Verizon cable deal up for vote next week

Concern lingers over the rollout plan, especially in the upcounty

Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2006

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The vote would be one of the last major issues decided by the sitting council, which swears in four new members on Dec. 4.

Under the proposed 15-year agreement, Verizon would offer cable television service to homes and businesses using its underground fiber-optic lines. If approved, the service would be phased in across the county over seven years. Comcast and RCN already hold cable franchise agreements in the county. Verizon already provides telephone and Internet services within the county, which do not require a franchise agreement.

Under the agreement, Verizon would pay the county an annual franchise fee of 5 percent of its gross revenues from its cable service. The county would receive free cable at its buildings and at some hospitals, clinics and community centers. Verizon also would provide the county with 11 public access channels.

The Nov. 28 vote will follow months of debate — and at least one lawsuit — over parts of the agreement, including service rollout dates and whether the service rules for Verizon are the same as those for Comcast and RCN. Some council members say Verizon’s rollout schedule will bring service to the Poolesville area too late, and Comcast and RCN say customer service rules are different for Verizon.

‘‘Even if Verizon flipped the switch on [Nov. 28] everyone would not get service, there would be a phasing in,” said Council Vice President Marilyn J. Praisner (D-Dist. 4) of Calverton, who chairs the committee considering the agreement. ‘‘That was one of my complaints, that Verizon was lobbying people to encourage the council to approve an agreement when all parts of the county would not receive services immediately.”

Under Verizon’s rollout plan, Bethesda, Potomac, Germantown, Damascus and Wheaton would receive services first — within one to three years after the agreement is approved. Other areas, including Silver Spring, Rockville and Takoma Park, would receive service within three to five years; the Gaithersburg area within five to seven years. The Poolesville area would receive service last, within seven years of approval and only if the number of households demanding Verizon service exceeds 6,000.

‘‘From a Poolesville-rural upcounty perspective, the residents just want basic service at the same competitive rates that exist in other parts of the county,” said County Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, who represents Poolesville. He would like to see that area on the schedule without the household contingency.

Knapp said the upcounty schedule as it now stands could lead him to vote against the Verizon agreement.

‘‘There are other things to consider, but it is certainly a big part of the decision for me,” he said. ‘‘At the very least we have to get Poolesville on the rollout schedule. I would like to make sure that the residents know that it’s going to happen at some point in time.”

In addition to the contested rollout plan, other cable representatives have disagreed with ‘‘lenient” customer service and maintenance requirements included in Verizon’s agreement.

‘‘[Comcast] ask(s) that local franchise agreements provide for a fair, level playing field,” said Comcast spokeswoman Lisa Altman. ‘‘There are numerous sections of Verizon’s agreement that afford them a more lenient agreement than ours or other franchisees.”

For example, Verizon would not be required to have a live person answer customer calls during business hours as Comcast is, would be given 72 hours to complete outside repairs instead of the 24 hours set out in other agreements and Verizon technicians would be required to work only during daylight hours, Altman said.

Comcast’s grievances are unfounded, Verizon spokesman Harry J. Mitchell said.

‘‘Everywhere we have gone, they have worked that issue. If they feel that the agreement that Verizon has struck with the county is better than the one it has, then they should take it up with the county,” Mitchell said. ‘‘Comcast essentially has a monopoly on the county. They don’t have to meet the same requirements in phone services that Verizon does. The solution is not to delay competition.”

How much Verizon may charge would depend on which package a customer chooses, but it is hard to compare its rates to Comcast’s or RCN’s because the packages are different.

The county began lengthy negotiations with Verizon last year, but talks broke off when the company sued the county earlier this year.

The company argued that the county was unnecessarily delaying its decision on an agreement. But county officials said Verizon had not submitted necessary company information to begin the process.

In July, Bruce F. Romer, the county’s chief administrative officer, called the lawsuit was frivolous.

‘‘Verizon has not even applied for a cable franchise in the county. Its lawsuit is nothing more than a tool in its public relations campaign to gain congressional approval of a national franchise,” he said in a letter to The Gazette.

Verizon dropped the suit in September when the county agreed to open Montgomery up to the company’s cable service.

On Oct. 5, County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) forwarded a proposed agreement to the council and recommended that the council grant Verizon a cable franchise.

The council’s Management and Fiscal Policy Committee plans a worksession on Monday to resolve that and the rollout issues. A full council vote is set for the next day.

‘‘Hopefully we’ll have a complete franchise agreement to vote [on Tuesday],” Praisner said. ‘‘I prefer to finish it on the 28th because this is the council’s last meeting before we bring in four new council members. I prefer not to have to restart the process to educate the new members.”

The Prince George’s County Council is also scheduled to vote on a similar Verizon agreement on Tuesday. Anne Arundel and Fairfax, Va., counties already have cable agreements with Verizon.