| AFN began service in February 2000. From that period
until August 2002, 13 additional standard channels and a number of premium
channels were added. In August 2002 rates were increased for the first time
since launch. The AFN business plan as revised by the AFN advisory committee
in October 2001, calls for annual rate increases to keep up with programming
and other network cost increases. Since August 2002, 3 additional channels
have been added and another is scheduled for addition shortly.
The following table illustrates the proposed monthly CATV rate
increase:
|
Old Rate |
Rate Increase |
PEG Increase |
New Rate |
>Tier 1 |
$7.00 |
$.49 |
$.15 |
$7.64 |
Tier 2 |
$11.46 |
$.80 |
$.15 |
$12.41 |
Tier 3 |
28.46 |
$1.99 |
$.15 |
$30.60 |
Tier 4 |
$37.97 |
$2.65 |
$.15 |
$40.77 |
Premium packages would also be increased by 7% and all of the above
rates are inclusive of the Franchise fee and the PEG fee which increases
from $.60 to $.75 as per AFN's franchise agreement.
For comparison, the latest advertised rate by Charter for service
that is comparable to Tier 3, is $32.40 plus $2.41 in franchise and PEG fees
for a total customer cost of $34.81. This is $4.21 higher than AFN's Tier
3 rate of $30.60.
Cable modem rates including franchise fees would increase as illustrated
in the following table:
|
Old Rate |
New Rate |
| Residential (w ISP) |
$17.85 |
$21.05 |
| Business (1-IP address) |
$63.00 |
$68.41 |
| Residential (1-IP address) |
$21.50 |
$25.78 |
Right now, AFN's certified ISP's are
charging from $26.95 to $32.00 per month for retail service on AFN. We would
expect $3-$5 retail increases would be passed on to retail customers as a
result of this increased rate.
For comparison purposes, Charter Internet rates in Ashland based on
combining services of Cable TV and Internet are $29.95. This service has
upstream speeds of 128Kb, and downloads speeds of 256Kb, comparing to AFN's
up load speed of 128Kb and download speeds of 3-5 M bits /second. Charter
charges $39.95 for their Internet service if you don't bundle it with their
Cable TV service. |
