Charter Seen Navigating Waves From Broadband Price Hike

A forthcoming Charter Communications broadband price hike, though it could lead to more churn, "suggests management is very confident" about the business and its "competitive position," New Street's Jonathan Chaplin emailed investors Tuesday. He said the move during the pandemic and down economy could draw political heat, but Charter's providing free service to households with students and teachers and its participation in the FCC Rural Digital Opportunities Fund Phase 1 auction would make it "tough to accuse the Company of unfair pricing policies." The cabler emailed that “Spectrum is committed to continuously enhancing our communication products, providing superior connectivity services with the best overall competitive value in the marketplace. We are delivering faster broadband speeds and improved performance -- all as the average price per megabit per second and per gig consumed declines dramatically.”