Cable TV operators ticked off over new FCC rate rules.

Cable television service in Los Angeles elicits almost as many complaints as crime, traffic and smog. Several thousand people call the city's Department of Telecommunications annually to complain about cable service and its high cost.

Rulings by the Federal Communications Commission announced April 1 attempt to control soaring national cable rates. They also may quell local consumer complaints -- but cable operators are howling over the potential impacts of the government's intervention.

If cable system operators are forced to cut prices, it could curtail their cash flow and prevent them from making critical upgrades to their systems, they contended. Many are planning to lay fiber-optic cable to increase channels and need as much cash as they can generate for this expensive upgrade.

Most cable operators here claim they aren't profitable and the government's rate regulations aren't going to help their bottom lines.

The FCC's regulations could hit Los Angeles County cable operators hard because they have the dubious distinction of implementing some of the highest rate hikes in the nation.

Since the industry was deregulated in 1987, the nation's rates have risen 60 percent. However, in Los Angeles County, the rates have gone up 129 percent, according to statistics provided by the telecommunications department.

Since last September 14 cable operators in the county have dinged consumers an additional 6 percent.

The FCC is ordering a rollback to September 1992 rates for basic service. A possible 10 percent cut on those rollback rates is also being considered but a benchmark formula for the new rates won't be announced until the end of April.

The FCC announcement said 75 percent of the country could expect an average 10 percent decrease on the rollbacked September rates. In addition, the FCC has also imposed a 120-day rate freeze and is empowering local telecommunications boards to set future rates starting July 1.

In anticipation of the FCC's ruling, 13 of the 14 local companies raised their rates in the last 12 months, with several boosting their rates twice in that period. The average monthly rate for basic cable here is now up to $23.75 compared to $10.35 in January 1987.

Only one system, Times Mirror Co.'s Dimension Cable Services servicing Palos Verde, got caught with a rate proposal on the table but has had to rescind it because of the freeze. Dimension was planning a 9 percent increase to begin June 1.

Susan Herman, general manager of Los Angeles' telecommunications department, said the FCC rulings would have a positive impact for consumers but warned they shouldn't have high expectations of large savings because they may be dashed.

"Prices have been high because of the companies' monopoly status which contributes to rate inflation which has been four times higher than the CPI (consumer price index)," she said. "We are happy with the FCC announcement. It will help increase customer satisfaction and give them a better sense of value."

Bill Rosendahl, senior vice president of Century Communications Corp., which services the Westside, has a different viewpoint. He said, "Our first reaction was, we were stunned and found it to be a tremendous blow to the industry. What it means only time will tell but our hope is there will be some reasonableness in particular markets. We are going ahead with our improvements and will invest $100 million to rebuild 1,700 miles of cable to 160,000 homes which will allow us to go from 40 channels to 78."

Rosendahl said he is hopeful that the company's investment to improve service will have a mitigating factor on setting his franchise rates. He predicted the industry will challenge the FCC rulings on constitutional and first amendment issues.

Craig Watson, general manager of Crown Cable and president of the Southern California Cable Association, said, "Most of us are getting ready for fiber optics which will allow us to offer 500 channels and digital, which is a few years away. We will spend $1.5 million in our small area (San Gabriel Valley) for fiber optics but the FCC rulings makes us pause and there is fear.

"If there are major price rollbacks, our biggest fear is there won't be resources there for expensive projects like fiber optics," he continued. "We need to upgrade for the coming changes but this latest action concerns us all."