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Pittsburgh delays approval of franchise deal with Verizon
Sep 02, 2009 (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
After 15 months of negotiations, Pittsburgh City Council today delayed for a week approving a franchise agreement with Verizon.
"I believe there are still a few issues that need to be worked out," said Councilwoman Darlene Harris.
The major sticking points for council members were ensuring continued funding for Pittsburgh Cable TV, which airs local programming, and that Verizon does not employ undocumented workers.
Under the agreement, Verizon will install its fiber-optic network -- dubbed FiOS -- to provide high-speed Internet, phone and cable TV service to at least half of the city's households within three years and for all households within six years. The installation will target half of the city's low-to-moderate-income families in each phase.
Verizon agreed on Monday to open a local service center once it gets 10,000 customers. The company also will furnish its high-speed, fiber-optic lines for a network for public safety agencies and add two public access channels, one of which will carry educational programming.
Bill Carnahan, Verizon's vice president for external affairs in western Pennsylvania, could not be reached for comment.
Councilman Ricky Burgess said he was ready to support the resolutions. "The people of Pittsburgh want to have a choice in their cable service provider. We should now move as quickly as possible to provide them with that choice," he said.
"I really don't see a need to hold," said Councilwoman Tonya Payne.
The deal would give Comcast its first competition in years, which some have said could drive down monthly prices and/or provide better customer service.
Jody Doherty, a spokeswoman for Comcast, said it serves 850,000 customers in southwestern Pennsylvania and parts of Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. Doherty said Comcast recently began preliminary discissions with the city on a new franchise agreement. Comcast's current 10-year agreement will expire at the end of this year, she said.
"Competition is not new to Comcast," Doherty said. "We're very confident in our network."
Verizon's agreement also includes a $350,000 government access grant, a $350,000 grant to support the city's public, education and government access channels, and payment of franchise fees equal to 5 percent of gross revenues on cable service. Comcast also pays 5 percent.
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper,
go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/. Copyright (c) 2009, The
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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