Although there seems to have been no public announcement released indicating such activity taking place, a local resident has written the ALSC Blog to inform us that the City of SeaTac is conducting a series of meetings with Comcast concerning renewal of the non-exclusive franchise agreement. It was mentioned that a second meeting is scheduled for sometime next week.
Included information indicates that Interim Assistant City Manager, Jeff Robinson, is leading the renegotiation effort for the city. An email sent from the ALSC Blog to Mr. Robinson inquiring about a detailed status pertaining to these ongoing negotiations has gone without response. An extensive search of the City Website has produced no recent information regarding this renewal activity either.
Using the City of Seattle Comcast Franchise Renewal Page as a model, according to the website a Cable Franchise Agreement is what sets the terms for a cable provider to operate within city limits. It is a tool to help protect consumers, maintain a minimum level of service quality, establish or expand current level of benefit for Senior and low income discounts, a means to establish use of free cable modem service to non-profits, and free cable to schools and City buildings and other notable benefits. It is revealed a favorable source of revenue to the city in which the City of SeaTac 2011 Preliminary Budget showed forecast revenue at $250,000.00 generated from Franchise Fees charged to Comcast.
If you are a subscriber of Comcast Cable Service or you benefit from the reduced rate services negotiated through the previous Franchise Agreement, we encourage you to contact Jeff Robinson at (206) 973-4812 and offer your feedback for consideration in negotiating renewal terms. Additional details will be posted when they are revealed.
1 comment:
himm, aprox 26,000 citizens, $250,000 francise fee, who really pays this, who gets this, the city, is it passed on to each household, is this a form of taxation, oh no it's just another fee, how much is generated from the hotels vs the residences? well who is making the decissions here? like who made the decission to charge us $2.+ bucks for each TV, just think if you could charge a francise fee for services you did not provide to the citizens and then charge the citizens in directly thru the service provider, along with a tax, all paid by the citizens . . . .sounds like a violation of the rico laws or better yet a fee instead of taxation without representation. Just something to debate or at the very least, think about!
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