A technician for Comcast heads out on a job in Salt Lake City.The city of Vancouver and Clark County are conducting their reviewof contracts with Comcast.
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Its not often that Vancouver and Clark County conduct a top-to-bottom review of their contracts with Comcast, the franchised cabletelevision provider for the city and much of the county. But thetime for review has arrived, and the two governments have justkicked off a months-long look at Comcasts service quality, publicservice programming and plans for the future.
The city and county both want to write new contracts to replacethe existing 15-year franchise agreements now held by Comcast, whichexpire at the end of 2012. If all goes well, as local governmentregulators anticipate, the process could be wrapped up a year early.The new contracts could run anywhere from five to 15 years.
The City/County Telecommunications Commission, which advises theVancouver City Council and the Clark County Board of Commissioners,has developed a public outreach plan running through October. Thecommission and its staff will evaluate issues about the existingfranchise agreement, and use public comments to negotiate a dealthat they hope will provide the greatest public benefit from thecable franchise.
What we want to hear from the public is what they would like tosee from the cable system, keeping in mind the limited say localgovernment has over it, said Fred Bateman, the commissions chairman.
By limited, Bateman means that government cant regulate feescharged by Comcast, which have risen steadily for basic cable andhave more than doubled for expanded basic service since Comcastacquired the franchise from another provider in 2003. Court rulingshave stripped local governments of the ability to set cable rates,said Jim Demmon, the commissions cable television manager. Andalthough local governments can require cable companies to providelocal access programming, a 1984 law prohibits those governmentsfrom making the companies pay the operating costs of those stations.
The cable commissions review begins this month with a randomtelephone survey, now under way, of 400 cable subscribers and 400nonsubscribers. On Friday, it launched a website (http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cablefranchise) to inform citizens about theprocess. In early May, the commission will initiate an Internetsurvey based on comments from the phone survey. Also in May, it willorganize focus group discussions and meetings with key communityleaders.
In August, the commission will consider a draft franchiseagreement and hold a work session with Vancouver city councilors andcounty commissioners. Then its time for formal hearings and adoptionof city and county franchise agreements in mid-October, Demmon said.
Comcast has more than 83,000 cable television customers in ClarkCounty, and the company offers many non-regulated services includingtelephone and Internet access. Last year, the cable commissionreceived just 117 customer complaints against Comcast related tocable service, Demmon said. The company met or exceeded thefranchise requirement of responding to 90 percent of phone callswithin 30 seconds, he said.
The company pays a franchise fee of 5 percent of its grossrevenues. That fee generated $1.8 million for the city and $1.6million for Clark County in 2010. The money goes to city and countygeneral funds, but those governments have each contributed $250,000annually to help pay for operations of public, education andgovernmental services stations. Comcast also collects a $1 monthlyfee from each customer, generating $780,000 in 2010, which can bespent on capital costs.
The channels required by the franchise agreement include publicchannel FVTV (channel 11); TV ETC educational channels (channels 27,28 and 29); and government channels CVTV 21 and 23 and TVW 22.
The franchise also requires Comcast to provide channels offeringWashington state news and programming, a key issue to many customersbecause local commercial stations based in Portland focus on Oregonnews and issues. Also, Comcast provides cable access to internalnetwork services of the city of Vancouver, Clark County, the Ft.Vancouver Regional Library District and the Northwest RegionalTraining Center.
Comcasts franchise is non-exclusive and any competitor could setup shop in the city or county. Its main competitive threat comes notfrom other cable companies, but from satellite dish networks andother noncable delivery systems. Theressa Davis, Comcasts vice-president of external affairs in Portland, said the company has longhad a very positive relationship with Vancouver and Clark County.She said the companys key issue is in remaining competitive withunregulated providers.
We really look for a fair balance between the regulatoryenvironment and business needs, so we can compete on a level playingfield, she said.
COMCAST RATE History in Vancouver/Clark County
Comcast has held the cable television franchise in Vancouver andClark County since 2003. Here are its monthly cable television ratesduring that period. Local governments cannot regulate rates.
YEAR__ BASIC__ EXPANDED BASIC
2003__ $12.25__ $26.79
2004__ $12.25__ $29.30
2005__ $12.25__ $31.79
2006__ $13__ $34.16
2007__ $13.72__ $37.17
2008__ $12.58__ $41.82
2009__ $12.58__ $57.99*
2010__ $13.77__ $59.95
2011__ $15.07__ $62.99
*As of April 2009, this service is called Digital StarterPackage.
On the Web
Information about the Vancouver and Clark County review ofComcasts franchise is online at http://www.cityofvancouver.us/cablefranchise.
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