Calling Comcast: Service for All, Please

Comcast reported another good quarter this month, announcing a 4.7 per cent increase in profits on revenues of $14.3 billion. Even though it lost 165,000 cable television customers nationwide, it gained 261,000 broadband Internet subscribers. In addition to being the nation’s largest cable TV provider, Comcast also happens to be its largest Internet services provider.

That’s why making sure that the agreement now being negotiated to extend Comcast’s cable television franchise for Martha’s Vineyard for another decade must include real guarantees on “build out,” that is, assurance that all our residents have access. Some might argue that cable television is nice to have; the ability to connect to the Internet in 2011 is nearly a necessity.

As discussions seem to be wrapping up between Comcast and the Cable Advisory Board, the Islandwide body responsible for renegotiating the franchise agreement, there’s still no clarity on this critical issue. The board, which discussed pinning Comcast down on a promise to extend service to specific streets and houses, now apparently will ask only that Comcast agree to provide service in areas that meet certain density requirements.

And what about Chappaquiddick? Edgartown town administrator Pam Dolby said this week that the town is hopeful that Comcast and NStar will reach agreement to enable Comcast to extend cable service to Chappy, but there’s no indication that the outcome of this discussion has been linked to the cable agreement.

Comcast has repeatedly hidden behind a phrase in the federal Cable Act that requires the cable company to consider future community needs and interests, “taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests.” The implication is that Comcast need not extend its current footprint if it turns out to be expensive.

Providing service to rural areas will be expensive, but Comcast can certainly afford it. In fact, it was one of the key things Federal Communications Commission chairman Jerome Genachowski challenged Comcast to make a priority when the FCC approved its merger with NBC Universal last winter.

As a seasonal resident here, Comcast chief executive officer Brian Roberts must surely understand that guaranteeing Island residents reliable Internet service is more than a “nice to have.” We urge Comcast to make the Vineyard an example of what serving a whole community could look like.