TCI TO INCREASE CABLE RATES BY 2.89 PERCENT

TCI customers will see a rate increase starting June 1.

The cost for basic service will increase from $11.79 per month to $11.94, while expanded basic will increase from $14.20 to $14.80.

"It's 75 cents or about 2.89 percent," said Roger Harms, general manager of the TCI franchise for Cape Girardeau and Jackson. "It's not that great for the quality of service that's being offered."

Harms said 67 percent of the increase is a result of increased programming costs.

"I don't think a lot of people understand that we have to pay for programming on our cable system," he said. "Those costs keep rising to us, and when they do we have to pass them along to our customers."

Harms said putting WGN back into the lineup and adding WDKA Channel 49 helped drive the rate increase. "It all costs to do that, and sometimes in order to compensate for that we have to take price increases," he said.

Bill Kennard, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has urged cable companies to show restraint in rate increases. Kennard spoke Tuesday at the cable industry's annual convention in Atlanta.

As of July 1, the average monthly cable rate, including a converter box and a remote, was $28.33, according to FCC figures.

For the 12-month period ending March 31, cable TV rates rose 7.9 percent nationally. Overall inflation was 1.4 percent during that time period, according to government figures.

In addition to monthly programming rates, TCI's prices for service calls are also going up. Cost for installing an additional outlet connection, if a separate trip is required, will go from $18.75 to $21.95. Hourly service charges will increase from $29 to $32.

Other fees will also go up, including downgrading or upgrading optional services if a separate trip is required, and cable installations in unwired homes.

Equipment fees will also go up. The monthly charge for a remote control will remain at 30 cents, but monthly fees for converter boxes will increase for all levels of cable service.

Harms said labor and materials charges are driving those increases.

"That's due to the cost to repair the servers and the lost and stolen converters. We have to replace the converters, and that's quite expensive," he said.

TCI began offering digital cable service in March, but the new service had no bearing on higher rates, Harms said.

Response to the new service has been great, he said, explaining about 700 people have signed up for the digital service.

On Monday night the Cape Girardeau City Council approved transferring the city's cable television franchise from TCI to Falcon Communications L.P., a new entity formed by a merger between TCI and Falcon Cable.

Only three TCI franchises in Missouri were affected by the new partnership: Cape Girardeau-Jackson, Nevada-Clinton and Knob Knoster.

Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press.