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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                   )    
                              )              
Suburban Cable TV Co., Inc.             )    CUID No.  PA1112 (Warminster) 
                              )
Complaint Regarding                )              
Cable Programming Services Tier Rates   )              


                             ORDER

     Adopted:  November 6, 1998         Released:  November 13, 1998  

By the Acting Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division, Cable Services Bureau:

     1.   In this Order we consider a complaint against the July 1, 1998 rate increase of the above-
referenced operator ("Operator") for its cable programming services tier ("CPST") in the community
referenced above.  This Order addresses only Operator's July 1, 1998 rate increase.

     2.   Under the Communications Act, the Federal Communications Commission
("Commission"), is authorized to review the CPST rates of cable systems not subject to effective competition
to ensure that rates charged are not unreasonable.  The Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("1996 Act") and
our rules implementing the legislation ("Interim Rules"), require that a complaint against the CPST rate be
filed with the Commission by a local franchising authority ("LFA") that has received more than one
subscriber complaint.  

     3.   The LFA for the franchise area referenced above filed a complaint with the Commission on
September 21, 1998 against Operator's July 1, 1998 CPST rate increase from $17.88 to $20.13 and basic
service tier rate increase from $9.62 to $10.07.  The basic service tier rate is governed by the LFA and does
not trigger the Commission's jurisdiction.  Therefore, we will only consider the CPST rate complaint.  The
LFA verified that it received more than one subscriber complaint for the franchise area and that the first valid
complaint was received by the LFA on July 31, 1998.  The filing of a complete and timely complaint triggers
an obligation upon the cable operator to file a justification of its CPST rates.  The Operator has the burden
of demonstrating that the CPST rates complained about are reasonable.  If the Commission finds a rate to
be unreasonable, it shall determine the correct rate and any refund liability.  

     4.    Operators may justify their rates on an annual basis using FCC Form 1240 to reflect
reasonably certain and quantifiable changes in external costs, inflation, and the number of regulated channels
that are projected for the twelve months following the rate change.  Any incurred cost that is not projected
may be accrued with interest and added to rates at a later time.
     
     5.   Upon review of Operator's FCC Form 1240 for the projected period July 1, 1998 through
June 30, 1999, we made the following adjustments.  Operator did not use its actual CPST rate as the starting
rate on Line A1 of its FCC Form 1240. Therefore, we recalculated Operator's FCC Form 1240 with
Operator's actual CPST rate of $17.88 as the starting rate on Line A1 of its FCC Form 1240 and without the
true-up adjustment in Module I, Line I8.  Operator included true-up adjustments for the period July 1, 1997 
through December 31, 1997.  However, because Operator filed its FCC Form 1240 with the Commission in
response to a CPST complaint, and Operator was not subject to regulation by the Commission at the time
the complaint was filed, Operator is not entitled to any true-up adjustment.  We therefore adjusted Line C3
(Inflation Factor for True-Up Period 1) to 0.00.   We also revised Line C5 (Current FCC Inflation Factor)
to 1.0082.  We adjusted Operator's Module D (Calculating the Base Rate), Line I1 (CAPS Method Segment
for Projected Period) and Line 201 (Total CAPS Adjustment) of Worksheet 2 (CAPS Method Projected
Period) in accordance with the FCC Form 1240 Instructions for operators not subject to regulation.   These
adjustments did not affect Operator's MPR of $20.15 for the projected period.  Because Operator's actual
CPST rate of $20.13 effective July 1, 1998, is lower than its MPR, we find Operator's actual CPST rate of
$20.13 to be reasonable.

     6.   Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's rules, 47
C.F.R. 0.321, that the CPST rate of $20.13, effective July 1, 1998, IS REASONABLE.

     7.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's rules, 47
C.F.R.  0.321, that Operator take into account our FCC Form 1240 adjustments when calculating its
maximum permitted rate and performing the true-up calculation on its next FCC Form 1240.  

     8.   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to Section 0.321 of the Commission's rules, 47
C.F.R. Section 0.321, that the complaint against Operator's June 1, 1998 CPST rate increase, in the
community referenced above, IS DENIED.


                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 



                         Margaret M. Egler
                         Acting Chief, Financial Analysis and Compliance Division
                              Cable Services Bureau