instead decides to take on the hidden fees without knowing more about them.

Comcast has a few different hidden fees for its internet and TV plans.

When they raise the price on their plan, it’s often the hidden fees that see the bulk of the price increase.

When you look at your bill, you may feel some confusion over why your bill is as expensive as it is.

Hidden fees are usually to blame.

It’s worth putting in your credit card to check out the hidden fees for yourself.

You may find that, with the fees, the price of TV service or internet service is above your budget.

Comcast is expensive because it uses hidden fees to drive up costs.

 

4. Data Caps

 

Another reason Comcast is expensive is data caps.

Nothing is more frustrating to an internet user than data caps.

Internet providers put an arbitrary number on their internet and call it a data cap.

If a user goes over the data cap, then they’re charged an additional fee.

The reason that internet providers use data caps is that they only have a few bandwidths to give out.

When someone uses a large portion of bandwidth, they must pay extra.

This serves two purposes.

The first is to penalize someone who is using more bandwidth than their share.

By using too much of it, the amount of bandwidth that goes to the rest of the users in the area faces a limitation.

They may experience slower internet, for example.

To penalize them, they have to pay a fee.

The second purpose is that it gives Comcast additional funds to invest in technologies that give them better performance and more bandwidth.

The money is something they can use to invest in the business.

Users who already pay a high amount for the best internet have higher data caps than those who pay for basic internet service.

The idea behind higher data caps is that those who pay for faster internet likely need it for professional reasons.

Most homeowners who only occasionally use the internet at home to stream TV can get by with standard internet service.

How one uses the internet can impact how fast one reaches past that data cap.

Someone who watches a lot of TV or games a lot, for example, can use a lot of data.

That’s opposed to someone who may only use the internet to connect socially with friends.

Even if they’re on the same internet plan, the person who streams is going to reach that data cap faster than someone who only scrolls the internet.

Comcast is expensive because it uses data caps.

Whenever someone goes past the cap, they must pay a fine which makes their monthly bill even more expensive.

 

5. Limited-Time Pricing

 

Comcast often pulls customers in with limited-time pricing on their service.

The service might be half off or heavily discounted for six months or a year.

By the end of that year, some customers have forgotten about the lower price.

Then their service jumps to its standard price, and they realize it’s expensive.

The problem is that Comcast sometimes locks a customer in for a set number of months or years before they can cancel their plan without a penalty.

It can also sometimes be difficult to see what the actual price of the plan is on their website.

They may cross it out and show the discounted price instead.

This makes the text harder to read.

They might also put it in small font below the discounted price to also make it difficult to read.

Comcast is counting on its customers to see the low price and jump on it without considering the standard price.

When it comes time to pay the actual price of the internet or TV service, some customers may realize it’s too expensive.

Comcast is expensive because it uses limited-time pricing which some customers forget about after a time.

 

6. Cancellation Fees

 

Like most service providers, Comcast has cancellation fees if you want to end your service before your contract is over.

That amount varies based on the kind of service that you have.

Internet providers use various methods to set their cancellation fees.

If you have CenturyLink, for example, then your cancellation fee is $200 for a 24-month contract and $300 for a 36-month contract.

If you choose to cancel your plan before your 24-month or 36-month contract is over, then you face those fines.

Those who have Spectrum Internet face a cancellation fee between $0 and $75.

It depends on whether you have the Price Guarantee Package or not.

Comcast Xfinity charges you based on the number of months you have left in your contract.

They’ll charge you $10 for every month that remains on your contract.

For example, if you have a 12-month contract and you decide to cancel your plan in the first two months, then you still have 10 months on your contract.

They’ll charge you a $100 cancellation fee.

Finally, those who have Cox can face cancellation fees of up to $120.

Comcast also offers several other services with their own cancellation fees.

The point is that Comcast is expensive because it has high cancellation fees.

It encourages most people to stick with their plan which is Comcast’s goal.

Those who do decide to cancel their plan have to pay a hefty price to do so.

Comcast is expensive because canceling its service comes at a high price.

 

7. Equipment Rentals

 

Comcast doesn’t only provide internet and TV.

They also can rent equipment to you.

In order to receive broadcast TV in your home or internet, you need a TV box and a modem.

You have the choice to either buy your own TV box or modem, or you can rent one from Comcast.

The perk of renting one, according to Comcast, is that it’s already optimized for the specific service or plan that you choose.

It’s compatible with their service, so you don’t have to worry about it not working.

The problem with renting this piece of equipment is that it adds to your monthly bill.

You can pay anywhere from $10 to $15 a month for certain pieces of equipment.

While this doesn’t seem like much, it can push your monthly bill to an even higher amount.

You can save far more money by buying your own TV box or modem.

You only need to do a little bit of research to ensure your modem is capable of providing the speed of the internet that you’re buying from Comcast.

There are tons of resources on the internet that can help you determine whether the modem is compatible or not.

In the past, TV boxes and modems were free.

They were a vital part of receiving your service.

These days, however, since TV boxes and modems are more widely available, providers can choose to rent these pieces of equipment to you instead.

Comcast is expensive because it charges you rental prices on equipment.

 

8. Broadband Price Doesn’t Match Broadband Service

 

Another reason many customers consider Comcast expensive is that they pay to have a specific speed on the internet but don’t always receive it.

Because of that, they consider Comcast overpriced.

For example, some of Comcast’s plans allow users up to 800MB/s.

Others even offer 1GB/s.

This means that the internet can download or upload data at 800 megabytes per second.

Even this isn’t the fastest internet in the world, but for most households, it more than sufficiently serves its purpose.

However, when consumers test their internet speed, they’ll find that they get half that speed at certain times of the day and above that at other times of the day.

It has to do with the number of people in the area also using that internet.

If a lot of people are using the internet at that time, then there’s less bandwidth to go around.

That decreases your speed.

That means it’s common to experience slower internet speeds during peak hours when most people are awake and online.

Faster internet speeds occur during non-peak hours when people are asleep.

It defeats the purpose since you want access to fast internet when you’re awake.

Because you’re unable to have as high speeds as advertised, many consider Comcast’s internet plans expensive.

 

9. TV Plans

 

Comcast offers many different TV plans.

The more shows that you want access to, the higher the cost of the plan.

Many consider these premium channels to be expensive.

You receive a lot of TV shows, but some of those shows are free already or on channels that you know you’re never going to watch.

Because of that, some consumers feel that their premium TV plans have an overpriced value.

Comcast also lays the blame on some of its recent price hikes to TV networks.

As TV networks fund shows with high production costs, the cost of broadcasting them also becomes higher.

To offset the cost, Comcast has to charge higher rates.

This charge usually increases the hidden fees associated with their TV plans.

Comcast is expensive because you need to pay more to access high-tier TV networks which are also full of nonsense channels.

 

10. Installation Fees

 

A final reason Comcast is so expensive is its installation fees.

Xfinity charges a one-time fee of just under $90 to have your internet service installed.

That’s a lot of money for someone to drill a hole in your wall and plug a cord into a utility cable.

They give you the chance to install your own internet, but unless you know how to plug in cables, you likely don’t have much of a choice.

The perk of using their installation services is that it’s done right.

When the installer leaves, you’ll have TV and internet.

They can also troubleshoot any problems that you’re facing.

The downside is that this can make your first bill extremely expensive.

You often have to pay a few other service fees on your first bill.

While it becomes a little cheaper following your first bill, that bill alone can turn a lot of people away from Comcast.

The installation fee is expensive because Comcast must send out a worker.

The installer has to know how to hook up the internet which can be difficult in some rural areas.

They also need to walk the resident through the installation steps to boot their internet up.

Since these employees need a myriad of skills, they often receive higher pay than other workers.

To pay for them, Comcast has a high installation fee.

Comcast is expensive because its installation fee is high.

 

How To Save Money On Comcast

 

Your internet or TV bill may be high, but there are a few things that you can do to save money.

Here are a few tips to save money on Comcast.

 

1. Cut Cable

The great thing about cable is that most networks have their own streaming sources now.

Even more shows are eventually put on streaming platforms like Hulu and YouTube.

You’ve never needed cable less to enjoy your favorite shows.

A way to save money with Comcast is to either eliminate your cable entirely or choose a basic plan.

This will grant you access to local channels that you can’t find on streaming services.

You can easily cut your bill in half by removing cable entirely.

 

2. Negotiate A Lower Price

Another way to save money with Comcast is by negotiating a lower price.

When it’s almost time to start paying the full amount on your plan, it’s a good idea to take a look at the other internet providers in your area.

See what prices they’re offering for the same type of service that you’re using.

Then call the Customer Solutions department at Comcast and inform them about the price.

It’s a good way to negotiate a lower price since they don’t want to lose you to a competitor.

 

3. Buy Your Own Modem And TV Box

You can save a little money on each bill by buying your own TV box and modem.

All it takes is a little research beforehand to find the right equipment.

The installer will still be able to install your service even without an Xfinity modem.

 

Conclusion

Comcast is one of the pricier internet providers on the market.

However, since it’s large and has minimal competition, it can set the prices it wants for its services.

Being aware of what you’re actually paying for and the hidden fees can help you become aware of the full price of your plan.

Using the tips above can help you save money on your Comcast plan.

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