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from: Journal Newspaper

Cable cost for city will increase

October 11, 2007
Molly Tippen
Staff Writer

The cost of keeping cable television and Internet hook-ups at Romulus City Hall will increase because of the extensive cable franchising agreement signed into law last year.

Romulus City Council members voted Monday night to amend the city budget to pay for the cost of cable at several municipal buildings.

Roger Kadau, the city communications director, said the Uniform Video Services Local Franchise Act of 2006 effectively negated any local control the city had over cable connections.

“We used to negotiate with Comcast about the fees, but because of the agreement, we can’t do that anymore,” he said. “It’s going to cost $269.70 more per month to keep the existing connections.”

City Hall has several cable connections to allow employees to monitor news and weather, and to allow them access to information. Under the statewide franchising agreement, local governments were limited in their negotiations with cable providers to provide the service.

When the agreement was enacted, it allowed Comcast to charge for connections that had been covered by the negotiated agreement between the city and company.

Some city officials expressed dismay about the additional charges.

“I think this is something we used to get,” said Councilman William Crova. “I’m really upset by the actions of Comcast.”

Cable hook-ups at the city fire station and police station are not affected by the agreement.

Though many other municipalities have signed agreements with other cable providers, special circumstances have limited the options of officials when it comes to cable, Crova said.

Because a cable provider would have to re-create the infrastructure and wiring currently owned by Comcast, the cost would be prohibitive for a cable provider. Romulus has a population of only 23,000 residents, which means a cable provider would gain relatively few new customers to pay for the work.

“We also have the airport in the middle of the city, and they would have to wire around it,” said Kadau.

Nevertheless, the city did sign an agreement with AT&T to provide service, but that company has not yet started work on re-wiring the city.

The franchising act specifies that all cities, townships, and villages must use the agreement without substantive changes.

The cable agreement was put into place in 2006 to secure $600 million in investment by AT&T, which could lead to about 2,000 new jobs in Michigan.

When the legislation was under debate in Lansing, most municipalities opposed the agreement, but it was approved by a nearly 2-1 margin last December.