Comcast Franchise Agreements
In today’s Roane County news, there is an article about a pending Roane County Comcast Franchise. The truth is that not only is the county’s franchise agreement expired, but each city in Roane County also has an expired Comcast Franchise Agreement.
I don’t watch cable TV and even if was available in my neighborhood, I would stream shows using the internet instead of getting cable anyway. So the Cable TV portion is not what I care about.
What I’m most concerned about is getting the internet to the underserved areas of our county.
Over and over I have been told by Darryl Meadows, chairman of the CableTV Committee, that “we are doing all that we can”. Yet the CableTV committee has only met 3 times in the last 3 years and there are no meeting minutes from a February 6th, 2020 of the CableTV committee available to know what occurred or resulted from that meeting.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, having access to the internet is essential for public safety. If you care as I do about getting the internet to the underserved areas of our county, let your local county commissioner know about your concerns. I’m in District 2 which is served by Mr. Randy Ellis, Mr. Hendrickson (who has blocked me on Facebook) and Mr. Allen Hickman
Now I’m not mad at Mr. Meadows or blaming any of the commissioners for these lapsed agreements. What I want is to trust that the whole of the commissioners and Roane County CableTV Committee are really doing all they can do for their constituents’ needs instead of acting like a turtle on it’s back.
Regarding “we are doing all that we can”, in a quick search on the internet, I very easily found another county that is doing all they can do for their constituents regarding getting internet to underserved areas of the county.
Take a look at how CALVERT COUNTY, MD handled their Comcast Franchise Agreement related to the internet. If they can do create a mutually beneficial relationship with Comcast, I believe our county commissioners can too.
CALVERT COUNTY, MD – RELATED TO INTERNET
“How will the new franchise agreement address unserved areas in the county?”
While the franchise agreement cannot, by law, address internet service, cable TV providers commonly include internet in their set of services. Calvert County worked to get the best possible coverage in the agreement to address areas currently without internet service. The agreement maintains a requirement that service be extended to any area that has at least 15 homes per mile. This density requirement is the lowest density approved in Maryland.
County staff worked with Comcast to identify unserved areas that do not meet density requirements. Four unserved areas have been identified as eligible for build by Comcast.
The County will continue to work with Comcast to find opportunities to make expansion into unserved areas more affordable. While internet service is not covered in the franchise agreement, the County will also pursue options and technologies to address internet coverage in unserved areas.”
Calvert County, MD https://www.calvertcountymd.gov/Faq.aspx?QID=398