US Cable Support > Comcast Cable TV > [Cable Card] Ceton to the rescue!

reply to GTFan

Re: [Cable Card] Ceton to the rescue!

Uh, from the last post in the thread, the OP got a rep with the right info (this is how it should be, HD channels are included with your package and the 'HD tech fee' only applies for Comcast HD STBs/DVRs):

Re: HD ACCESS FEE FOR TIVO

08-02-2011 01:38 AM

One local tech support rep...two problems addressed logically.

According to this tech rep, HD channels should NOT be charged extra. He explained that since I have a card capable of HD and I subscribe to a package that has HD channels, all channels that I subscribe to in SD that are available in HD should be available to me for NO EXTRA charge. He was very very adamant about this. I told him about my latest debacle with online chat telling me about an $8.50 HD Technology fee. He explained that this should be ONLY for households with MULTIPLE HD BOXES and would allow those account holders to pay a single fee for the multiple HD boxes, not the service. He then sent all sorts of signals to my card to get it to show all my channels. Still waiting but he mentioned to call out a technician if not working by tomorrow because he thinks its a faulty card.

He then went on to explain that the $2.50 tivo credit should show up automatically, and it did!


As with anything on Comcast's billing in multiple areas, YMMV. I can tell you for a fact that no one with a Tivo gets that fee in the ATL.

Add me to the ranks that have to pay the HD fee. I had been with only the Digital starter package, but when I got my first M-card I upgraded to Digital Classic. I asked to make sure I was going to get HD, and was informed that I could but it would be an additional $10 per month. Although I'm on the 6 month teaser and not paying for it yet, I just looked at my bill and verified: I have a "HD Technology Fee" of $10 (and a credit for $10 right below it, that will go away after 6 months).

reply to halfband

Totally untrue maybe in ATL, but wasn't that an AT&T system at one time. If it has not changed over to the standardized comcast billing system then it is the oddball. You can not really use that system as any indicator of any national comcast policy. If you do not have the HD fee there yet I suspect within a year or so you will. It is a great additional revenue driver for comcast and that is the direction they have chosen to go.

I keep repeating that HD is separate because in mine and as near as I can tell most upgraded comcast systems, HD is an extra fee (beyond limited basic). That is as much a standard comcast policy as any other in the mass of inconsistent local comcast implementations. There may be some locals and shopping channels that are not encrypted but that is it. That does not mean in any way that all systems will require the HD fee, or that they will convert anytime soon. But the overall standard in the majority of comcast systems is that for standard tiers like digital starter they are SD only. You must pay a one time HD fee to enable HD to all your equipment, regardless of what tier you on (excluding limited basic.)
Now if you get one the HD preferred packages, then of course the HD fee is rolled in.

I have not found any definitive source for comcast HD policy, which I guess is part of the problem. It is very difficult to determine what HD channel you will get with a cablecard as the systems are simply completely unready to deal with them. You can not call into a CSR and point to anything that indicates what "free HD" you should be getting as the policies and lineup simply do not exist. Yet when cablecards are activated, yes many do get a combination of HD channels that do not match any cable package in the comcast lineup.
[HD locals are subject to the preference of the local station as to how they are carried.] Comcast definitely does not have a national free HD policy of any kind. What you get is completely hit or miss and total random almost to the extreme. Calling a CSR will typically get the default position that a cablecard should get the same HD lineup as a cablebox, as long as you are paying the HD fee. Reality is that many systems still enable far different lineups on cablecards than the advertised packages.
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Registered Bandwidth Offender #40812

From what I've read elsewhere, Atlanta is a Comcast premier market, where new features, channels, and tech are rolled out before the rest. So if this BS HD tech fee is supposed to be national, you'd think we'd have seen it long ago.

If they all of a sudden start charging this fee for Cablecard devices on my bill, I'd be pissed - there's no justification for it other than a money grab. It would be hard for them to explain how I and everyone else with Tivos and HTPCs in this town have been getting all the channels in HD for years now, but gee whiz we really were supposed to be charging you extra for them. It doesn't pass the smell test, and I would immediately file an FCC complaint just to make them respond with an explanation.

But this additional fee is exactly what has been happening in many areas, particularly as the digital transition to the "world of more" has occurred. I don't disagree with your opinion of it at all and there are numerous posts complaining about the increased fees for what is perceived as being "the same or even degraded service."

Is ATL cisco or motorola based? If it is motorola it may very well be a test market for various features. But if you are not being hit with the HD fee, have not seen the introduction of "additional outlet fees" and don't have the $2.50 HD DTA for limited basic HD (which can be a HD box that is set to only get the basics) then your billing system is running behind the current roll outs. Your area is not unique, there are many comcast areas that are "different". But comcast is obviously attempting to create a more uniform national system for tv service (as they have with HSI) and these new fees and limitations seem to be a part of that plan. When you start seeing 1000 level HD channels (mapped to be 1000 above the corresponding SD channel) you will know you are on the leading edge of the new system.
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Registered Bandwidth Offender #40812

ATL is moto and we've always had the outlet fees, but HD channels have always been included in the digital service tiers. We've been upgraded with Cavalry (WOM) for almost 2 years now, but no HD channels in the 1000s yet.