County Council to consider Verizon's challenge to Comcast's dominance
Vote could bring cable competition
In addition to deciding when and whether smoking should be banned in county restaurants and bars, the Howard County Council is likely to vote Tuesday night on another topic that could affect thousands of residents - a local cable television franchise for Verizon.
If the council approves the Verizon franchise, Howard County will become the first in Maryland to have true cable television competition. The move is part of a larger, gradual merging of video, telephone and computer services nationally. While Verizon is moving into video, Comcast is offering telephone services.
Although Council Chairman Christopher J. Merdon, an Ellicott City Republican, and west Columbia Democrat Ken Ulman are rivals on the smoking issue - and both are seeking the county executive's job next year - they're collaborating on the cable issue in a series of amendments to the proposed franchise.
"Having both Chris and I support it ought to be seen as a sign of passage. We ought to be proud to be the first county in Maryland to have cable competition," Ulman said.
Both said they support the changes and expect the franchise to be approved by the full council.
That would mean Verizon could begin serving its first video customers April 30, according to the agreement.
Comcast, the county's only cable television provider, had asked the council to delay approving a franchise for Verizon, the telecommunications giant that has been installing fiber-optic cable in Columbia and Ellicott City since last summer.
Among a long list of complaints about the franchise, Brian Lynch, Comcast area vice president, said it's not fair that Verizon isn't required to have a local business office while Comcast's office serviced 75,000 people last year.
County cable administrator Dean Smits, who helped negotiate the Verizon agreement, dismissed Comcast's complaints as unfounded.
The amendments from Merdon and Ulman address some of the complaints by Comcast officials. The changes would do four things:
# Require Verizon to open a local business office once 30,000 video customers are enrolled.
# Provide contact information for Howard County's cable administrator on Verizon bills.
# Require Verizon to have a franchise service manager for Howard, as Comcast does.
# Establish firm dates for starting service and providing service to county residents.
Merdon said the council wanted a local business office to serve residents but also wanted to give Verizon time to get established.
"I want to be able to give them enough leeway to get their program started and be successful," Merdon said. "The council wants a franchise service manager to have somebody we can call who's responsible for Howard County - a decision maker."
If the franchise is approved, Verizon is expected to have service available to up to 90 percent of county residents by April 2009, and to the entire county within seven years.
On the smoking issue, Ulman introduced an amendment for both pending smoking bills calling for an end to all smoking in bars and restaurants in three years, while Merdon submitted one for a four-year delay.
One of the bills before the council, sponsored by Ulman and County Executive James N. Robey, would allow a two-year delay before all smoking ends.
That bill was tabled last month. A second bill, sponsored by east Columbia Democrat David A. Rakes, would allow smoking indefinitely for places that now allow it. A 1996 law allows smoking in restaurants that have physically separate smoking areas. The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers in the George Howard building in Ellicott City.
The meeting will also see introduction of two separate bills that, if adopted in February, would increase salaries to $49,000 a year for the next county council, and $147,000 for the county executive elected next year.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...ck=1&cset=true