LOS ALAMITOS : Paragon Cable Rates Upheld for 3 Months

Subscribers to Paragon Cable will not see a change in their cable television bill for at least the next three months.

The City Council voted 3-2 Monday to maintain the current rates after a city study indicated that the cable company’s fees were within the levels allowed by the Federal Communications Commission.

The rates will be reviewed in July because of a recent FCC finding that cable television rates across the nation are still too high, despite a rollback in September.

City officials said that the FCC has ordered another 7% reduction by this month, but Assistant City Manager Gerard Goedhart said Paragon Cable was allowed to delay its new rate schedule until July.

In November, the FCC granted the city the power to regulate cable television rates under a 1992 federal law.

Don Weddle, the cable company’s public affairs director, called the council’s decision “fair and realistic.”

A study by a city consultant found that Paragon Cable, which provides services to more than 2,000 Los Alamitos residents, loses out on about $800 a month because it charges less than what the FCC allows.

But fees for remote control, cable box and other equipment are slightly higher. The overall package is cheaper than FCC standards, the study said.

The council had the choice of ordering Paragon Cable to give refunds for fees higher than what the FCC allowed. Weddle argued that it will not be fair unless the city also allowed the company to raise the low rates to the level allowed by the FCC.

In the end, the council decided that the refunds were too small. For example, Paragon Cable is charging 17 cents higher for the converter box, three cents more for a remote control and one cent for changing the so-called tiers of cable service.

Paragon’s basic cable service of 67 channels costs $21.25 a month, 45 cents lower that what the FCC allows. To add seven more channels, the cost is $2.81 more a month, which is six cents below what the FCC allows.

“What we’re dealing is pretty insignificant in terms of pay-back to the consumers,” said Mayor Anthony R. Selvaggi. “I don’t see this as a bad package.”

Council members Alice Jempsa and Charles E. Sylvia voted with Selvaggi. Ronald Bates and Robert P. Wahlstrom voted against the proposal to keep the current rates.