CABLE TV RATE PICTURE REMAINS FUZZY

When it comes to cable television rates, the picture remains a fuzzy one.

City and cable officials say it's uncertain just what impact new federal regulations will have on the setting of cable TV rates.

"We are still putting the pencil to it to figure out what the devil is going on," said Roger Harms, general manager of TCI Cablevision of Missouri Inc.

The cable system serves 13,000 customers in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area.

"The federal law is in a state of flux," said City Attorney Warren Wells. "The big question is what sort of regulations will the FCC promulgate. There are a lot of unknowns at this point."

On April 1, the Federal Communications Commission voted to cut cable rates 10 percent from their Sept. 30, 1992, levels and erase any increase operators imposed since then.

Federal officials estimated the rollbacks would apply to 57 million households that subscribe to more than 11,000 cable systems licensed by communities, and could save consumers $1 billion a year.

The FCC action stems from a 1992 law that puts the cable industry under federal control for the first time since 1986.

But at this point, the tangled web of regulations which comprise a 400-page, single-spaced document are still being analyzed by the cable industry and fine-tuned by the FCC, said Harms.

On top of that, the FCC has indicated it will need increased funding to regulate the cable industry. It has proposed assessing operators a fee, which, in turn, would be passed on to consumers.

As part of its ruling on April 1, the FCC imposed a 120-day freeze on the nation's cable television rates.

Harms said the action forced TCI to put on hold its plans for raising expanded basic service charges, which had originally been scheduled for May 1.

Harms said such increases are needed to keep up with rising programming and operating costs.

When the freeze is lifted in August, TCI will look at implementing its planned rate hike, he said.

At this point, the FCC has not yet set its benchmark rates for cable systems. Those rates will determine whether a rollback will be necessary for a particular cable system.

The benchmark rates are expected to be issued by Aug. 1, he said.

Harms said the federal regulations may end up putting some of the smaller cable operators out of business.

"When you take 400 pages just for rate regulation, you know you've got problems," he said. "It's a nightmare. It has really gotten out of control."

Jim Dufek, associate professor of mass communications at Southeast Missouri State University and a member of Cape Girardeau's cable television committee, said the FCC wants to hire 200 more people just to deal with the paperwork needed to regulate the cable companies.

"If you can't enact regulations, the laws are kind of moot," said Dufek.

"On paper, it looks real good," he said. But Dufek predicted that "the cable industry will find an out."

He said the rate regulation won't apply to premium or the host of pay-per-view channels that will be made possible by fiber optics.

Ultimately, said Dufek, increased competition and improving technology should benefit consumers more than government regulations.

The city of Cape Girardeau is currently negotiating a new franchise agreement with TCI, a process that actually began more than three years ago. At present, TCI is operating under an extension of the old agreement.

Wells said it's uncertain when a new agreement will be reached.

"It would be nice to know what the playing field will look like," said Wells.

But both he and Harms said an agreement can be worked out without waiting on federal regulations to be ironed out.

"I think we are going to go ahead (with an agreement)," said Harms. "The more we sit around and wait, the less we would be able to do for our customers."

Wells said the key to any new franchise agreement is flexibility. "We have to just address those areas that we know we are able to deal with and keep things flexible enough that if something new ~comes along and becomes a reality, we will be able to incorporate it and use it."

One issue that remains undecided is whether a new, non-exclusive franchise should be for 15 years or some shorter period, said Wells.

The city must look to the future, he said.

"There are real revolutions on the horizon in programming and also in the delivery of the signal. There's a lot of experimentation going on with wireless signals," said Wells.

"We recognize that changes that we can't imagine are going to occur," he said.

"The term of years (in a franchise agreement) becomes almost irrelevant if you write an agreement that is flexible," said Wells.