Oct. 1--Bankrupt Adelphia Communications is scrambling to fix 164 electrical code violations in Fallbrook that pose a risk of electrocution or fire and could stand in the way of transferring the cable TV company's North County system to Time Warner.

The code violations were identified by an inspector hired by San Diego County to spot-check Adelphia's system in Fallbrook.

The inspector estimates that the number of violations exceeds 3,000 in Adelphia's system in the unincorporated areas of the county, including Lake San Marcos, Rancho Santa Fe and Fallbrook. About 11,000 of Adelphia's 75,000 subscribers in San Diego County live in those areas.

Adelphia does not dispute the county's findings.

"First and foremost, these are not safety violations," said Bob Gold, a publicist for the cable company. "These are code violations."

Gold said Adelphia has begun fixing the violations identified in Fallbrook and intends to complete the project within the next three weeks. He said the company also plans to survey the rest of its system to identify any other violations.

Gold blamed the violations on subcontractors who did not adhere to the electrical code, ever-changing codes and natural wear-and-tear on the system.

In those places where violations were found, the risk of electrocution or fire is relatively low but remains a worry to the county and to residents.

Fallbrook resident Norman Jarnes, whose home was photographed and identified in the inspection report as having wiring on the roof and improper grounding, was unaware of the violations until told by a reporter.

"I'm concerned now that I know we have a potential for fire," he said. "It's certainly something that needs to be cleared up before they transfer the system to Time Warner."

The county sent a letter two weeks ago to Adelphia ordering the company to provide by Oct. 17 a detailed plan to address the problems.

The county warned Adelphia that, without such a plan, the company would be in breach of its franchise agreement and would be cited for electrical code violations.

In addition, the letter warned that the county would not process Adelphia's transfer to Time Warner Cable if the company did not provide a plan for repairs. Time Warner and Comcast Corp., the nation's two largest cable TV operators, are buying Adelphia's assets and splitting up the bankrupt company's system nationwide.

"We need to make sure everybody is aware of the situation and make sure that it gets fixed," said Michael Workman, director of the county's Media and Public Relations Department, which oversees cable TV franchises.

The county paid about $15,000 for the inspection by Jonathan Kramer, owner of Kramer.Firm, a Los Angeles company specializing in cable TV investigations.

Kramer surveyed 85 miles of Adelphia's cable system in Fallbrook in August.

One of the common wiring hazards found in the inspection was improper grounding of cable lines. Grounding protects against electrical shock by providing an easy path for the current to follow.

Improper grounding could lead to electrical shock or fire if a surge occurs on either the cable TV or electrical lines, Kramer said. In addition, a surge on a system that isn't properly grounded could result in a burned out television set, set-top box, VCR or other TV equipment, he said.

"Modern TV sets have protection circuits inside of them that try to minimize any damage that can occur," he said. "But the potential for damage is still there, and when there's an electrical short, the thing we're most concerned about is the potential for fire. It's not that great a potential, but any avoidable risk should be dealt with."

In his report, Kramer estimated that the cable of one in four Adelphia subscribers in the unincorporated areas of San Diego County is improperly grounded.

Another common problem was the attachment of cable lines to power masts on the roofs of homes. This is of particular concern to cable installers, placing them at risk of electrocution, the report said. It estimated half the overhead cable connections in Fallbrook were installed in this manner.

In some cases, old cables were never removed when new ones were installed.

Consequently, the weight of the new cables on top of old ones has caused the cables to sag into the telephone lines, according to the report.

The inspection also found wiring on rooftops, inadequate conduit covering cable lines and cable lines tangled with overhead electrical lines, all violations under the National Electrical Code.

"The National Electrical Code has been covering cable TV systems since 1956," Kramer said. "These aren't new rules. They are well-known rules. They apply around the country. Everybody in the business knows what the rules are, and hopefully we can encourage Adelphia to make the system entirely safe."

Kramer said the part of Adelphia's system that he inspected is neither the worst he's seen, nor the best, but rather "somewhere in the middle."

The county commissioned the inspection of Adelphia's system in preparation for negotiations with the cable company for a new franchise agreement. Its current 20-year agreement expires in January 2007.

The violations have become a potential stumbling block in the transfer of Adelphia's system to Time Warner in the unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

Adelphia, the fifth-largest U.S. cable TV operator, with more than $18 billion of debt, has been operating under bankruptcy protection since June 2002. This year, Adelphia founder John Rigas and son Timothy were convicted of looting hundreds of millions of dollars from the company.

Adelphia is selling its cable TV systems nationwide to Comcast and Time Warner, which made a joint offer of $12.7 billion in cash and 16 percent of Time Warner Cable's common stock. The deal is expected to be completed by March of next year.

In the meantime, Adelphia has asked cities and counties where it offers cable service for permission to transfer its franchises to either Comcast, or, as in the case of its system in San Diego County, to Time Warner. Time Warner already offers cable TV service in Coronado, Poway, 4S Ranch and the northern half of the city of San Diego.

Besides the county, Del Mar, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Vista and San Marcos are weighing such transfer requests. Solana Beach approved the transfer last month

However, at least in the county and in the city of Carlsbad, the transfer request has hit some snags.



Carlsbad said its audit of Adelphia's franchise fees found the city was underpaid $115,000 to $180,000 for 2000 to 2002. Audits of 2004 and 2005 are under way. Adelphia has paid $40,000 toward what the city says it owes, said Joe Garuba, assistant to the city manager.

Carlsbad, which receives about $1 million a year in cable TV franchise fees, wants to settle the outstanding fees, among other things, before agreeing to transfer the system to Time Warner, Garuba said.

For the county government, the concerns go beyond Adelphia's electrical code violations. Workman of the county has been frustrated by what he says is an inability to get answers to some of its questions posed to Time Warner. The county also wants an assurance by Time Warner that it would take care of any electrical violations not fixed by Adelphia.

In addition, Workman questioned whether Time Warner can deal with a new system when it already has customer service problems on its existing system.

"They're going to take on a troubled system," Workman said. "How are they going to handle the increased call volumes when they have the worst customer service answer times that I've seen in six years?"

Under county law, Time Warner is required to answer customer service calls within 25 seconds. The company has been out of compliance for the past four years, according to the county.

Beginning in May, callers have been waiting longer and longer on the phone for help. In January, the average time on hold was 1.7 minutes. By August, it had risen to 10 minutes.

Marc Farrar, vice president of public affairs for Time Warner's San Diego division, told the county that the rising response times are the result of a reorganization of the company's customer service team. He said Time Warner hired 50 new customer service representatives and that most existing employees had to learn new responsibilities.

"We fully expect that in the coming weeks and months we'll be as good, or probably more efficient, than we ever have been," Farrar said. "Wait times should be coming back down now."

As for problems the county or cities have with Adelphia, Farrar said Time Warner expects Adelphia to address any outstanding issues it has before the transfer.

Local governments face a deadline of Oct. 15 to either approve or deny the franchise transfer. Under federal law, if a jurisdiction does not take action on a transfer request within 120 days, the request is automatically approved.

Time Warner has granted San Diego County an extension until Dec. 14.

If the transfer is approved for Adelphia's North County system, Time Warner, which has 200,000 subscribers in San Diego County, would remain the second-largest cable company locally. Cox Communications, with about 500,000 subscribers, is the largest cable provider in the county.