Following a meeting between the Cape and Islands legislative delegation and Comcast executives in Boston yesterday, cable television service for Chappaquiddick and other remote areas on the Vineyard inched a little closer to reality.

“They heard from us clearly that it’s very important for underserved communities on the Island to get Internet,” Seth Rolbein, senior advisor to state Sen. Dan Wolf, told the Gazette yesterday afternoon.

At the meeting, Rep. Tim Madden and liaisons for Senator Wolf pushed a group of Comcast executives, including manager of government and community relations Mary O’Keefe, to include Chappaquiddick in the final contract for cable service to the Vineyard.

Mr. Rolbein called the meeting productive.

“[We made it clear that] more and more it’s really an important utility, it’s not just a frivolous item or on the fringe,” Mr. Rolbein said. “[On Friday] they’re going to talk about the whole picture, not just Chappaquiddick but including Chappaquiddick in terms of areas of the Island that are underserved, the priorities for the entire Island and what the cable committee sees as key points in order to have a new franchise agreement.”

He said Comcast representatives are expected to meet today with the Island cable advisory board’s attorney, William Solomon, to hammer out the final details.

“Our hope is that meeting will lead to some kind of a breakthrough on some of these issues,” Mr. Rolbein added.

Contract talks for a new 10-year franchise agreement with Comcast to provide service for all six Vineyard towns have been underway since June. The cable advisory board, made up of representatives from each town, has been negotiating the contract, although in the end six separate contracts will be drawn up for each town.

Service to Chappaquiddick has been a key sticking point for Edgartown, which pulled out of the talks late last month and said it will stay out until Chappy service is included in the contract. In an open show of support for Edgartown, Tisbury followed suit on Tuesday and also pulled out of the talks.

This week Sen. John Kerry joined the call for universal cabling on the Vineyard in a letter to Comcast that cites the “unserved and underserved communities” of Chappaquiddick, West Tisbury and Chilmark. “As negotiations continue, I also urge Comcast to propose fair service rates that are commensurate with the median income on the Island, with special rates for senior citizens,” Mr. Kerry wrote.

Mr. Kerry said in the letter that he has brought the issue of Chappaquiddick service to the attention of the Federal Communications Commission, and he took special note of the fact that as part of its merger with NBC Universal, Comcast agreed to provide service to underserved households in its service areas.

“I hope that Comcast will build out their network on Martha’s Vineyard as part of that commitment,” the senator wrote.

On a swing through the Vineyard this week, Cong. William Keating also pledged his support.

“There is a thread of issues here that all deal with access, and the pushback that’s always the case is, well, it costs more money. Well, everything costs more money when you live on an Island,” Mr. Keating said. “We just have to just push them as hard we can. And I will.”

If no agreement is reached at Friday’s meeting to include Chappaquiddick in the cable contract, Mr. Rolbein said the next step would be to consider a cost-sharing method where customers and Comcast would split the bill.

“There’s a lot of precedent in different areas around the region with private homeowners who try to get Comcast to come and have worked out an agreement where there is some cost sharing,” Mr. Rolbein said. “I know people on Chappaquiddick are aware of this and some have expressed a willingness, but the notion there should be some sort of reasonable consideration to get to yes on this is at the heart of the whole thing.”

Mr. Rolbein said Comcast and the power company NStar have reached an agreement for the use of one of two electric conduits beneath the Edgartown harbor, although the details of the agreement are still unknown.

“My understanding is there is a solid agreement between Comcast and NStar,” said Mr. Rolbein.

Comcast’s greatest concern was financial, Mr. Rolbein said, and whether the investment made sense given the structure of their company. He said they questioned whether build out “fits the priorities of the communities they’re serving.”

“Chappaquiddick could be one of a number of [funding] priorities, including emergency services,” he said. “They want to make all that work in a franchise agreement with the towns that holds up for 10 years.”

Reached by telephone yesterday, Comcast spokesman Doreen Vigue said the company looks forward to continuing the negotiations, but could not comment further.

West Tisbury town administrator Jennifer Rand, who is chairman of the cable advisory board, said she did not know how recent developments would affect the negotiations.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” she said.