By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

Town Feb. ’04 Feb. ’05 % decline

Lewiston 10,842 10,086 6.97

Auburn 7,149 6,431 10.04

Lisbon 2,563 2,386 6.91

Sabattus 1,132 1,061 6.27

Cable rates rising
Adelphia’s energy costs have risen 25%, exec says

LEWISTON – Maine’s biggest cable TV company is raising rates again.

Adelphia Communications plans to boost bills to most of its customers by nearly $3 per month.

The additional money is needed to offset rising costs for its programs, new technology and fueling a fleet of service trucks, said Kathleen Hounsell, the government affairs director for Adelphia in Maine.

The hike, the first in two years, is merely a reflection of the cost of doing business, Hounsell said Monday.

Energy prices have risen by 25 percent and the fees Adelphia must pay for its channels has risen by 7 percent, she said

“Yet, our rate increase isn’t nearly that high,” the Adelphia executive said. “I think you’d still find our rates favorable.”

The market for cable TV, particularly in Lewiston-Auburn, is increasingly competitive. And a growing number of people are leaving Adelphia.

In February 2004, Adelphia had 21,686 subscribers in Lewiston, Auburn, Sabattus and Lisbon, according to the company’s most recent report to Lewiston City Hall.

One year later, that number fell to 19,964, a drop of more than 1,700 subscribers.

Some of those folks undoubtedly signed up for satellite service, the biggest being DirecTV and Dish Network. Others went with Adelphia’s cable competitor, Oxford Networks.

In the past two years, the growing company has signed 600 to 650 subscribers in Lewiston-Auburn, said Matt Jancovic, Oxford Networks’ marketing manager.

That service is not immediately comparable to Adelphia, though.

Adelphia’s most popular service is its “classic cable package,” which includes 74 channels including local stations, MTV, NESN and Turner Classic Movies for a new monthly rate of $51.30.

Oxford Networks offers an all-digital service and 106 channels for $65, a rate that drops as people sign up for more services. So far, the company has limited its reach to certain neighborhoods in Lewiston and Auburn’s downtown, but it’s growing.

If people don’t like Adelphia’s hike, they ought to shop around, said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston’s assistant city administrator.

“We have almost no say over when they raise rates or by how much,” Nadeau said.

Adelphia will be changing, though.

By April or May, Comcast and Time Warner are expected to finish their acquisition of the bankrupt Adelphia. All of Maine’s Adelphia subscribers will fall under Time Warner.

“It will be a slow process,” said Melinda Poore, Time Warner’s vice president of government and public affairs in Maine.

Lots of the details of the change have yet to be worked out, including the rates, she said.

For a service comparable to Adelphia’s $51.30 classic cable, Time Warner customers in Portland pay $45.91.

“There will be no price hike when Time Warner takes over,” Poore said.

The company may also improve its customer service. Time Warner is contemplating an expansion of its Portland call center.

Adelphia’s customer calls from Maine currently go to Florida, Poore said.

Copy the Story Link