US Telco Support > Verizon > Verizon Fiber Optics > Verizon Reaches Agreement with Montgomery County

reply to DonLibes

Re: Verizon Reaches Agreement with Montgomery County

said by JT's testimony :

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Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to speak about the proposed agreement with Verizon.

I'm J* T*. Usually I say I'm from Rockville, but for the purpose of my testimony tonight, I need to be more specific. I live in Randolph Hills. My postal address is Rockville because the post office that serves me is in Rockville, but my community is outside the city limits. In fact, we're so far outside the city limits, that none of the city maps even show Randolph Hills, so I borrowed Verizon's service area map to show my neighborhood.




As you know, Verizon has already built a fiber optic network in the initial service area - a network that will serve all our communication needs: voice, video, and high speed data, well into the foreseeable future. As a telecommuter, reliable high speed data service is essential, so I was very excited when I saw deployment begin in the Fall of 2004. Then slowly, I began to notice that deployment was happening in all the neighborhoods surrounding mine, but Randolph Hills and everything to the north was being skipped over. By Spring of 2005 Verizon began offering FiOS, the most advanced high speed data service available anywhere in the county. It was at that time I became aware that the City of Rockville and Verizon could not agree on the terms under which Verizon would be permitted to build within the city. Because of this dispute, Verizon can't bring FiOS to Randolph Hills. And because Randolph Hills isn't in the City of Rockville, our community has no recourse, and no say in the matter.

I was hopeful that a county-wide franchise agreement would supersede Rockville's ability to cause delays for us, but unfortunately the proposed agreement carries a clause that could exclude Randolph Hills from the agreement altogether, because we're served by Verizon's Montrose Road wire center.

Now even though this agreement could have a negative impact on Randolph Hills, I still think you should grant the franchise as soon as you possibly can. Verizon's high speed data service is truly revolutionary, and the county should not, under any circumstances, introduce any further delays in the process.

But once this agreement is granted, it is my hope that the county will address the needs of communities, like Randolph Hills, where service may never be deployed, or where it may take years to agree on the terms, and where members of the community are not constituents of the permitting authority.

In February, I attended a presentation on community Wi-Fi networks. On the panel was William Graham, mayor of Scottsburg Indiana, who described his approach and the costs of deploying a community Wi-Fi network. I've enclosed a transcript of the presentation in my written testimony. I do hope you'll read it, and consider deploying such a network, or even foster a public-private partnership in neighborhoods like Randolph Hills, to help insulate us from the negative impact of decisions made by neighboring jurisdictions.

Modern services offered in a competitive environment would be a tremendous benefit to Randolph Hills. If only we could find a way to get them.

Thank you.

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It was just a meeting where the public was invited to congregate and share stories with each other.

Typical isn't it?
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---Barney

No, it wasn't typical.

Typically the cameras aren't rolling, we don't get mics, and we aren't timed.

someone should have invited a news crew!!!
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---Barney

There was some press there. Someone from Capital News is supposed to call me tomorrow for an interview.

It did feel stupid to deliver a speech to people behind me but I was sitting next to the head of the PEGs and he told me the whole thing was being broadcast on Ch6.

In all, I thought it was quite well attended. A bunch of the cable office staff was there including Jane, Amy, and Keith. Verizon had a big group and both sides brought the lawyers. Comcast was also in attendence. The PEG administration was there. Rockville politicos were there. Someone sent a photographer who took pictures throughout the entire session. Two reporters chatted with us afterward. Besides the one you mentioned, the other was from a Baltimore paper. Oh, and there was a whole row of scouts!!!! (Did you promise they were going to see real live councilmembers at work? Oops!)

Altogether there were easily 40 people. Maybe even 50+, don'cha think? It was a bit silly that the citizens were so outnumbered by the officials but it was a good opportunity to get them to listen. I think they were listening anyway.

I think there were easily 50+ people in attendance.

I'm not sure why, but I didn't expect to see City of Rockville. I guess I figured they were done mucking things up. But nooooooooooooooo.... they presented an additional list of demands.

It really took an extra shot of courage to deliver my testimony while they were in the room.

Interestingly, I was speaking to the Rockville reps afterward and it sounded like deja vu all over again. Verizon says Rockville has rejected their offers. And Rockville says "What? They've rejected all our offers!" Maybe it's time for another lawsuit?

reply to cbrain
Last night’s hearing was not my idea of democracy in action. My naivety. Watching the backs of the heads of those compassionately and others proficiently addressing a council who decided not to be present was very unsatisfactory. I can’t help but picture the council members watching the video tape of the testimonies in their offices while “overlapping” as we call it in my office – in other words, while they are answering emails and taking phone calls. A much more efficient use of their time than to actually be in the same room with [shudder] citizens concerned enough about the issue to come to the council’s own premises on a dark and stormy night. I hope that is not the new standard for democracy. Maybe I should have stayed home with my satellite TV.

reply to cbrain
I wish I could have attended. Other meetings to go to!

Maybe the council members are not attending because they already know how they are voting and do not really care to hear the public's ideas on the matter. I am thinking that they are of the mind; lets just vote this thing in, be done with the mess and move on to the next issue.

reply to cbrain
The lack of information released is truly amazing. I can't understand how elected officials can carry on extensive negotiations for more than a year over an issue that the citizens spend typically many hours of a typical day [watching cable TV] and how many millions of dollars and release so little information to the citizens. We are to assume that the elected officials know exactly what they are doing and have our best interests in mind. But, if the complaints against Comcast are any indication, they don't seem to have been doing a very good job so far despite the many years of experience and huge amounts of money they have been collecting for their services over the years

reply to JTRockville
Is this going to air on Channel 6? I see the schedule online, but the program titles are not exactly user friendly.

reply to cbrain
My understanding is this was the county executive's hearing. You know, vaporware executive Duncan. The council will have their own version of this exercise in listening to voters. Considering how the county looks in this fiasco, I would have hoped a few council members would have showed.

reply to cbrain
Rockville continues to wait for Verizon

Dena Levitz, The Examiner
Sep 29, 2006 5:00 AM (4 hrs ago)

ROCKVILLE, Md. - Rockville residents want choice on their cable TV provider, and they want it now — or at least really soon.

City government leaders said on Thursday they’re pleased Verizon finally is entering the cable market in Montgomery County. But under the county’s proposed 15-year franchise agreement, it will be at least three years before the first of Rockville’s nearly 53,000 residents start reaping benefits of the deal. And one of the city’s major neighborhoods isn’t scheduled to join the network for more than five years.

These concerns were voiced by Rockville Council Member Susan Hoffman, on behalf of the city’s mayor, during a public hearing on the issue of cable service.

Hoffman emphasized repeatedly that the hope is for Verizon to move up the time frame for all Rockville homes to receive cable service to within two years of the start of the franchise.

From the looks of maps provided by the cable company, the King Farm neighborhood off of Route 355 won’t be getting service until after the rest of Rockville, according to Hoffman.

“They’re saying it’s served by the Gaithersburg equipment center, and that’s not acceptable,” she said. “It’s in Rockville, so it needs to be treated the same.”

Verizon’s response is that city leaders can “largely control their own destiny” by approving the necessary construction permits to allow the company to upgrade its all-fiber-optic network in the city — a step not yet taken.

Spokesman Harry Mitchell also said that in cases such as Rockville’s, not all areas of a city can get cable access at the same time because of the way cable service borders are drawn.

“We upgrade our network to fiber optics on a central office-by-office basis,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Examiner. “These central offices do not synch up with municipal boundaries, as many of the offices were built before some municipalities existed.”

The hoopla over cable coverage escalated earlier this year when Verizon sued Montgomery County, alleging it was denied access to county customers while Comcast dominated in the market. A judge ordered the county and Verizon to negotiate their differences, the result being the current proposal.

Mitchell has said the plan is to phase in countywide customers gradually, with Rockville scheduled for the second phase.

Another problem Rockville officials is pointing to is Verizon’s reluctance to offer service to apartment and condominium buildings.

Douglas Breisch, television and telecommunications manager for Rockville, said he has been told that’s for technical reasons.

That’s true, said Mitchell, explaining that multi-dwelling units such as high-rise apartments and condos pose technical challenges that Verizon is “working through.”

“As we work through those challenges, we will serve those buildings,” he wrote.
dlevitz@dcexaminer.com

»www.examiner.com/a-317394~Rockvi···zon.html

Interesting article. What I don't understand is that there is no mention of Rockville forbidding Verizon to bury fiber optic cables until a video franchise agreement is in place. This Rockville government decision is delaying the build-out.

They kind of eluded to it (emphasis mine):

Verizon’s response is that city leaders can “largely control their own destiny” by approving the necessary construction permits to allow the company to upgrade its all-fiber-optic network in the city — a step not yet taken.

But they made no mention of the negative impact on Rockville's neighbors (LIKE RANDOLPH HILLS) because of the "step not yet taken".

I found Rockville's demands last night to be quite ironic. I find the title of the article to be extra ironic.

Does anyone know when/where the public testimony (other than mine) will be posted?

reply to DonLibes

reply to PaulGo
I replied to the Examiner. Think they'll print my letter?

said by JT's letter to the Examiner :

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The "Rockville continues to wait for Verizon" (Sept 29) article could have more accurately been titled "Verizon continues to wait for Rockville".

The City of Rockville refuses to issue permits to Verizon for the upgrade in Rockville until the proposed franchise agreement is signed. Meanwhile, in areas where Verizon has been issued permits to upgrade, service will be available very soon after the agreement is signed.

If Rockville wanted service sooner, they should have issued reasonably priced permits in 2004, like much of the county did, without trying to squeeze an additional agreement out of Verizon.

Your article failed to mention Rockville's impact on surrounding neighborhoods, like Randolph Hills, who haven't been upgraded because we're served by a Rockville wire center, (even though we're not within the city).

If it weren't for Rockville, residents of Randolph Hills wouldn't be waiting.

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