The note in my latest Bright House Networks bill stood like a foreboding omen.

Effective March 2012, rates are going up for customers -- from $1 for the digital tier service and $2 for HD/DVR service to $4 for the whole house DVR service. There should be a note inside your February bill with a list of all the services, 14 in all, which will increase fees, mostly by $1.

These are the sort of fee hikes which come, courtesy of all the fights over increased retransmission fees charged by program providers ranging from Fox cable and broadcast channels to ESPN.

But there is hope. I called Bright House Networks' customer service line to see how much my bill might rise under the new charges -- as you might expect, I have pretty extensive service -- and the operator actually reconfigured my existing service bundles so i would save money, even with the price increases.

The hikes raised my bill by about $3 monthly, but the changes saved me another $10 or so.

Bright House spokesman Joe Durkin said most customers won't see their bills rise under the new rates for the same reason, because most people are in price bundles which won't be affected. He also pointed to new features such as the wide range of channels (over 100) available for viewing on iPads and through HBO/Cinemax Go's smartphone and iPad apps -- all made available at no extra cost.

So my advice to all Bright House customers is to make a phone call and make sure your programming bundles are arranged as economically as possible.

In these recessionary times, every dollar counts.