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Board's Got Questions for Comcast; Cable License Transfer Will Be Hearing Topic on Monday Night

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 15:00 CDT

The Patriot Ledger

Marshfield selectmen will hold a hearing on the proposed transfer of the town's cable TV license from Adelphia Cable to Comcast on Monday night.

In April, Comcast and Time-Warner, the nation's largest cable TV companies, agreed to buy Adelphia's cable television assets. The terms of the $17.7 billion deal call for Comcast to assume control of Adelphia's cable service in Marshfield.

The hearing on the requested license transfer is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday in the selectmen's hearing room at town hall.

Selectmen say they will have some serious questions for Comcast officials, but they also say there is only so much they can do.

"The problem is your hands are tied," Selectman Michael Maresco said. "You can't really try to go out and get someone else."

Selectmen Chairman Greg Owen said he plans to tell Comcast officials what his service expectations are.

Owen said he hopes to see an improved billing system and better customer support.

"We've always had a lot of problems with that," he said. "It's always been my sense that Adelphia has kind of lagged behind in technology, whereas Comcast is kind of a leader on that front.

In a letter to the selectmen, Richard R. Cappiello, business manager of Local 2322 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, urges careful consideration of the transfer request. The local represents some of Adelphia's employees.

"We look to you to condition the franchise transfer on the requirement that the cable operator maintain stable employment with no reduction in pay, benefits, working conditions or union representation and full contractual protections," Cappiello wrote.

If the license transfer is approved, selectmen will ask the cable advisory committee to begin negotiating a new 10-year contract with Comcast, Owen said.

Adelphia has been operating in Marshfield on a one-year contract extension.

Comcast provides services in nearly every community south of Boston except for the Greater Plymouth and Upper Cape areas, which the company is in the process of taking over, Russo said.

Adelphia provides cable service in Abington, Carver, Duxbury, Halifax, Marshfield, Pembroke, Plymouth and Rockland. Nationwide, the company has 5.2 million subscribers.

Shamus McGillicuddy may be reached at smcgillicuddy@ledger.com.

Source: Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.

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