Thousand Oaks Seeks to Block Cable TV Deal

Fearing a monopoly of its cable service, Thousands Oaks hired a private law firm and joined forces with Ventura County officials this week to try to legally block Adelphia Communications Corp.’s recent purchase of a rival cable system.

A lawyer for Thousand Oaks said Adelphia’s abrupt purchase of Verizon’s Americast system on Feb. 28 violated its franchise agreement with the city, which requires 60 days notice and written permission before a sale. A lawsuit against Adelphia is expected to be filed Monday.. With a single cable operator, officials are concerned about the potential for rate increases and diminished service.

Adelphia and Verizon maintain their deal did not violate their contracts with either the city or county because the sale--valued at a reported $58 million--involved everything except the franchise agreements. Cable company representatives met with Thousand Oaks and Ventura County officials earlier this week seeking a compromise, but none was reached.

“Adelphia and Verizon feel their legal position is justified ... so there’s no option but to go to court,” said Mayor Ed Masry. “If this deal is allowed to go through unchecked, then we’ve got a monopoly in town.”

Lee Perron, Adelphia’s regional vice president, said the company has no plans to raise rates this year and wants to provide more than 45 new channels and other services to the company’s 63,000 customers on the older portion of the Adelphia system.

Perron said the lawsuit by Thousand Oaks and the county is regrettable.

“More importantly, the company feels many of the customers in Thousand Oaks would be disappointed to not have access to these additional services,” he said.

The combined Adelphia-Verizon operation serves more than 112,000 Ventura County households. The company also provides cable service in Oxnard, Camarillo and Port Hueneme, which have not yet joined the legal action.

“What we’re trying to do is put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” said Bill Marticorena, an attorney with the Costa Mesa law firm Rutan & Tucker, which Thousand Oaks hired to challenge the merged operation. “We want a competitive environment put back into place until the court sorts out who’s right.”

Since the transfer, Thousand Oaks has received complaints from former Verizon subscribers about inaccurate bills, being forced to change Internet addresses and a drop-off in customer service.

“We don’t like this monopoly thing,” said Thousand Oaks resident Grayce Hammond whose cable service went out last weekend. She and her husband Joe were stood up by repairmen four times before the company corrected the problem, she said.