Officials Urge Cable Firms to Forgo Rate Hikes : Entertainment: As of today, operators are required to reduce charges for certain services. The new fee system could mean higher bills for basic-service customers.

The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday urged local cable TV operators to voluntarily refrain from raising their rates for basic service amid reports that those rates will significantly increase starting today when new fee systems take effect.

On a 14-0 vote, the council condemned the emerging rate system, which is likely to mean higher cable bills for customers getting only the basic services, according to a top executive with a cable firm that serves San Fernando Valley communities ranging from Woodland Hills to Studio City.

The new rate system is a product of the 1992 Cable Act and of Federal Communications Commission interpretations of that act.

Although the act was meant to reform the monopoly-dominated cable system and lower rates for all cable customers, the result appears to be quite different, complained Valley Councilman Joel Wachs, who introduced Tuesday’s motion.

As of today, cable operators are required by federal rules to cut their charges for multiple hookups, converters and remote control devices. But to offset the lost revenue, operators are also proposing to raise the rates for basic service, a move not prohibited by the federal rules.

“The bottom line is that the little guy will pay more . . . when they should be the ones who get the biggest break,” said Wachs, who represents the middle-class communities of the central and northeast Valley.

The Wachs motion also urged the federal government to scrap the new rate system and take a second try at reforming the way in which the nation’s growing cable TV industry charges its customers.

Bill Rosendahl, senior vice president of Century Cable, said that while he sympathizes with the council’s concerns, it is impossible for the cable industry to forgo rate increases for its basic services. “We have to comply with the law,” he said.

Tom Belcher, president of the Los Angeles Cable Operators Assn., said he could not generalize about what effect the new rate system will have citywide.

But in a letter to council members last week, Belcher, speaking for the association, warned that the new rate system would probably be controversial.

“Unfortunately, the media coverage after the 1992 act was passed established expectations about rates and programs that, simply, will not apply to every cable customer,” Belcher wrote. “And so, many customers are going to be confused and dismayed when their expectations don’t materialize. We want to work with you to jointly explain these changes and how you constituents are impacted.”

In the same letter, Belcher said that while the expectation has been that rates would go down for all customers, the reality is that “only some customers’ total monthly bills are decreasing.”

Belcher, who is also executive vice president of Cablevision Industries, the firm that serves 94,000 West Valley cable subscribers, said his company’s basic service charge will actually decrease, from $26.15 per month to $25.93 per month.

Likewise, the cost of high-end equipment will go down, Belcher said. The cost of remote control devices will go from $5.10 per month to 53 cents per month and additional outlets, which formerly cost $5.25 per month will now be free, he said.

To make up for the $50,000-a-month in revenue it will lose due to cuts in the equipment fees for high-end customers, Belcher said his firm will try to increase its advertising and pay-for-view revenues.

But Rosendahl said Century Cable will charge its basic customers about $4 per month more while cutting its charges for converters, multiple outlets and remote control devices to its high-end customers.

Century serves about 125,000 customers citywide, with a large number of them living in Woodland Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Sherman Oaks and Studio City.

Because Century’s Valley customers often buy the frills, two-thirds of them will see an overall decrease in their monthly cable bills, Rosendahl estimated. “But if you’re a basic customer and have only one outlet, you’re going to see an increase,” he said.

Before, the cost of basic service was $25.40 per month; now a roughly comparable level of service will cost $29.55, Rosendahl said. Century also intends to provide a 20% discount to its low-income customers to offset the increases, he said.

Rhonda Cohn, general manager of United Artists Cable, which serves 82,000 customers in the East Valley, said of the council motion: “I don’t know how to do that (forgo basic rate increases). Maybe Mr. Wachs has some creative ideas on how to do that. If so, I’d be interested in hearing them.”

Councilman Richard Alatorre, who represents the East Side, called the rate system “very troublesome,” while South-Central Councilwoman Rita Walters said it appeared the rates might discriminate against inner-city and minority residents.

Also contributing to this story was Times correspondent Matthew Heller.

Valley Cable TV Rates Due to new federal regulations, cable television operators are introducing new rate structures today. The changes, in most cases, are extremely complex. These are the rates for basic cable service quoted Tuesday by the San Fernando Valley’s five largest operators:

OPERATOR SUBSCRIBERS AUG. 31 RATE SEPT. 1 RATE % CHANGE CVI Cablevision* 94,000 $26.15 $25.93 -0.1 52 channels Century Cable** 40,000 $25.40 $29.55 +16.3 43 channels King Videocable 30,000 $18.22 $12.89 -29.3 25 channels Sammons*** 72,000 $19.50 $20.48 +5.0 42 channels United Artists Cable 83,000 $19.40 $21.02 +8.4

61 channels

* Increased from 51 channels Tuesday

** Increased from 36 channels Tuesday

*** Rates changed June 21