Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 1, 1994 TAG: 9404270119
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER SPECIAL TO ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Every day, he walks two miles with his dog and rides his bike another three. He's a member of the Kiwanis Club and occasionally does accounting work after retiring two years ago.
He admits he watches a lot of TV, though.
Cook was hooked to Cox Cable Roanoke as soon as it came through his Roanoke neighborhood off Brambleton Avenue in the mid-1970s.
He said he watches ESPN, public television, Arts and Entertainment, The Discovery Channel and the Nashville Network. He tunes into the 6 o'clock news on WDBJ and then switches to NBC's "Nightly News with Tom Brokaw." He loves reruns of "Matlock," "Perry Mason" and "Kojak."
So maybe it's no surprise he'd be upset by the the rising cost of cable and is among a handful of Roanoke Valley residents determined that something be done about it. That's despite being one of the few viewers who saw his cable bill drop last September after government-ordered price rollbacks.
Cook has kept records of his bills since February 1988. His bill then for basic and expanded basic cable service was $17.45 a month. By February 1993, it had risen by 58 percent, to $27.50 a month. As of Sept. 1, his bill dropped 6.3 percent to $25.76. But he's still not pleased.
While some cable subscribers feel it's pointless to fight the increases, Cook filed Form 329 - Cable Programming Service Rate Complaint Form - with the Federal Communications Commission.
He was one of seven Roanoke Valley and New River Valley residents, according to the FCC, to ask the agency to investigate Cox Cable's prices.
The FCC refused to identify the people who filed complaints; Cook voluntarily made his filing public.
Now he is waiting to hear from the FCC, which announced in February it will order a rollback of 7 percent. Last fall the FCC told cable TV operators to lower prices on their basic services by 10 percent, but because of rate and schedule changes many customers are paying more than before the order.
When the law was passed last year, Congress intended that cable rates be restrained. An FCC survey of the 25 largest cable companies showed, however, that while 68 percent of subscribers received lower monthly rates, 31 percent got higher bills.
As a result, consumers complained to the FCC and their local governments.
The restructuring of the cable channels, which switched services such as the Weather Channel and CNN Headline News from basic to the more expensive expanded level in March, was unfair, especially for the elderly, Cook argued.
He has written many letters complaining to Cox Cable Roanoke's General Manager Gretchen Shine who, he said, has given him pleasant responses. He has written to Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon. Both sent letters sympathizing with his complaint and expressing their interest in allowing telephone companies to become cable competitors.
Cox Cable makes every effort to respond to each complaint, said Bill Sledd, the Roanoke operation's marketing manager.
"Sometimes it's frustrating for us as well. Some things are a direct result of FCC changes," he said. "The very same customers who were proactive in wanting regulation [are] finding regulation is an unfriendly way of doing business."
It came as no surprise to Cox Cable that some customers filed complaints with the FCC, Sledd said. But he was more surprised by the small number of complaints registered with the government, which makes him wonder, "Was this really a huge crisis?"
Sledd said any investigation by the FCC will only validate that Cox Cable complied with the new rules.
Shine's written explanation to Cook was that in addition to franchise and copyright fees, cable companies have increased employee benefit expenses, such as health care costs, and programming fee increases.
She also contends that Cox Cable has improved its service by increasing the choice of channels, improving customer service and increasing its response to repair calls.
"I won't argue that our rates have increased since 1988," she wrote in a letter to Cook a year ago. "But I will argue that there has been significant cause, and that the increases have been prudent."
Cook was not sated. He said Cox Cable is entitled to make a profit, "but to arbitrarily raise rates" is not fair. "They can't justify the rate increases.
"I have the fiber optics," he said of an improved cable that Cox recently installed to improve its service throughout the Roanoke Valley. "And I didn't see any difference. The only thing, it was out for two hours when they switched it."
He admits there are more channels to choose from, but the cost of cable has risen more quickly than the cost of living, he said.
Bradley Stillman, legislative counsel of the Consumer Federation of America, said the FCC's formulas that determined the price changes were set far too high. He estimated that if cable companies were forced to compete, rather than being awarded local monopoly franchises, rates would drop 18 percent.
Sledd pointed out that Cox Cable's franchise is not a monopoly because other cable companies can come to the area to compete.
Cook likes the idea of competition to reduce rates: "That's the only way."
by CNB