LUS Fiber to join cable service group

LAFAYETTE — A national cooperative for buying cable programming has agreed to allow LUS Fiber to join, reversing an earlier denial and opening the door for savings on cable expenses for the city’s telecommunications service, according to LUS officials.

LUS Fiber had been pursuing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission alleging anti-competitive conduct over the National Cable Television Cooperative’s denial of membership.

The cooperative, with headquarters in Kansas, works on behalf of cable providers to negotiate discounts on programming from cable channels, such as History, Animal Planet and ESPN.

City-parish officials alleged the denial of membership was influenced by Cox Communications, a large member of the cooperative and a competitor of LUS Fiber that could benefit if the city-owned service had to pay more for cable programming.

Cox Communications has denied the allegations.

A tentative agreement allows LUS Fiber to join the cooperative and to reap potential savings, according to a recent financial forecast that accompanied a bond offering by the city-owned service.

LUS Director Terry Huval confirmed the agreement but declined to offer details, saying only “It certainly takes pressure of our rates for the future” and the effects will not be immediate.

LUS Fiber, which offers fiber-optic video, telephone and Internet services, has been trying to join the cable cooperative since 2008.

Without membership, LUS Fiber has been negotiating directly with cable programmers, and the buying power of the cooperative could result in programming discounts as large as 20 percent, according to the bond filings.

City-parish officials have not given figures on what that savings might be but have put the amount generally in the millions of dollars.

In the meantime, LUS Fiber has announced a rate increase for its video service effective next month, citing rising fees charged by cable channels.