SANATOGA PA – Comcast Corp., the nation’s largest cable television service provider and the soon-to-be new owner of broadcasting and film industry giant NBC Universal, picked up another small piece of business Thursday (Jan. 20, 2011) from Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township.
The Board of Commissioners, during its second meeting of the month in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, voted unanimously to renew Lower Pottsgrove’s franchise agreement with Comcast for the next 12 years. Its previous deal was for only 10 years, but Manager Rodney Hawthorne said the township got a little something extra in return.
For starters, there’s money.
Comcast customers within the township serve as revenue sources in 21 different ways, Hawthorne said, because the company pays a variety of fees to Lower Pottsgrove for the privilege of selling its service here. Comcast’s 5-percent franchise fee payments to the township last year amounted to about $160,000. The percentage remains unchanged in the new contract.
However, Lower Pottsgrove will take in another $21,300 of new revenue in what Hawthorne called a “one-time grant” of $6 per subscriber to use as it sees fit. No potential use was announced Thursday.
The township also will receive an additional free cable television, Internet or telephone service connection at a location of its choosing; one connection is already supplied to the township Police Department. The new service, commissioners agreed, will be installed at the township maintenance building on North Pleasant View Road.
Comcast additionally guaranteed that equipment upgrades installed in neighboring municipalities would be put into Lower Pottsgrove as well on a timely basis, Hawthorne said, and it provided the township with a performance bond valued at $35,000 to guarantee it would meet its obligations.
Payments being made by Comcast are similar, on a percentage basis, to those being made by Verizon under its FiOS franchise agreement with the township, according to Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway. Verizon’s agreement is for just 10 years.
Hawthorne has been responsible for franchise negotiations in past years. This time around, though, he urged commissioners to take advantage of talks between Comcast and several other municipalities statewide being conducted by the Cohen Law Group of Pittsburgh, a firm that specializes in telecommunications law, on behalf of the Montgomery County (PA) Consortium of Communities, of which the township is a member.
Board members declared themselves satisfied with the result.
Comcast formally heard Thursday from the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice that its bid to acquire a majority ownership stake in NBC Universal, at a cost of $28 billion, had been approved with conditions.
Related:
- Township Approves 12-Year Comcast Franchise Deal
- Chief Complaint About Comcast: Its Cost
- Got An Opinion About Comcast? Sound Off Thursday
- Township Pays More For Contract Help
- Township Dues Investment Already Paying Off
- Township Interested In Cable Group
- Township Signs TV Deal With Verizon
- Proposed Deal Bringing Verizon Fios Here
- Verizon Negotiating For Franchise Here
Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Jan. 20):
- Township Approves 12-Year Comcast Franchise Deal
- Potential Conflict Causes Township Solicitor To Opt Out
- All Signs Point To More Township Signage Talk Tonight
What about FIOS? What about choice? What gives these folks the right to grant exclusive monopoly to COMCAST. We already pay way to much and now we are locked into them for 12 more years?
Did the public get an opportunity to comment? Did they they solicit public input? Sounds like we need and investigation here.
Ed, you ask good questions about two points that maybe aren’t understood.
First, the franchise granted by Lower Pottsgrove to Comcast was its cable television and cable services franchise. While there are many Comcast competitors nationwide for those services (TimeWarner Cable, for example) Comcast is the only player locally for those specific services. The township lost nothing, and gained revenue, by continuing its franchise agreement with it.
Second, the township ALSO has a digital television and digital services franchise agreement with Verizon for FiOS. It’s competition for Comcast, and choice for township residents, simply under a different name (which, frankly, Verizon would prefer because it doesn’t want to be thought of as an “antiquated cable company.”) And, yes, the township earns revenue – at the same rate – from that agreement.
Hope this helps. Thanks, as always, for your excellent comments.
WHy do we not have the choice of getting FIOS in Pottsgrove
GMBarry, thanks for your question. I can positively report that – in Lower Pottsgrove Township, at least – FiOS is available and has been for about a year. The township has a 10-year franchise agreement with Verizon to have it provide a variety of digital services to residents here under the FiOS and other brand names. You should call Verizon or visit its website to learn what its best deals are. The township’s franchise agreement with Comcast in no way hinders competition between the two.