aSic
application specific
Premium
join:2001-05-17
Wakulla, FL
clubs:
| County franchise agreements? Examples with teeth?
Recently (2003) my county entered into yet another franchise agreement with Comcast. Basically it happened before I became really pissed off at the company. According to the county attorney, it was never updated from the last renewal in 1993.
Due to a recent election, I've got 3 of the 5 commissioners on board, in agreement that it needs to be adjusted and that the company is slacking severely in service to the residents of the county.
I just need to find some examples of other local franchise agreements that have some teeth that I can present to my commissioners and county attorney to possibly effect some changes on the home front. 
Anybody have any links they could share?
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JPuppy
Java Heathen
Premium
join:2002-11-24
Honesdale, PA
clubs:
| I would site message DonLibes  . I know he had done much work in Montgomery County, MD a few years ago related to Franchise Agreements and minimum service levels (among other items).
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tschmidt
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
 ·Hollis Hosting
 ·Verizon Online DSL
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| reply to aSic
I agree Don is a great resource.
Here is a link to CATV info for NH towns near me:
»milfordnh.info/patv/Links.html
With the transition from Adelphia to Comcast things are a a degree of flux.
/tom |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| reply to aSic
Portland, Chicago, and Montgomery County MD are frequently cited as agressive franchises worth looking at. Additional regulation can occur in state and local statutes so you have to look at those too. Here's a link to MCMD.
»www.montgomerycountymd.gov/cable |
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marigolds
Gainfully employed, finally
Premium,MVM
join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| reply to aSic
What's the population of the county?
Are there any overbuilders?
If Tallahassee is in your county, do they have their own city franchise?
What are your goals? Do you have a recent community needs assessment?
I think we had some decent measures in Iowa City franchise:
»www.citychannel4.com/franchise/I···INAL.pdf
Revamping the franchise might be a two step process. First you have to aggressively enforce the existing franchise. Encourage residents to contact you with complaints. Keep detailed records of complain resolution. Get a community needs assessment done.
I am assuming your next renewal is now 2013? You are never going to get out of your current franchise without an expensive fight, so you would need to target the next renewal period.
The hard part is that there is very little that the cable company is required to agree to (even less without a needs assessment demonstrating a need for more services).
Your best leverage comes from:
1) Dangling an extension of the existing franchise (with new terms).
2) Offering longer extension terms (like 12-14 years) as a carrot and no extension at all as a stick. If you wait until the renewal period, offer a 5 year renewal if terms are not agreed to.
3) Documenting failures of the current franchisee (especially failing to meet customer services goals) and being willing to push forward with appropriate fines.
4) Get someone to negotiate for you. The cable company wants something, and if you find out what that is you can get more out of them.
Also, promote your PEG channels. Promote action. The more people who want PEG, the more who attend commission meetings and talk about the issues, the more pressure on the cable company to fix them. (If there is high PEG demand, that will show in the community needs assessment and the cable company is more likely to make concessions in customer services in place of support for PEG.)
Finally, formalize cable oversight. Get appointed citizens involved to increase visibility of franchise enforcement.
You can draft a franchise with teeth, but you cannot force the cable company to sign it.
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