THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210271
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Outer Banks cable television viewers will watch their rates increase this spring.
Falcon Cable Television Regional Manager Larry Ott, who oversees cable service for 20,000 customers from Corolla through Hatteras Village, said Monday that increased expenses have required his company to pass those costs on to subscribers.
Cable television viewers who live north of Oregon Inlet will pay an additional $1.92 per month for basic service - an increase of 11.5 percent. Hatteras Island subscribers will be assessed an extra $1.12 per month - a 6.7 percent hike. Falcon Cable officials last increased rates in September 1993.
``We've added five new channels since then,'' Ott said from his Nags Head office. ``But we haven't raised our rates at all.''
New rates will go into effect June 15 for Nags Head customers; May 15 for residents of Kill Devil Hills and Manteo; and April 15 for all other Outer Banks subscribers.
Contracts with individual towns require different notification lengths for rate increases, Ott said, which meant that the rate increase could be implemented earlier in some municipalities than in others.
``We've been authorized to raise our rates since July of 1994. But we were waiting until we could assess all of the inflation factors until we determined what our actual cost increases would be,'' Ott said. ``We've absorbed a substantial amount of cost increases ourselvesfor almost a year now. Our programming expenses have continued to rise.
``Now, we're finally bringing our rates up to what the FCC will allow us to charge.''
Since every cable subscriber has at least the basic service package of 30 channels, all cable television viewers will be affected by these hikes.
Customers who have 10 extra channels piped into their homes through Falcon Cable's ``Satellite Package'' will not be assessed any additional charges for those channels. About 97 percent of Falcon Cable customers subscribe to the Satellite Package, which includes The Weather Channel. Pay-per-view costs and charges for premium movie channels such as HBO and Cinemax also will remain the same.
Although the basic cable service cost is increasing, monthly charges for renting a remote-control unit from the cable company will drop from 58 cents to 21 cents - a savings of 64 percent.
``The cost of providing and maintaining remote controls has dropped for us,'' Ott said. ``We're merely passing those cost savings on to our customers.''
By law, officials with Falcon Cable are allowed to raise basic rates every quarter, Ott said. ``But we're looking into cost increases on an annual basis,'' he added. ``Our customers probably won't see another rate increase for at least one year.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
RATE INCREASES
This spring, 20,000 customers of Falcon Cable Television will see
their monthly rates rise for the first time since September 1993.
The cost of the ``Satellite Package,'' which includes 10 channels in
addition to the 30 ones offered in basic service, will not increase
above the current $5.25 per month. Pay-per-view movie prices also
will remain the same.
NORTH OF OREGON INLET
The old rate: $16.70
The new rate: $18.62
Increase: $1.92
SOUTH OF OREGON INLET
The old rate: $16.77
The new rate: $17.89
Increase: $1.12
For more information, call Falcon Cable Television at (919)
441-2881.
by CNB