Greetings, and thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Bill Rubin, co-chair of the Yorktown Cable Advisory Committee in Yorktown, NY. A town resident (and former cable committee member) suggested I create a blog where residents can discuss the state of cable television in Yorktown. It sounded like a good idea to me, so I created this page. I'm going to start by posting the letter that I had published in North County News last week, to try and correct some misinformation that was being spread in letters to the editor as well as an article a few weeks earlier. More after the letter.
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It appears from the article in NCN a few weeks ago and recent letters to the editor that there is a tremendous amount of interest in having Verizon as a provider of Cable TV services in Yorktown (not surprising). Sadly, there seems to be just as much misinformation being spread, particularly by people who have no first-hand information on the negotiations. In the interest of setting the record straight and getting accurate information out, I would like to share the following.
1) Verizon negotiators have been meeting with town representatives for the past several months, and continue to - in fact we just met with them last week. There is absolutely no evidence (or even a hint) that they plan to withdraw from negotiations to focus on other “less hostile communities”.
2) Verizon continues to install FiOS capability in the town (you may even have seen them running fiber in your area). Several residents currently have FiOS Internet access and will be able to receive FiOS TV as soon as a franchise agreement is negotiated and approved by the PSC. Once again, there is no evidence that this is slowing down as one might expect if one thought that Verizon was stopping negotiations.
3) The speed (or lack thereof) of our negotiations with Verizon has absolutely nothing to do with our relationship with Cablevision. Our Cablevision franchise agreement is non-exclusive, which means that we can also have an agreement with Verizon, as has occurred in many other towns. Cablevision knows this, they signed the agreement.
4) We do NOT have a standard franchise agreement with Cablevision, and we will not have one with Verizon. Obviously there is a standard framework but every municipality that has negotiated a franchise agreement with Verizon has its own unique requirements, which is why it takes so long (the recently approved NYC FiOS agreement took YEARS).
5) We all understand that residents would like to receive FiOS TV as soon as possible and are optimistic that we will conclude negotiations with Verizon in the near future. However, there are issues still being discussed which affect the town in a material way and we do not want to make the wrong decision just so we have something to sign. Due to the “level playing field” requirements of the Public Service Commission, the agreement we sign with Verizon becomes the basis for our new franchise agreement with Cablevision when the current contract expires next year. This makes it doubly important that we make the right decisions now.
When we do have a franchise agreement with Verizon, residents will be able compare their offerings with Cablevision’s and decide for themselves which is better for them. I suspect that many will find that the prices are comparable due to competition. However, their packages are different, as is everyone’s situation. It is our hope to give Yorktown residents that opportunity as soon as possible.
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That was the end of the letter. An addendum to it is that right after I emailed it to NCN, I saw a truck with a big spool of fiber driving around my neighborhood. I subsequently saw several lawns marked with flags identifying existing utilities in preparation of digging. I then received a letter in the mail from Verizon saying that they were upgrading the network in my neighborhood and should expect some digging. Then my lawn got marked and I had a note on my door saying that they'd be starting construction the following day. So it appears that my block will be getting FiOS a lot sooner than I expected. Of course it will be data and phone only until there is a franchise agreement.
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2 comments:
I really don't understand what the delay is. I already get Fios Internet access (have had it for almost 3 years), why can't I get Fios TV? I should be able to make the choice about which provider I want to get my entertainment from, not the town. As a taxpayer, I don't see the benefit the town board is providing me, nor what they are protecting me from.
Are you saying that you live in Yorktown< NY and have had FiOS Internet for 3 years already? I don't believe that, I don't think that added it until the past year, maybe 6 months.
As for why the town's involvement, the New York State Public Service Commission says that cable franchise agreements must be negotiated with the "local franchising authority", which in our case is the town.
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