Cable Firm to Delay Rate Hike for 1 Year

In the face of public anger and a city move to cut the cost of cable television, Century Cable on Friday announced it would delay a proposed rate increase for one year despite earlier claims of economic necessity.

Stephen J. Frantela, general manager for Century Communications Corp., also said that within about a week the company will add a new free channel, Fox Sports West 2, to its basic service.

“We felt it was a good move to go in the right direction with concerns that our customers have and concerns that the city has,” Frantela said. Noting that the company’s franchise agreement with the city is up for renewal, “we hope this will kind of help that process along,” he said.

The move comes as the latest development in a months-long standoff between the city and the Connecticut-based cable provider, which serves 15,800 city subscribers.

After months of ignoring city requests to justify its installation and basic cable rates, which are roughly twice the county average, Century earlier this month announced that beginning May 1, it would raise monthly rates by $1.89.

But city staff recommended the City Council cut rates by $6.43, from $31.50 to $25.07.

The council also may require that Century Cable issue rebates to subscribers for 13 1/2 months of the perceived overcharge, a total of $1.37 million, or about $80 to $85 per subscriber.

In response, the company filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission challenging the city’s rate-setting authority under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992.

The company’s actions have so angered customers that City Hall has fielded 750 complaints on its special cable hotline and received 170 letters this month, officials say.

City officials are inviting more comments at a public hearing Monday on its proposal to cut cable rates--complaints that will be forwarded along with the letters and hotline complaints to the FCC.

“If there’s ever a time the public was going to have an influence on what’s happening, now’s the time,” Mayor Jim Friedman said. “It will be in everyone’s best interest to be heard and express their opinions on the state of cable service in the city.”

On April 15, a Century subsidiary agreed to pay $12.3 million to 130,000 L.A. subscribers and the city government to settle allegations that it charged excessive rates.

Councilman Brian Brennan said the company’s decision to suspend its proposed rate increase and add a channel comes a little too late.

“This is a great gesture, but some of the problems with Century are related to service, company attitude, the way they’re doing business,” he said. “I’d like to know they were reevaluating their commitment to the public as much as giving a television station that people want because it’s baseball season.”

Compounding the city’s anger over Century’s alleged rate gouging is the company’s request of the FCC to declare that “effective competition” exists in Ventura.

Even though Century does not directly compete with other cable providers--and subscribers have no choice which provider to use--the company argues in its petition to the FCC that federal law technically qualifies Ventura as a competitive cable market.

Federal law holds that “effective competition” can exist in seemingly noncompetitive markets due to the availability of satellite dishes and the ability of another cable company to move in to another provider’s turf and compete for subscribers.

City officials have formally opposed the company’s petition to the FCC.

If the federal agency rules in Century’s favor, the city will lose its rate-setting authority, and any move to roll back Century’s rates on Monday would be rendered moot.

City officials acknowledge the law appears to be on the cable company’s side in seeking to strip the city of its rate-setting authority. However, the city has decided to fight back, and that one of the best ways to do that is with a citizen uprising.

“Unfortunately, the card we’re dealt is a cable lobby that is very powerful,” Friedman said. “We can only hope that there is such a local uprising against the unfair tactics of the cable companies that even the strong cable lobby will not be able to overpower the cable customers.”

Century’s Frantela said he will attend Monday’s public hearing.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said. “These are my customers and I think I should hear what they have to say. And I want to.”