Verizon Get Weak Yes Vote

A bill that would allow Verizon to begin offering cable service to Pittsburgh residents was moved out of a city council standing committee Wednesday with an affirmative recommendation but without a clear majority. Council voted 3-0 for the deal with 6 council members abstaining. The ten-year agreement was the subject of a heated 4-hour public hearing last month that Councilman Bill Peduto called the most attended in recent history. The same intensity remained during Wednesday’s council meeting. Much of the debate centered on a city code requirement that cable television operators “shall” have a customer service office in the city where residents can pick up and drop off equipment and speak to company representatives. The agreement, as amended, would force the company to open such an office within 90 of it signing up its 10,000th customer. Several council members grilled Verizon representatives over the provision asking why an office could not be opened immediately. Verizon legal council Brendon Pinkard told council it would be impossible for the company to find an adequate location and outfit an office so quickly. Councilman Bruce Kraus wondered why the company could not simply find a vacant storefront and put a desk in it. Pinkard told council members that customers would have access to customer service representative online and by the phone, and that all equipment needs could be handled by sending out a repairman on a truck. He tried to ease council members’ concerns by saying Verizon would have to offer a better product and good customer service right away if it was to woo Comcast customers. He noted that the company already has more than 30 retail offices in the city prompting Councilman Doug Shields to wonder why the company does not turn one of those offices into a cable service office. Other council members feared the new deal could lead to less support for the three community, government and education access channels. Several speakers mentioned such funding during the pubic hearing. Verizon officials say they have gone above and beyond what Comcast currently does for the access channels. Councilman Bill Peduto asked to meet with company representatives before the Tuesday vote to hash out e difference of opinion. The council does not have the ability to make changes to the agreement. It can only vote yes or no. While complaining about the terms of the deal Councilman Doug Shields asked city solicitor George Specter who was “watching out for the needs of the residents” because the contract seemed to answer only to the desires of the company. Councilman Ricky Burgess voted for the agreement saying the people of his district have been clambering for competition in the cable TV market and he wanted to be attendant to their needs. He says details such as funding public access can be hammered out later.