JTRockville
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2 edits |  Montgomery County MD Public Hearing
The county council will hold a hearing on the proposed franchise agreement with Verizon (see the council agenda, bottom of page 6 in this pdf: »www.montgomerycountymd.gov/conte···2agn.pdf )
If there's something you'd like to tell the council on-the-record regarding this agreement, October 31st at 1:30 is your chance.
Sign up early, and smile for the camera!
See you there. |
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jammmin
join:2000-12-14
Upper Marlboro, MD | I assume you meant November 1st.
PG County Cable TV commission is having their public hearing today at 6:30pm. I plan to attend to give my support for FIOS TV in PG County |
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JTRockville
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clubs: | The agenda says October 31st. So unless a correction is published, I'd assume that's the date for the hearing. |
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PaulGo
join:2005-01-29
Gaithersburg, MD | You put October 1 (instead of October 31) in your first post.
Do you think anything but a rubber stamp of the agreement will come out of this? Also based upon the comments to the County Exec. last month were any changes made? |
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JTRockville
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| Oh, indeed I did. Sorry about that - I corrected it.
Those are good questions PaulGo  . The exec should have posted a fresh copy.
As DonLibes pointed out, the council loves to make amendments. So I'll guess they probably won't just rubber stamp it. But I'll make a further guess: any amendments they propose will be voted down. |
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DonLibes
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| said by JTRockville :As DonLibes pointed out, the council loves to make amendments. So I'll guess they probably won't just rubber stamp it. But I'll make a further guess: any amendments they propose will be voted down. As I mentioned in my blog, I believe amendments are required before the franchise can be passed. There are just too many holes in it as is. The council staff report alone identifies 12 issues that it wants addressed.
So you don't have to slog through the blog, here's a direct link to a searchable copy of the council briefing packet. |
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JTRockville
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clubs: | Don, was the original agreement changed at all, or did the exec pass it on as it was? |
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PaulGo
join:2005-01-29
Gaithersburg, MD
1 edit | The PDF Don linked to shows the proposed changes to the Verizon agreement. (Mostly related to service standards and some to build out). On my quick read it appears that Verizon is complying with most of the existing cable standards.
Pages 9 and 10 refer to the additional questions that the council wants Verizon to respond to.
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JTRockville
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1 edit | reply to JTRockville
* shreds her prepared testimony and tosses it into the air like confetti *
I was going to give the same testimony I gave at the exec's hearing. I figured: why not? When I prepared it, I thought the hearing was before the council, or maybe just the MFP.
But.....
AT THIS VERY MOMENT Verizon is hanging fiber optic cable on the poles in RANDOLPH HILLS of all places. Yep that's right - Verizon is preparing to light MONTROSE.
Kinda blows the whole premise of my topic.
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PaulGo
join:2005-01-29
Gaithersburg, MD | Maybe the listened to your testimony and responded? When JT talks Verizon listens! |
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JTRockville
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| OMG, I hope you're right, PaulGo !
I chatted with a few of the workers today (thankfully the manager gave me his card), and found out my street isn't on their map.
Hey Verizon!
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
CAN YOU HEAR ME FROM HERE, IN THE NO OUTLET?
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DonLibes
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join:2003-01-19
| reply to JTRockville
JT, Did you see the following passage? Can you explain in plain English how/whether it applies to you?3.1.2. Middle Service Area: In the Middle Service Area, the Franchisee shall offer Cable Service to significant numbers of Subscribers in residential areas within three (3) years of the Effective Date of this Franchise, and to all residences within the Middle Service Area at which such service is requested within five (5) years of the Effective Date of the Franchise, except as specified in Section 3.2. If Franchisee is unable to reach agreement with the City of Rockville to obtain construction permits for the FTTP network under reasonable terms and conditions, as determined by Franchisee, by December 31, 2007, these timeframes shall not apply to Franchisee's provision of Cable Service to residences served by Franchisee's - Rockville and Montrose wire centers. Instead, Franchisee shall offer Cable Service to all residences served by the Rockville and Montrose wire centers at which such service is requested within four (4) years of obtaining construction permits for the FTTP network from the City of Rockville, except as specified in Section 3.2. |
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JTRockville
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| My take on 3.1.2 is:
Many residents in the MSA must be served within 3 years, most within 5 years from the date of the agreement. But if Rockville won't grant reasonably priced permits by the end of next year, then anyone served by the Rockville or Montrose Road office will be served within 4 years from the date Rockville grants the permits instead of 3-5 years from the agreement date.
Of course, there's always section 3.2.
Judging by the activity I saw today though, I think Rockville might have already granted the permits.
Can/would Verizon light part of a CO? |
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JohnA
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Pittsburgh, PA
| said by JTRockville :Judging by the activity I saw today though, I think Rockville might have already granted the permits. I doubt it.
said by JTRockville :Can/would Verizon light part of a CO? They can. They have a county franchise to give you TV. My guess is that they will wire right up to the city limits and stop, and put Rockville on the spot. It's very easy to stop the fiber at the city line. All they have to do is maintain the copper, which they'll be doing for the next ten years anyway. |
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JTRockville
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clubs: | Well... they don't have the franchise yet, but they will soon. I hope you're right about the city limits.
 |
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JTRockville
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| reply to JohnA
said by JohnA :said by JTRockville :Judging by the activity I saw today though, I think Rockville might have already granted the permits. I doubt it. You are correct JohnA , no agreement for construction permits yet. And no backing down from Rockville's demands either. The same City Councilmember from Rockville who testified at the Executive's hearing also testified today, and reissued the same demands.
Did anyone watch? |
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serg_leo
join:2001-11-28
Germantown, MD | reply to JTRockville
Did you attended on the hearing? Could you post short notes? |
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JTRockville
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3 edits | Yes I attended and testified.
Only 10 people testified:
1) Jane Lawton representing the County Executive
Gave similar testimony as when testifying before the Exec
2) City Councilmember Susan Hoffman representing the City of Rockville
Gave similar testimony as when testifying before the Exec
3) Suzanne Weiss representing the Cable and Communications Advisory Committee (yes, the old name was on the agenda)
Testimony was largely regarding PEG issues.
4) Briana Gowing representing Verizon
Got cheers when she said MASN would be delivered without the $2 surcharge.
5) Michael Egan, individual
Asked for more consumer protections, but as Praisner pointed out afterwards, his suggestions are not legal
6) Richard Turner representing Montgomery Community Television
Testified to issues regarding free service at public buildings, and some other PEG-related issues
7) David Friedman, individual
Pointed out that Comcast supplies free service to 700 places, but Verizon is only required to serve 100.
8) Angela Lee representing Comcast.
Noted the differences between Comcast's requirements and Verizon's requirements (neglected to note that Verizon will pay 3% PEG/INet fee but Comcast is quite a bit shy of that)
9) Robert Carlisle, individual
Former Corning employee, is delighted to see the new network - the sooner the better.
10) Jaime Todaro, individual
Basically just said: Hurry Up Already!
In follow-up questions, Praisner asked Lawton to point out the changes the exec made in response to public testimony by the 13th, and she jokingly suggested that Rockville should de-annex if they want all their footprint covered in 2 years. She also suggested that Egan pursue a Cable Compliance Commission claim.
In response to Andrews' question regarding what could be done to speed things up, Gowing noted that the service dates VZ was willing to commit to in the agreement were the "outside" dates and service would likely be ready sooner in most cases.
Leventhal pointed out that we're just as likely to have uniformly high prices and uniformly bad service, and asked Verizon if there was any chance he was wrong. Gowing's answer was pretty weak, and Lawton added that other jurisdictions with agreements in place have not noticed better customer service.
In closing, Praisner pointed out that many folks on the I-270 "technology corridor" (a reference to Carlisle's testimony) would not see service for 7 years if ever, and assured everyone that this matter, as well as the inequitable number of free service locations would be looked in to.
After the hearing, I spoke to Doug Breisch (sp?) of Rockville DTS, who seemed stunned that Verizon was preparing to light Montrose Road, and asked me for specific streets where deployment is happening. I assured him it was all outside the city limits. |
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jaums
join:2005-10-04
Silver Spring, MD | reply to JTRockville
JT, any hint today as to when the franchise will actually be either granted or ??? And, any hint from Vz about when TV service will be available to those who already have FiOS Internet? Thanks! |
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JTRockville
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| No specific dates were given. Verizon seems prepared to move quickly, but I got the sense that the council is going to need to mull things over for a while.
In the past, Praisner made a big show of talking about how quickly the council could move once the agreement was proposed. This time, she took care to point out how many issues still needed to be resolved.
There's a worksession scheduled for November 13th, so we know there won't be a vote before then. |
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