TCI, FALCON PLAN CABLE-RATE HIKES

TCI Cablevision customers will see increases in cable bills starting June 1, while Falcon Cable customers will see increases effective April 1.

Rates for TCI basic cable service will increase 5 percent, from $10.55 per month to $11.05, and rates for expanded basic service will go up 21 percent, from $11.51 to $13.92 monthly, said Roger Harms, general manager of TCI Cablevision in Cape Girardeau.

Roger Wayland, regional manager of Falcon Cable, which services Scott City and Sikeston, said increases will vary from franchise to franchise. In Sikeston, basic cable will go up 62 cents monthly, while the expanded tier will increase 34 cents and the satellite package will increase $1.

In Scott City, basic cable will increase 61 cents, the expanded tier 14 cents and the satellite package $1.

Wayland and Harms blamed increased programming costs for the rate increases. Harms said that in the last two years licensing fees for programs have increased nearly 24 percent.

"Program costs are the biggest issue we have on our expanded basic rates," he said. "Some of the channels have increased their program costs to us, so we have to turn around and pass it along to our customers."

Michael Maguire, chairman of the city's cable television committee, said: "We have no way of proving or disproving that. I guess that's the downside of the new cable (Telecommunications) Act."

Under the 1984 act, cities had more authority to scrutinize fees for basic services, he said. "I think under the new act we don't have that power anymore."

Maguire said cable companies are required to keep cities apprised of their earnings to allow cities to collect their franchise fees. "But I don't think they have to make available what they're paying out," Maguire said.

The increases also reflect higher operational and equipment expenses, inflation and added franchise costs, Harms said.

Charges for premium channels won't increase, Harms said.

The increases aren't being enacted because TCI is losing premium channel customers, he said. "As a matter of fact, we're increasing our premium channel subscribers all the time," he said.

Harms said the rate increases "have nothing to do with" the Telecommunications Act signed into law last month. The act deregulates many telecommunications services.

He said, "We're still being regulated by the '92 Cable Act." The act puts cable television under the control of the Federal Communications Commission and municipal governments.

In the past, Harms said, cable TV providers could adjust rates quarterly, "which caused confusion to everyone involved." New regulations allow rate adjustments to occur annually instead, and the rate adjustment that takes effect in June "actually covers a two-year period," he said.

In December, TCI added the INTRO channel to its program menu.

"We're in the process of doing an upgrade of our cable system," and once that upgrade is complete, additional channels will be added, Harms said.

"I keep saying I'm landlocked and I don't have any space to make channels available," he said.

Maguire said TCI hasn't made any significant changes in its programming for some time.

"INTRO is a sampler channel, and to my mind the only sense to having a sampler channel is if you're going to actually offer some of the channels you're showing," he said.

TCI also is now the provider of Primestar satellite service. Base rate for that service is $31.95 monthly plus installation cost of the satellite dish.

"It provides basically the same kinds of channels that are available on cable," Harms said. "They can't get the networks on it, though, unless they live in an area where they can't get cable."

Jim Dufek, a member of the city's cable committee, said he was unaware of the planned rate increases. "I'm surprised it's taken this long for them to go with it," he said.

Most of the sections of the Telecommunications Act that affect cable television will go into effect in 1999. Part of the act would deregulate telecommunications, allowing companies that provide telephone services to offer cable television.

"With the changes with the phone companies being able to get into cable and offer cable over the phone lines, once everything gets straightened out I think in the future we'll see a decrease" in rates, Dufek said. "You're going to see a lot more options become available" because of increased competition.

Cable television rates would "probably be half of what they are now with a stronger penetration of cable companies in the area," said Dufek.

Maguire agreed that a little competition would benefit consumers.

"The only thing that's going to affect what TCI charges for their services is the market," he said. "If the market will bear an increase, they'll get it."

Once the marketplace becomes competitive, "you'll start seeing a control on some of these rate increases," said Maguire.

The city doesn't have much authority over TCI, he said.

"The cable committee has learned early on and repeated time and again that the two things that concern people the most, we can do nothing about," he said. Those two concerns are programming availability and rates, he said.

A number of dealers in the area provide satellite dishes as an alternative to cable television.

David Michel, owner of Down to Earth Satellite Systems in Cape Girardeau, said satellite dishes can offer as many as 200 channels, "which cable can't deliver under any circumstances" because cable capacity is restricted. Satellite dishes also allow viewers to "time shift" their programming by choosing between East and West Coast time slots, he said.

Michel said satellite dishes cost less than cable TV subscriptions. "If you look at amortizing it over a 10-year period, if you're paying $50 a month for cable, that's $6,000 in 10 years," he said. "If you have a satellite system, the new DBS systems (featuring 18-inch satellite dishes) can be installed for as little as $500, plus $26 a month for programming," he said.

"I hope cable never goes out of business," he said. "They're my best salesmen. Every time they raise their rates, I make sales. I love them."