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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 12, 2011 10:10:00 GMT -5
Notice of Public Hearing - 1/12-proposed agreement with Verizon for cable tv svc NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING, TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, ALBANY COUNTY, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County, New York will hold a public hearing on January 12, 2011 at 6:00p.m., Town Hall, 445 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, NY for the purpose of considering a proposed initial franchise agreement for cable television service in the Town of Bethlehem with Verizon New York Inc. Copies of the franchise application and of the proposed franchise agreement are on file at the Town of Bethlehem, Town Hall, Town Clerk’s office and may be viewed during normal business hours, 8:30am to 4:30pm. Mon. – Fri. All interested persons will have the opportunity to be heard during the public hearing.
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 12, 2011 19:27:12 GMT -5
The town voted tonight to sign a service agreement with Verizon to offer FiOS TV in the town of Bethlehem. They roll out additional fiber to provide coverage in the rest of the town. There are some limitations, but if you can get TWC now, you should be able to get FiOS. Sam Caldwell, a director of State Government Affairs for Verizon, was present to answer questions from the public. He is a resident of Bethlehem and was able to answer most of the questions. He deferred the legal questions to Verizon's legal counsel, Pamela Goldstein of McGuire Woods LLP Right now, FiOS Internet is available for 65% of the area that Verizon will cover. The contract calls for Verizon to make service available where the average population density is greater than or equal to 20 occupied residential units per mile. This is better than the NYS PSC minimum of 35 units per mile and matches the contract with Time Warner Cable. At the town board meeting, Goldstein listed the deployment schedule. Once the PSC has signed off on the agreement, the deployment schedule will proceed as follows: - 65% coverage - now
- 70% coverage - Within 18 months
- 75% coverage - Within 24 months
- 80% coverage - Within 36 months
- 90% coverage - Within 48 months
- 100% coverage - Within 60 months
A few residents expressed their concern over the density rate. They live in areas not covered by Time Warner and would not be covered by Verizon. The town supervisor, Sam Messina suggested that there may rural grants available that could help pay to have Time Warner and/or Verizon lay down wire to to rural homes. This would be handled separately from the franchise agreement and the town board would follow up on this at a later date. Assuming that the PCS will sign off on the agreement, Verizon will be ready to offer FiOS TV to current FiOS Internet subscribers by March (2011). A copy of the Franchise Agreement has been posted on the Town of Bethlehem's web site at this page. |
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Post by ebo on Jan 13, 2011 10:29:59 GMT -5
A copy of the Franchise Agreement has been posted on the Town of Bethlehem's web site at this page. Really? I found no mention of anything to do with a Verizon franchise agreement. The only mention of Verizon is a listing of the front footage (for sewer tax purposes) of their Delaware Avenue facility. |
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 13, 2011 11:25:44 GMT -5
They may have moved the links around. I was at the town meeting last night and they voted to sign the franchise agreement, effective today.
The next step is to have the PSC ratify the agreement and Verizon will be able to start offering the service to existing FiOS Internet customers while they roll out fiber deployment to the rest of the town. According to the Verizon representatives at the meeting, they should be able to offer FiOS TV sometime in March.
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 13, 2011 16:15:38 GMT -5
Really? I found no mention of anything to do with a Verizon franchise agreement. The only mention of Verizon is a listing of the front footage (for sewer tax purposes) of their Delaware Avenue facility. I just checked the URL and details of Verizon's request for a franchise license are right there. The URL is a link to a PDF file and the details start on page 2. |
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Post by ebo on Jan 13, 2011 17:34:39 GMT -5
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 13, 2011 18:30:47 GMT -5
The town may changed the URL or I just copied it wrong. I updated my previous post to contain the correct link.
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Post by Skaggs on Jan 14, 2011 8:06:00 GMT -5
Verizon gets approval for Bethlehem cable service
Albany Times Union, Friday, January 14, 2011
BETHLEHEM — After months of negotiation, Verizon received the green light to offer cable TV service to the town on Thursday.
Verizon is planning to begin laying cables in the ground within the first quarter of the year to expand its FiOS fiber optic system to reach all residents, according to Town Supervisor Sam Messina. He approved the deal following a public hearing Wednesday night.
Time Warner Cable was previously the only company able to offer TV service in Bethlehem.
— Stephanie Lee
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 14, 2011 9:43:28 GMT -5
...Verizon is planning to begin laying cables in the ground within the first quarter of the year to expand its FiOS fiber optic system to reach all residents, according to Town Supervisor Sam Messina. He approved the deal following a public hearing Wednesday night.... Where it says "all residents", substitute "all residents that live on the streets that meet the minimum resident home density of 20 units per mile." In other words, if you live on a road like Mahar Road in Slingerlands, you are not getting FiOS. From section 3.1.1 of the agreement: 3.1.1 Density Requirement: Franchisee shall make Cable Services available to residential dwelling units in all areas of the Service Area where the average density is equal to or greater than twenty (20) occupied residential units per mile as measured in strand footage from the nearest technically feasible point in the active FTTP Network trunk or feeder line. Should, through new construction, an area within the Service Area meet the density requirements after the time stated for providing Cable Service as set forth in Subsection 3.1, Franchisee shall provide Cable Service to such area within twelve (12) months of receiving notice from the LFA that the density requirements have been met. |
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Post by adam on Jan 14, 2011 9:59:25 GMT -5
I wouldn't expect them to provide service under that 20 minimum honestly. It is still a business and fiber is mucho expensive. I feel bad for those that won't be able to get it but that is one of the trade offs of living outside of more densely populated areas.
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 14, 2011 11:06:14 GMT -5
The minimum of 20 units per mile is actually pretty low. The counsel for Verizon said that there was only one other town with a lower number. The NYS requirement is 30, the reason we got 20 was because a previous town board was able to get TWC to agreed to 20 and Verizon needed to match it to get the Franchise Agreement.
If you move out to a densely populated part of town, you need to have lowered expectations of what services will be made available to you from other companies. That being said, the town board will be looking into seeing what grants would be available to susbsidize cable installation costs or to provide wireless broadband Internet.
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Post by the block on Jan 14, 2011 14:37:03 GMT -5
What are the odds of colonie eventually getting some fios love? I've about had it with TWC, and a little competition can't hurt.
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Post by Chris Miller on Jan 14, 2011 21:15:59 GMT -5
Might be sooner than you think. According to this article posted in the Times Union back in October: A public hearing is going to be held next month.
The franchise would pave the way for Verizon to offer its FiOS TV product that would compete with Time Warner Cable.
The Village of Scotia was the first local municipality to approve FiOS TV, and Verizon is also in various stages of talks with the towns of Colonie, Guilderland and Bethlehem.
The state Public Service Commission must also approve any franchises awarded by municipalities. It would make sense that Verizon would want to cover as much of this area as possible. The more subscribers, the greater the economies of scale for them. |
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