Cable commission, Verizon lock horns in East County

Local officials, public chime in on company’s efforts to enter market

By Shannon Wells

The Gresham Outlook, Sep 16, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (7 Reader comments)

The number of red T-shirts proclaiming “Fios TV NOW” and signs reading “Hillsboro Approved” set the scene for a passionate debate between hungry cable customers and cautious county regulators.

Instead, what ensued was a largely thoughtful and reasoned, if marathon, exchange that cleared some air surrounding Verizon’s drawn-out efforts to add cable television to the phone and Internet services it provides East County customers.

Approximately 80 people crammed into MetroEast Community Media’s Studio A on Monday evening, Sept. 16, in downtown Gresham. They heard about the issues that have stalled 17 months of negotiations between Verizon and the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission.

The commission is exercising its role to deliver a detailed recommendation on new services to East County municipalities including Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Wood Village and parts of Multnomah County.

Verizon representatives and employees, local mayors and officials, area citizens and potential Verizon cable customers addressed the commission at the nearly six-hour meeting. Many praised the citizen-based advisory committee for sticking up for consumers on customer service and violation fine limits. Others said the commission was needlessly hampering competition in the cable market that could lead to options in pricing and services.

What Verizon wants

Communications giant Verizon, which is nearly finished installing miles of fiber-optic cable throughout the area, wants a recommendation as soon as possible so city councils can formally clear the way for Verizon cable service.

“Our goal is to get the commission to make a recommendation to councils, to move this beyond the commission,” said Jon Davies, Verizon spokesman, outside of the hearing. “Once we have an agreement, it’s full speed ahead.”

Verizon has cable service up and running in 19 Washington County municipalities after successfully negotiating with the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission, that county’s cable regulatory commission equivalent, in 2007.

David Valdez, who led the Verizon presentation, cited the expediency of Washington County negotiations and results of a Verizon-commissioned poll as demonstrating how customers desire competition. The McLaughlin & Associates poll showed four of five voters favoring more than one cable provider.

“Eighty-four percent of customers agree that competition leads to better prices and services,” Valdez said. “There is a strong pent-up demand. Customers want the power to regulate (cable) business themselves.”

To emphasize the point, Verizon rounded up employee volunteers from its local offices, who donned the red shirts and held signs proclaiming the success of competition in Washington County.

Level playing field

Several speakers, including Troutdale Mayor Paul Thalhofer, said Verizon must be held to the same standard as Comcast, the sole cable TV provider in Portland and much of East County. Comcast’s franchise contract is up for renewal in 2010.

“If Comcast has to do it, another cable company coming in should have to, too,” said Thalhofer, who praised the commission for its citizen-watchdog efforts. “(The commission) has fought some real battles over the years. I don’t know of any time when it hasn’t acted in the interest of community, which is us.”

For example, Comcast has no caps on violation fines, says commission Chairman Norm Thomas. The company also is required to serve all customers who request its service. Thomas says he would expect Verizon, or any other possible competitor, to meet the same standards.

Bang for the buck

Verizon has not yet announced what its cable rates would be for East County, but proponents of competition look forward to having a choice in terms of channels, service packages and other items. Verizon’s standard cable package provides more channels than Comcast, and officials claim its state-of-the-art fiber-optic system (Fios) offers a faster Internet connection.

Despite Verizon’s rates in Washington County being comparable to Comcast’s, according to Thomas, the commission is always in favor of increasing competition and choices for its constituents.

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