Reject Century Cable Ploy

When is competition not competition?

When the only way to switch from one TV cable provider to another is to sell your house and move across town.

That’s the situation in the city of Ventura. Century Communications Corp. has 15,800 subscribers on the east side; Avenue TV Cable has 10,500 on the west. The twain don’t meet.

Yet Century has asked the Federal Communications Commission to declare that “effective competition” exists in the city.

Why would the company make such an apparently absurd claim? Because such a ruling from the FCC would negate the city’s authority to limit cable rates, under a convoluted law passed by Congress in 1992.

And why might Century actually get away with it? Because the FCC assumes competition exists when two cable companies operate within the same franchise area--and it considers Ventura to be a single franchise area.

All this came up last week when Century, which already charges the highest rates in Ventura County, told the city it intends to raise them. That’s when the City Council hit the pause button and suggested that Century think in terms of a rate rewind rather than fast forward: The company wants to raise the basic rate from $31.50 to $33.39 per month; the city thinks a rollback to $25.07 would be fair.

Despite years of complaints by residents and local politicians, Century General Manager Stephen J. Frantela said the company makes no apologies for its rates.

“We’re a for-profit business, and we’re not ashamed of that,” he said last week.

Other cities have challenged Century’s lofty rates--and won. Last October, the FCC ordered Century to refund nearly $4.6 it overcharged 177,000 subscribers in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica and West Hollywood.

Ventura seems ready to follow a similar path. City Council members called a public hearing on the rate hike for April 27 and encouraged residents to come speak their minds.

The council’s move comes as Ventura considers renewing its 15-year franchise agreements with both Century and Avenue TV. Other cities that have tried to scrap a renewal in similar circumstances have rarely prevailed, but it does give the city some leverage. The city could also encourage other cable firms to expand into the area now served by Century.

All cable firms do have competition, of course, in a sense. Their subscribers can always buy a satellite dish, or rent movies, or turn off the TV and read a book.

But if the FCC is truly concerned about “effective competition” among cable providers, it should reject Century’s ploy and leave the question of what constitutes a fair rate right where Congress put it in the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act:

City Hall.

To the Ventura City Council we offer a hearty bravo--and we don’t mean the arts channel.