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The cost of Comcast's "Digital Starter" plan is up 2.8 percent -- barely ahead of inflation. But prices for cable modems, DVRs and HD service are up more sharply.

(Bloomberg Photo)

Comcast's annual rate increases in the Portland area are among its smallest in years, coming as the region's dominant cable TV and Internet company faces the prospect of broad local competition for the first time.

Monthly rates for Comcast's "Standard Cable," which includes local channels and several dozen of the most popular cable networks, rise $2 as of October 1 to $72.49. The monthly cost of Comcast's standard "Performance Internet" plan is unchanged at $53.95.

Rates for other services and equipment are rising by varying amounts, with big percentage increases in the cost of high-definition video service, a DVR and the cost of renting a cable modem.

The changes come as Google Fiber and CenturyLink prepare to offer new cable and Internet services in the Portland area, though both Comcast and local cable regulators say the modest size of this year's increases is unrelated to the prospective competition.

Comcast said the rate hike in the Portland area is in line with its increases elsewhere, driven primarily by rising programming costs. Noting a 25 percent increase in the cost of a cable modem, Washington County cable regulator Fred Christ said he doubted prospective rivals were holding back Comcast.

"If the new entrant competitors were really a concern they would have eased off on some of the Internet hikes, for broadband service," said Christ, of the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission.

Comcast’s new monthly rates

Here’s a sampling of what’s changing, and what’s not, with Comcast’s new rates

Cable TV

Limited basic

: Unchanged; prices vary in the metro area from around $12 to $22

Digital Starter

: $72.49, up $2

DVR service

: $9.95, up $2

HD/DVR service

: $19.95, up $2

Note: Actual prices will be higher because Comcast passes on local fees to customers. In Portland, the fees add about 8 percent to cable costs.

Internet

Performance Internet

: Unchanged at $66.95 ($53.95 for customers who also subscribe to cable TV or phone service) for downloads up to 25 megabits per second

Blast Internet

: $78.95, up $2 ($65.95 for customers with cable TV or phone service). Downloads up to 50 mbps.

Modem rental

: $10, up $2

Note: New customers, and customers who commit to a multi-year contract, often receive discounts

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Local regulators negotiate franchise agreements for cable companies to use the public right of way and regulate customer service, but they do not have authority over cable TV or Internet rates.

Comcast is the region's largest cable and Internet company, with 600,000 subscribers in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

CenturyLink has begun expanding fiber-optic service to some Portland homes, offering speeds up to 1 gigabit per second – 40 times faster than Comcast's standard plan. CenturyLink is negotiating a new cable TV franchise with the city, too.

Google Fiber, meanwhile, secured a franchise in June to offer cable and Internet service in Portland, and is seeking a similar deal in five Portland suburbs. The company said it expects to decide by year's end whether it will actually serve the Portland market.

Generally speaking, CenturyLink and Google Fiber are not undercutting Comcast's prices. Instead, they're offering faster services and, in Google's case, a more robust cable TV option at rates comparable to Comcast's.

There is one big change on Comcast's new bills – the company has a new line item for a "broadcast TV fee."

Comcast says the $1.50 charge, which it has already introduced in other markets, is intended to reflect the cost it pays to carry local channels.

Comcast says those "retransmission" costs have more than doubled in recent years, and that the new fee reflects that.

(Comcast is itself a contributor to those rising costs since it owns NBC, whose programming gives local affiliates leverage to demand higher payments from cable companies.)

"Transparency is nice. It's good to know what you're paying for," said Christ, the Washington County regulator. But he said it would be nice if Comcast told customers more about its actual retransmission costs.

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699