WATERLOO - Some area Mediacom cable customers will see an increase in their cable rates in August.

Subscribers will pay $58.95 for the Mediacom family cable package in Waverly, Waterloo and Cedar Falls - an increase of $4. Expanded basic service will go to $48 in Waterloo, $47.82 in Waverly and $44.45 in Cedar Falls. Broadcast basic service will now cost $14.50 in Cedar Falls, $11.13 in Waverly and $10.95 in Waterloo.

Those prices do not include local taxes and franchise fees.

Customers who are receiving cable through a special promotional deal won't be affected by the change, said Phyllis Peters, Mediacom spokeswoman.

About 5,000 to 6,000 Waterloo subscribers who have been paying a lower rate will see a jump in their bills to bring them even with all other Waterloo customers. Peters said those customers' lower bills are being grand-fathered out as Mediacom moves to make the billing amount for customers throughout Iowa uniform.

The rate adjustments put area customers even with what subscribers in Davenport, Des Moines and Mason City have been paying since a rate increase was announced in those cities last fall.

Mediacom is changing the prices to make the rates equal for customers in all cities, Peters said.

"We don't want to under-value (services) in some communities," Peters said. "There's a high cost to programming - particularly sports programming."

The increase reflects a change in the industry as networks and broadcasters charge more for their channels, she said.

"The biggest part of a cable customer's cable bill goes directly to programming," Peters said. "Virtually every channel has a cost."

Peters pointed to the stable rates customers have paid for phone and Internet service. While home Internet speeds have increased five times, the price has not.

Mediacom sent out notices to customers in their July billing statements to give them a 30-day notice of the changes.