Township Committee members appeared satisified with company’s presentation.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY After being chided by members of the Township Committee for providing too many vague promises and too few facts during an appearance last month, representatives of local cable provider RCN were back in front of the committee Wednesday night.
The evening’s proceedings were significantly more civil, as committee members appeared satisfied with the thoroughness of RCN attorney Philip Passanante’s 40-minute PowerPoint presentation.
When Mr. Passanante appeared before the committee requesting a renewal of his company’s franchise agreement with the township in April, committee members criticized him for failing to provide them with adequate information about the company’s planned rebuild of the area’s cable infrastructure.
Mr. Passanante apparently came prepared Wednesday night. RCN is currently planning a $14 million upgrade of the township’s and surrounding area’s cable system, he said. The system, he said, will be composed of a broadband, fiber-optic platform, with 850 megahertz of bandwidth, and will accommodate high-speed, two-way Internet access and a full complement of state-of-the-art cable features.
The new system will consist of 74 basic cable channels, 29 digital channels, 45 music channels, 59 digital premium channels and 35 pay-per-view channels. Internet service, which, Mr. Passanante stressed repeatedly, is not subject to the negotiations of the cable franchise agreement but is nevertheless an important part of the company’s plans, will be available with download speeds of up to 1.2 megabytes per second, he said.
Montgomery will be served by the main head end or "megapop" the company is constructing in Hillsborough, he said. The megapop is where all the signals originate after they are received from the communications satellite. Because providing service to the township will not require the construction of an additional "hub" to amplify the signal, Montgomery will be among the first to receive RCN’s upgraded service when it comes online, Mr. Passanante said.
He couldn’t say, however, when that would be. But he did tell committee members that, once construction begins in Montgomery, the project is estimated to take 300 working days, or about 15 months.
He also said the company had made progress in customer service, a major bone of contention among township residents, with a 24-hour 1-800 help line, and a complaint Web site.
"One customer said at another of these hearings that she’d gotten a response from the Web site within 15 minutes," Mr. Passanante said.
"However," responded Township Committeewoman Sondra Moylan, who has been the most outspoken critic of RCN’s existing Internet service, "you have to be able to get onto the Internet in the first place."
"Now I know why she didn’t shake my hand," Mr. Passanante said.
He also tried to placate the committee on the subject of RCN’s financial solvency. The company has been in a precarious position for some time, and its stock was downgraded to low junk status in February. Mr. Passanante briefly outlined the company’s recently renegotiated debt structure, which, he said, will provide it with the capital necessary to undertake the rebuild.
"We believe we’re building a better mousetrap in Montgomery," Mr. Passanante said. "RCN has been good, will be good, and is good for the township."
Township Committee members appeared satisfied with Mr. Passanante’s presentation, but still asked him for more information. They wanted assurances, for instance, that service particularly Internet service would be extended to the cluster of small offices in Princeton Research Park across from Princeton Airport, where it is currently unavailable.
"The things you’ve laid out here look good," Mayor Louise Wilson said. "And yet we remain cautious. Once bitten, twice shy. We’ll continue to monitor the progress of this project."
The township and RCN will now enter into negotiations over the terms of the contract, such as the length of the franchise. A deal must be submitted to the state Board of Public Utilities for approval by June 6.