Netflix is set to increase their monthly subscription rates in the United States later in 2014, according to TheWrap.
The online video-streaming service will reportedly charge their new customers $8.99 or $9.99 under a new plan tested in Ireland, which depends on where you live. However, the rate hikes won't affect existing customers once the new plans go live; those who have already signed up under the $7.99 monthly plan will pay the same price an unspecified period of time.
"Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only," CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells wrote in a shareholder letter, according to TheWrap. "Existing members would stay at current pricing (e.g. $7.99 in the U.S.) for a generous time period."
It is unclear why Netflix is planning a rate hike, but the company is currently in a heated feud with cable giant Comcast. According to Time, the cable company attempted to purchase Time Warner Cable in a $45 billion deal, which was shut down before the companies could reach an agreement.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings wrote about Comcast growing to be "too powerful" in a share holder's letter, according to Time.
"Comcast is already dominant enough to be able to capture unprecedented fees from transit providers and services such as Netflix," Hastings wrote. "The combined company would possess even more anti-competitive leverage to charge arbitrary interconnection tolls for access to their customers."
Time reports Comcast responded to Hastings' attack in their own blog post, accusing Netflix of using "net neutrality," which keeps companies from favoring one Internet provider's connection over another, for the company's gain.
"Internet interconnection has nothing to do with net neutrality," Comcast wrote in a company blog post. "It's all about Netflix wanting to unfairly shift its costs from its customers to all Internet customers, regardless of whether they subscribe to Netflix or not."
