Report Urges Cable Company Upgrades

The city should require its two cable companies to upgrade their systems to provide faster Internet access and digital television signals, a staff report recommended to the City Council on Monday night.

The report says that both Avenue and Century cable systems should be upgraded to provide residential and commercial users with the latest technology.

Avenue Cable serves about 10,000 homes on the west side of town, and Century Cable has about 17,000 subscribers on the east side.

The city staff report also suggests that the companies begin to compete with one another within four years.

Local businesses are particularly underserved by the two cable companies, according to the report.

The need for the upgrade is acute now because it will be 10 years, the length of the proposed contracts with Avenue and Century, before the city could again require changes to cable service. By then, staff members stress, the current system will be outdated.

Councilman Jack Tingstrom, concerned about possible price hikes for subscribers, questioned the suggestion to upgrade. “Isn’t that a little more than a government agency should be doing?” he asked.

Mark Palchick, an attorney for Avenue Cable, said Tingstrom’s concerns about rate increases were valid.

“We have seen nothing about what subscribers will pay,” Palchick told the council.

He suggested that instead of adopting the staff’s proposal, city officials should negotiate a deal directly with Avenue Cable.

At a January meeting, Avenue Cable officials said that requiring an upgrade of its system would cost its subscribers an additional $3.20 per month. Company officials also emphasized that subscribers say they are satisfied with the service they now receive.

But residents at Monday’s public hearing said they supported the city staff’s recommendations. More than 25 people spoke on the issue, most of them supporting improvements to the systems.

Requiring system enhancements would enable schools to serve their students better, said Larry Calderon, president of Ventura College.

“We’re not just talking number of channels or picture quality,” said Ron Halt, a retired teacher for the Ventura Unified School District. “We’re talking public access. We’re talking about television programs for the whole community.

“I’d ask you for the citizens, for the schools, let this be the first step in a program that gets us into the 21st century.”

Avenue Cable officials say the current system is more than adequate to meet its subscribers’ future needs.

The report also suggests that the city increase its franchise fee from 3% to 5% of gross revenue, another recommendation that Avenue opposed.

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The contract renewal process, which has continued for more than a year, has consisted of 15 public hearings on issues ranging from rate increases to providing adult education classes directly into homes.

The renewal process is the only opportunity the city has to alter its agreement with the cable companies. It has been 15 years since the city last had an opportunity to make changes to the contracts.

City officials are amending the life of the cable contracts from 15 to 10 years.

The council has scheduled a final hearing on the franchise renewals for March 15.