07-25-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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L.A. Takes St Customer Seru 4 MMs NeaWsd LOS ANGELES — Re- sponding to complaints from nonsumers, the City Council here has directed city staff members to develop more de- fined r,ulcmw,- rcice stan- dards for cable companies which may include automatic rebates for outages of 24 hours ouch as sporting events and the Academy Awards. The Valley Cable system in the suburbs owned by Cablevision Inc. caused a Rum of complaints recently when it marketed new packages then was unable to handle the barrage on inmen- ing all.. City documents show that at times, more then 50 percent of callers were even able to get an answer at the .yMem. United Cable Tele- vision of Los Angeles and Buenaviskm Cable arc behind in their newbuilds and South Central Los Angeles has no able due to the ongoing dis- pute over the Preferred Com- munications Inc. vs. Lae An- geles federal suit. Because of the complaints. the telecommunications de. partment has recommended several other standards be in- cluded in addition to the three sought by the council. They include: eps to Define ice Standards or more and the Itm installa- tion of A/B switches. The council motion mid that cable television has become an important information and entertainment source for city residents, therefore it is the responsibility of the city to ensure that the quality of that service remains high. The council has referred the matter a Specifying the average amount of time ameplable for calls In be on hold. s Providing a regional loll - free number for subscribers to use for billing, service or other inquiries. e Providing a 24-hour ser- vim that will describe current known umages and allows cus- tomers m leave their names in Order to receive a credit against those oubge . Specifying the .,crag, number of calls that may be abandoned during specific period. of time. e Specifying the permntege of installation requests that must be completed within a specific time after an initial request, to the city telecommunications department. requesting that it determine whether problems such as poor pictures, lele- phone access or outages arc citywide or confined to mrain nperatom The council mrm- ben are seeking the "establish- ment of a definition of ade- quate levels of servim,'- as well as the rebates and switches. Various cable operations in the city have been subject to complaints, some for years, ac- cording to city records. One city operator. Clu muniCom. holds the city record for ,rai- sumer complaints bersnse the former owner, Si. Star Nielern Cablevisinn. let the plant dr- terimate while the parent moo - party was in bankruptcy. The system is now Owned by American Cablesystems Corp. which has markedly improved the maim. Al. facing com- plaints due to aging plant are the eity's three Century Com- numiratlona Corp. sy.w s. which have also been plagued by mbol.gir that has caused outages during crucial events e Providing five days written notice More disconnects. a Providing a written stale- ment of security deposit refund policies. e Smiting 30 do), notice Of any changes in the channel lineup. e Getting written notice, Within rive working days, from ,able companies detailing th, resolution of complaints sub- mitted In the city. llte city has forwarded the proposed standards to the tell Angeles Cable Operators As- sOt-ialinn for feedback before it mnsiders action.❑ Editor: Aaow me to respond to your editorial in the May 30 Issue. Your intenllons. I believe, were honorable when you proposed that cable operators be allowed coolant control over public access channels. There can be no bailer choice than the slri¢ application of First Amendment protection to speecl- on the amass channels. The cable operator, to wFom you would give the power of censorship, has Interests that revolve around keeping Ina ummmms happy a" coming back for more. Currently unpopular opinions would not be welcome at the access channel and the entire concept of a=*m would be lost. The boiler choke is to divorce the .able operator from anymnneclbn with the access criminal. It must be made clear that the cable operator has ho mote mmrd over the access channel than he dose over this local nelsoork affiliate also carded on the system. Elliott C. Mitchell, Ellm, ire Director C; mmunily Amens Television Nashville