Satellite TV retailers have been informed of a planned $3-per-month rate increase for some of DirecTV's most popular low- and mid-level tiers, according to a report published by a satellite TV industry Web site.

DirecTV Reported Rate Changes (Source: satelliteguys.us)
Service Tier	Current	New	$ chg.	% chg.
Family	$29.99	$29.99	none	0%
Preferred Choice	$29.99	$32.99	$3	10%
Choice	$49.99	$52.99	$3	6.9%
Choice Xtra	$54.99	$57.99	$3	5.5%
Plus DVR	$59.99	$62.99	$3	5.0%
Plus HD DVR	$69.99	$72.99	$3	4.3%
Premier	$99.99	$104.99	$5	5.0%
HBO	$13.00	$14.00	$1	7.7%

A DirecTV spokesperson couldn't be reached immediately to comment on the report.

According to the report, published by satelliteguys.us, DirecTV will raise rates effective Feb. 27 by $3 to $5 per month based on service tiers. The rate hikes won't affect all customers uniformly, however, as customers who signed up for special-promotion deals that began in Q4 2006 will be protected from price changes until their promotional periods expire.

The pricing may be a touch higher than typical cable operator increases in 2008, but is below the price hikes announced recently by Verizon for its FiOS TV service. Dish Network plans 7.5% and 10% rate hikes on its lowest tiers, but prices are rising only by 3.8% and 4.6% for Dish Network's upper tiers.