Residents blast Comcast during public hearing.
By: Sharlee Joy DiMenichi
MONROE High rates and hardheaded negotiators topped the complaints of citizens who spoke at a Township Council hearing on renewing the contract of the Comcast Cable of Central Jersey company.
Representatives of township senior citizen communities, which have separate contracts with the cable television and broadband provider, described company negotiators as intransigent and decried increases in the price of cable service.
The township’s contract with the cable company ends in March 2005. Council members are charged with determining whether to renew the company’s franchise to possess and operate a cable television system in Monroe. The township could renew the franchise on a year-to-year basis or sign on to a longer agreement.
Although senior communities have their own contracts with Comcast, representatives of the developments offered input on the proposed franchise renewal.
Negotiators for the senior developments said that Comcast threatened to remove the communities’ free access channels unless they agreed to bulk billing. Bulk billing would charge every resident of a community for cable service regardless of how many subscribed.
"We were presented with the need to sign the so-called bulk billing agreement or suffer the loss of our community access channel," said Rod Kober, vice president of the Greenbriar at Whittingham Homeowners Association.
Adrian Mittler of the board of the Greenbriar at Whittingham said that the governing documents of the community forbid bulk billing, but that Comcast representatives insisted upon the billing method.
Comcast representative Rob Clifton said rates are set by federal and state law and are beyond the company’s control.
"The FCC has the right to regulate the rate for basic cable if the company is not subject to effective competition," said Federal Communications Commission attorney Margo Davenport.
Ms. Davenport said cable companies must file petitions with the FCC arguing that they are subject to effective competition. Within a given franchise area, effective competition occurs when less than 30 percent of households subscribe to a given cable provider and more than 15 percent of households subscribe to a television service provider other than the largest one, according to federal law. To have effective competition within a particular franchise area, there must be at least two independent service providers, with one serving at least half the households, under federal code.
Irwin Kaplan of Greenbriar at Whittingham said that 95 percent of households in the United States have access to only one cable company, and that those who can choose from at least two cable providers pay 17 percent less for service.
Some residents of senior communities said the price of basic service increased twofold without notice, causing a hardship for retirees on fixed incomes, some of whom are homebound and rely on television to connect with the outside world.
"A big thing that we’re against is they doubled the rates," said Ethel Kaplan of Greenbriar at Whittingham.
Mr. Kaplan said that when presented with a proposal to enter into one contract with all the senior communities, Comcast officials flatly refused. Another senior community representative said her negotiating experience was similar. Phyllis Magier of The Ponds said Comcast stopped providing the development’s community access channel in response to stalemated negotiations. Leaders of the community refused to continue subscribing to Comcast, opting instead for satellite television provider Hotwire. Hotwire is expected to provide service for the entire Ponds community by the end of the year, Ms. Magier said.
Mr. Clifton said Comcast tried to accommodate seniors by offering a 10 percent discount on cable service.
"It was an issue of personal dignity. Dealing with a company that just stampeded over us made us feel insignificant and totally powerless," said Phyllis Magier of the Ponds.
The lone dissenting representative of a senior community, Don Haback of the Regency at Monroe, presented a petition to Mr. Clifton, asking Comcast officials to consider becoming the community’s cable provider.
Members of the audience called, "Boo!" and "Don’t do it!"
Mr. Haback said the senior community’s cable provider has offered inadequate service. The provider is a subsidiary of Toll Brothers, the developer of the complex, Mr. Haback said.
Council members said that Comcast officials should be expected to negotiate in good faith and provide a reasonably priced quality product.
Councilman John Riggs said the cable provider should abide by basic laws of marketing, as he must in his job marketing consumer products.
"If we overprice that product and we don’t deliver a good product, then somebody is going to come in underneath us," Mr. Riggs said.
Councilman Irwin Nalitt expressed his disapproval of the attitude of Comcast negotiators.
"The word that we heard most often tonight to describe Comcast was intransigent. I think that was a polite way to describe what Comcast really is," Mr. Nalitt said.