5/7/2009 5:01:00 AM AT&T gets approval to offer cable television in Madison
By STEVEN G. WATSON Associate Editor
MADISON - Residents in certain neighborhoods will soon have a choice of cable television providers following a decision by city officials to allow AT&T to enter the market.
Despite protests by Comcast, the city's current cable television provider, the Mayor and Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to approve a video services agreement with AT&T Tuesday.
The agreement will allow the longtime telephone company to offer a new service called AT&T U-Verse TV in which existing phone lines provide consumers the equivalent of cable television.
The timeframe and scope of AT&T's plan is currently unknown. Officials said, until they are able to improve infrastructure, only specific neighborhoods will be targeted for service initially.
Comcast representative Francis Smith said by targeting only rich neighborhoods AT&T could belay initial infrastructure costs and therefore undercut their prices.
"The city should have written assurance that they will provide this service to all of Madison," Smith said.
AT&T representative Michael L. Walker was at Tuesday's board meeting and defended the company's plan, saying those types of restrictions hinder competition.
"We have every intention to put it everywhere we can as quickly as we can," Walker said.
City Attorney John Hedglin the city brought up this point during negotiations, but AT&T consistently refused to negotiate. He said the company was not willing to agree to any provision, even a staged buildup of services.
Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler said the city has been cautious throughout the process and wants to avoid any problems, but also thought it was important to give residents a choice.
"Competition is a good thing and something our residents have asked for," Hawkins-Butler said.
In other business:
• The city has inspected and boarded up an unfinished home in the Reunion subdivision after complaints were raised by neighbors about the length of time it has been under construction.
City official say they have cleaned up the property and boarded it up to keep children from entering the premises.
They also said the structure was inspected and the framework seemed to be up to code. However, a structural engineer will be required to inspect the property further before its completion.
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, May 08, 2009
Article comment by:
Jeff
I love how Comcast representatives like Smith try and argue against competition. If Comcast had reasonably priced cable, then competition would not scare them so much.
