Comcast digital upgrade almost complete in Chicago

They may not be charged extra now, but sooner or later Comcast is gonna want that $400 million back.

and we found out this week our local cable company (Insight) was bought out by Comcast

and yeah i am sure rates will go up sooner or later

The reason that the City of Chicago is first to be going all digital is that Chicago holds the record for theft of cable services. Comcast spends at least $400,000,000 per year to repair the damage done by people who illegally splice into the cable infrastructures to receive free analog cable services. The reason the costs of cable theft are so high is that all other services provided, High-Speed Data, and telephone service depend on a well maintained infrastructure.
The overall effect of providing all digital service is a long-term windfall for Comcast since their cost to provide digital services is far less than to provide than analog service to their customers. If you expect Comcast to pass along these savings, don’t hold your breath. A similar case was when AT&T introduced “Touch-Tone” at an additional cost to their customers when it was far less expensive to provide “Touch-Tone” than “Rotary-Dial” services. The only thing which will bring the high cost of cable services down to a reasonable level is competition on a level playing field. Giving the track record in Illinois of government and regulatory corruption, it wouldn’t be a safe bet to hold your breath waiting for healthy competition either.