Aug. 15, 2008
Q: I was curious why over the past few months my Americable bill has increased $20 per month yet there has not been an increase in cable services? The cost of cable and internet service is getting worse here than in the states. At least in the states there are many providers to choose from.

A: Thank you for expressing your concerns in regards to our services and rates; Americable does appreciate the feedback and sincerely values our customers’ opinions. We don’t make these decisions without a great deal of thought and analysis. In fact, our last cable television rate increase was nearly 3 years ago and since that time we have made numerous changes to improve our service. In June 2006, we determined that establishing a local 24/7 Tech Support Center in Yokosuka that could monitor the channels and quickly repair issues with the DVD recorded channels as well as walk customers through basic computer and connection problems would be a vast customer service improvement versus the stateside contractor that previously handled our support calls. This upgrade coupled with normal salary increases resulted in our payroll going up over 25 percent since the last rate increase. Furthermore, even though the programmers have raised their rates to us every year, we have added new programming like Fox Japan, Fox Crime, & Boomerang in an effort to bring our subscribers even more of the stateside programming they have become so accustomed to receiving. This has resulted in our programming costs rising 17 percent since the last rate increase. We understand that our subscribers often expect the same number of channels for the same pricing they received in the states; however, this simply isn’t possible. We have numerous obstacles in getting stateside programming to Japan. Although Americable has had considerable success in overcoming these obstacles, it significantly impacts the cost of doing business here in Japan. For starters, in order to overcome the lack of available states side programming via satellite here in Japan, Americable has not only set up a duplicate in Miami to receive satellite programming, but also set up a recording studio so that programming could be recorded onto DVD and then shipped to Japan for playback in Yokosuka. This process results in a two week delay for those 15 channels recorded in Miami. To prevent any further delay in the airing of these channels at Ikego, Negishi, Atsugi and Sasebo, we lease private circuits from a local provider, digitize these signals (channels) solely for distribution to the other bases, and reconvert the signals back to analog for distribution to the subscribers along with the other satellite programming that is received locally at each base. As far as the programming we are able to receive via satellite locally, we are forced to go through the Japanese distributors who on average charge three times the price that we would normally pay in the states for similar programming. So we really do empathize with you regarding costs in Japan versus the United States. Americable deals with many Japanese companies which we must pay in Japanese Yen including the leasing of circuits, programmer fees, air shipment of DVDs and other supplies, and trash disposal all of which have increased significantly over the past 3 years. I apologize if my response seems a bit long winded; however the truth is, bringing stateside programming to our Sailors, Marines and their families here in Japan is neither a simple nor inexpensive process. We sincerely appreciate your continued patronage and promise to continue to do everything we can to bring you the best quality product we can.