TCI Cable Catching Static for Rate Hike

TCI of Ventura County, which has vowed not to raise cable rates in Thousand Oaks, has drawn criticism for an equipment rate hike that will affect some customers.

Citing competitive pressure, TCI has said that the 7% cable rate hike scheduled next month for customers across the nation will not affect those in Thousand Oaks, where GTE has unveiled a rival cable television system. But TCI will enact some service and equipment fee hikes, including a $1.50-per-month charge to those who subscribe only to TCI’s basic service and use converters to tune in. There previously has been no charge for the converter use.

Calling the new charge “regressive,” Thousand Oaks media services coordinator Caroline Milton said the $1.50 a month probably will affect the poorest viewers, because the basic service package is TCI’s most affordable option. “Typically, these are low-income people least able to afford” higher fees, Milton said.

But Paul Baskin of TCI said the converter fee will affect only a very small percentage of the approximately 31,000 TCI subscribers in Thousand Oaks. About 1,400 of those subscribers get basic service, and of those, only people with very old television sets need the converters, Baskin said. He said TCI would stick to its pledge to exempt Thousand Oaks from June’s rate hike.