GTE Ready to Stir Up Cable TV Competition

Just days after Congress approved sweeping changes in the nation’s telecommunications law, Thousand Oaks is poised to become one of the first cities in the nation with competing cable television providers.

If approved at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, the GTE California franchise will offer Thousand Oaks residents a cable TV alternative that company officials say will far surpass the current service in sound and image quality and eventually may expand to include interactive television.

But the president of the city’s largest cable provider--Ventura County Cablevision--says his company is well-positioned to compete with anything GTE can offer.

The key, a cable consultant says, is competition. The new bill makes it easier for telephone companies to enter the cable business in their own markets.

“Thousand Oaks is at the head of a communications revolution,” said Tracy Westen, a cable consultant who helped broker an agreement between the city and GTE California. “If approved, it will make Thousand Oaks one of the first cities in the country with the choice of two competing cable television stations.”

Under the proposal, Thousand Oaks would be the first city to get the new cable service, with Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Paula, Port Hueneme and unincorporated areas of Ventura County soon to follow.

On Thursday, Congress overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of the nation’s communication laws that, for the first time, allows telephone companies to offer video services in their own markets.

Under current law, telephone companies could own a cable network, but they are forced to lease their programming from other companies. In 1994, GTE challenged the federal law and obtained a court ruling in its favor.

But the new bill, which is expected to be signed into law by President Clinton, frees GTE to own and operate its own cable network and develop its own programming. The Thousand Oaks franchise is one of two that will launch GTE’s $250-million foray into video services. The other system is planned for Florida.

City Council members say that although they need more information on how the new franchise would work, they would welcome the competition, saying it could lead to better services and lower prices.

“If it comes through and it costs less to the consumer, I would anticipate that the other two would have to . . . lower prices,” said Councilman Mike Markey.

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Thousand Oaks residents have complained about poor service from the city’s two cable operators--Ventura County Cablevision and Falcon Cable TV, which serve separate populations within the city and therefore do not compete.

But Cathy Koch, a member of the city’s Citizens Advisory Cable Issues Committee for 14 years, said she has seen improvements in Ventura County Cablevision’s service in the past four years and won’t endorse the GTE plan until she knows what GTE Video Services plans to charge for its offerings.

“Competition is fine,” she said. “I think that is what everybody has been looking for, but I haven’t a clue at what price.”

If the plan is approved, GTE officials expect to offer 78 channels by summer, compared to Ventura County Cablevision’s 60, but they have yet to say how much money they will charge.

“The price we literally haven’t determined yet,” said Larry Cox, public affairs manager for GTE California. “But we will be competitive with the other companies.”

Ventura County Cablevision, which serves 32,000 households, charges $24.54 per month for basic service. Officials with Falcon Cable, which serves 4,000 customers, were unavailable for comment.

GTE officials hope to begin laying a combination of fiber-optic and coaxial cable for the $41-million project by March. Construction, which would involve installing cable underground--would last two to three years, Cox said.

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The company says it could serve up to 122,000 homes and businesses throughout the county. By late 1996, GTE’s services may include interactive games, home shopping networks, pay-per-view movies and digital music channels.

But President Dan Deutsch of Ventura County Cablevision said his company offers 60 TV channels, a digital music channel, pay-per-view movies and is now test marketing interactive television in 1,000 homes in Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Westlake Village.

“You can be sitting home tonight,” he said, “and if you want to watch Magic Johnson only--boom, you press a button on your remote and you are watching a star cam on him all night.”

In anticipation of the increased competition from telecommunications giants, cable companies nationwide have been upgrading their services, Westen said.

“It is not at all clear to me that GTE is coming in with brand-new technology,” he said. “But the competitive forces will generate more programming options and better-quality image and sound.”