Most cable TV subscribers in Carroll County soon will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets for basic services.
New rates will take effect next month, Prestige Cable TV officials announced this week.
Broadcast Basic service will cost 77 cents more, increasing the monthly fee to $11.69.
Subscribers who also get Expanded Basic service will be charged an additional 88 cents, raising their bill to $10.43 for the broader service. This is in addition to the $11.69 monthly charge.
Rates for Superstation, Variety Tier, Premium and Pay-Per-View will not change.
In March 1993, rates for 42-channel basic service rose 6.7 percent, which included a 3 percent franchise fee imposed by the county and towns.
Fees for other services, including premium channels, a lower tier of cable channels and use of remote controls did not increase.
In explaining the increase that is about to take effect, Bill Bethune, general manager of Prestige, said, "We're doing exactly what we have to, to follow the guidelines."
He was referring to Federal Communications Commission regulations outlined in the 1992 Cable Act.
Mr. Bethune also cited escalating programming costs and inflation as additional reasons for the increases.
Customers also will be charged a regulatory fee of 3 cents per month, he said.
To cover the expense of instituting federal regulation, the FCC already has collected payment from individual cable companies, which are beginning to pass the charge along to customers.
Prestige has paid the FCC more than $40,000, Mr. Bethune said.
The company, which operates in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, will recoup that expense through the 3-cent fee charged to customers over the next 12 months.
Prestige officials said installation charges and other one-time fees will be reduced.
The standard installation fee will be reduced by $7.36 to $41.61, and additional outlet installation will go down by $6.30 to $35.67. A standard service call will cost $23.78, $4.20 less than the current charge.
Converter box rental will be $1.67 a month, a 67-cent decrease, and remote control rental will go down from 24 cents to 15 cents a month.
"We are attempting to follow the letter of the law with regards to the new cable regulations in making these rate adjustments," said Mr. Bethune.
He said the company recently has taken steps to upgrade its service.
A more sophisticated telephone system was installed this week and five more customer service representatives were hired to augment the six who already handle customers' inquiries and complaints, he said.
Beginning Jan. 1, the company plans to extend its office hours by one hour to 6 p.m. and its phone hours in the customer service department to 9 p.m., he said.
Now only service calls are taken between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., he said.
Prestige has the cable TV franchise for most of Carroll County. The town of Manchester is served by Frederick Cablevision.