Charter deal gets 6 more months

Friday, February 26, 2010

HOLLIS – Selectmen have agreed to extend an expired contract with Charter Communications for six months, assuring that the town’s 2,700 subscribers will continue to receive cable and high speed Internet services.

But the extension, one of many over the three-and-a-half years since the accord ran out, doesn’t move the two sides any closer to a new contract.

The most recent delay occurred at the end of last year after Charter filed for protection under federal bankruptcy law. Recently, the company emerged with a restructured, lower debt.

During the bankruptcy proceedings, said Thomas Cohan, director of government relations for Charter, the company continued to provide services and never stopped paying licensing fees.

“It was almost business as usual,” he said.

But town officials said they feel trapped with a single provider and virtually no competition.

“Every company we asked said, ‘No,’ ” said Selectman Mark LeDoux, the board’s representative to the cable committee. “There’s no interest, and what we’re faced with is Verizon has gone, FairPoint is in bankruptcy. What we’re faced with is one horse in the stable. We don’t have a lot of options.”

Cohan, the Charter spokesman, said that cable franchises aren’t “exclusive.”

“We’ve been there a long time, and other towns nearby have had Comcast for a long time,” he said.

“We’re strongly committed to continue to serve the residents of both Hollis and Brookline with top notch services in cable and Internet service.”

Hollis, Brookline, Pepperell, Mass., and three other nearby Massachusetts towns are part of a Charter group with technology centered in Pepperell. Charter also serves three towns in northern New Hampshire near the Vermont border.

Officials in both Hollis and neighboring Brookline have discussed operating their own cable and Internet services.

“We said, ‘What is the depreciated value of the system in town? Maybe we’ll buy the system. … Please tell us,’” LeDoux said, adding that Charter officials have refused to answer the question, saying only, “It’s not for sale.”

Hollis signed its first contract with Charter, a 15-year agreement, in 1989, and extended it for a year after it expired.

Since then, it’s been one short extension after another.

“It’s been a volatile industry,” said Bruce Harrison, the town’s cable committee chairman, pointing to a “tacit agreement” between cable companies “not to poach on each other’s territory.”

Harrison said the short-term extension allows the town to take a “wait-and-see” approach while it continues to shop around.

“We’re trying to get to the point where we can provide a better service for the town, the best possible technology and price,” he said.

The story is similar in Brookline.

“We’ve had a contract with Charter for a number of years – 15, 20. We’ve talked with Hollis a number of times,” said longtime Brookline Selectman Clarence Farwell. “Milford has Comcast and they (Comcast) aren’t interested.”

Selectman Tad Putney agreed that lack of competition is the sticking point.

“What I have heard, and it hasn’t been much, is that the town wishes for opportunities for competition,” Putney said. “This pre-dates me on the board, but my sense is that the two towns have worked very closely together in the past.”

The Brookline contract with Charter expired at the end of the 2008, said Alan Rosenberg, a member of the town’s cable committee.

“The idea was, Hollis is active in contract negotiations. We’ll model ours on the Hollis contract,” Rosenberg said.

But Brookline officials were also looking at nearby communities that have contracts with other cable providers, and finding little reason for optimism.

“Merrimack put out requests for proposals and nobody called back,” said Rosenberg. “We figure if a town the size of Merrimack can’t, what are the chances of small towns like Hollis and Brookline?”

Taking over a cable service, on the other hand, “can be a very expensive proposition, especially in a small town,” Rosenberg added. “It’s not cost effective.”

Hattie Bernstein can be reached at 673-3100, ext. 24, or hbernstein@cabinet.com.