Time Warner Cable said Tuesday that it will begin charging Internet customers across New England, New York and the Carolinas an Internet modem lease fee of $3.95 a month.

The company planned to send notification to customers this week. The new fee will begin Nov. 1.

As of June 30, Time Warner Cable had almost 10.8 million residential high-speed Internet customers. Customers spend about $54.99 a month for standard Internet, the company said. The fee will be a 7 percent increase over the current monthly Internet bill.

Customers have a choice. They can continue to lease their modems from Time Warner Cable and pay the monthly fee, or they can buy modems from retailers to avoid the fee.

A list of approved retail modems is at www.twc.com/approvedmodems. It includes only Motorola modems. Prices range from $54.99 to $133.59 on Amazon.com, though the modems are available at other retailers.

Time Warner said the list includes only modems it has tested and are widely available at many retail locations. It did not say whether it has a deal with Motorola.

Customers who now use their own modems may continue to use them and will not face a fee or connection problems. They will be charged a lease fee only if they lease the modem from Time Warner.

Time Warner Cable said it has been charging an equipment lease fee for set-top boxes for many years.

Other cable operators, such as Comcast Corp., already charge Internet modem-rental fees. Comcast charges about $7 a month, while Charter Communications and Frontier Communications also charge modem fees.

Time Warner said the new lease fee for Internet modems “will allow us to continually service the equipment and further enhance our Internet services, ensuring the best customer experience with our products.”

The company said it plans no other price adjustments.

Staff Writer Jessica Hall can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:

jhall@pressherald.com