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Also attending representing Comcast was the regional director of
government affairs, Debra Piscola.
Stehn took the podium and told the council Comcast is offering
state-of-the-art services to Lincoln residents.
"The digital network enhancement was completed in December of
2010. Since then we have been able to deploy state-of-the-art
technology here in Lincoln. What that means for our customers, we've
launched over 100 HD channels, and we've recently introduced several
3-D channels. We've increased our on-demand choices to over 10,000,
plus 80 percent of that content is free to our customers, at no
additional charge. We've also increased our Internet speed at no
additional cost," she said.
Stehn said Comcast has recently launched Xfinity online
television, plus applications for iPhone, iPad, iTouch and Android.
She said Comcast was very proud of the services they are now
offering to Lincoln residents.
Stehn said that just like other companies, Comcast is
experiencing increased operating costs. She said customers were
notified of price adjustments in February, which include changes to
video services and increases in equipment fees.
She also noted that many Lincoln customers will not be affected
by these increases because they are currently enrolled in
promotional packages.
Mayor Keith Snyder asked how many customers were involved in
those packages, and Stehn said approximately 50 percent.
Snyder asked how long these contracts lasted. Stehn replied that
most are either one-year or two-year contracts.
Snyder continued his questions, wanting to know if these
promotional packages were just for new customers.
At that time, Piscola took over the discussion, saying that
existing customers can take advantage of those offers, but they need
to call in and discuss their packages and see if there are changes
that can be made to help reduce their cost.
Snyder moved on, asking if Comcast would initiate another
increase next March, and Piscola answered that while uncertain,
historically increases do occur in March.
Alderman Tom O'Donohue asked if Piscola and Stehn were going to
address any of the items from Snyder's letter.
Piscola said she had discussed the letter with Snyder last
Friday, and she felt the real discussions needed to be between all
the interested parties involved when it comes to outlining a plan
for an additional public access channel for the city.
She said she had suggested a meeting that would involve the city
as well as representatives from Lincoln College, as Snyder's letter
had indicated the college would be willing to operate the public
access television studio.
O'Donohue agreed a meeting of everyone concerned would be good
and asked if they could move on to the request for a local number
for service.
He cited the section of the Comcast contract specifying that
Comcast provide a local office and local phone number.
Piscola said that in 2007, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed a
sweeping communications law that created one set of standards for
all service providers and did away with any home-rule authority that
would have belonged to the city.
O'Donohue then asked if Comcast had lobbied for that law, and
Piscola said Comcast was opposed to the legislation and felt the
state should not dictate the rules.
She referred to the law as egregious and said it provides for
only four methods of communication with customers: toll-free phone
number, pay agents, payment centers and equipment drop boxes.
"Then you have to have those four?" O'Donohue asked.
To which Piscola answered, "No, it is either-or."
O'Donohue replied, "And the law says you're not allowed to do
anything above and beyond?"
"The law says the city can't ask us to do anything above and
beyond," Piscola said.
O'Donohue then concluded: "You could do it, but you're not
interested."
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Piscola went on to say it was really a matter of opinion as to
what was the best for the community. She defended the larger call
centers, saying that during the blizzard, Illinois call centers were
closed down and calls were redirected to centers in other states.
With local call centers, that would not have been possible.
O'Donohue replied that on a day-to-day basis, the large call
centers do not help Lincoln.
Moving on to another topic, Alderwoman Melody Anderson spoke
regarding the weekly taping of council meetings.
"We have asked repeatedly -- not once, but repeatedly -- to have
our Tuesday workshop meetings recorded. I know CITV 5 was here for a
while and recorded them, but I think the responsibility lies on
Comcast to make sure that happens and how it happens," Anderson
said.
Piscola said she believed the discussions about recording the
workshops needed to go into the bigger picture of what the city
needs and wants for public access.
Alderman Jeff Hoinacki spoke up, saying: "We had this meeting in
August, and eight months later we're back asking for the same
channels. Eight months -- I just don't understand it."
Alderman David Wilmert said he recalled from that earlier meeting
conversations about the conversion of analog to digital and how one
analog channel could be made into 20 digital channels Comcast could
sell.
Stehn said she thought that was a different topic, but that yes,
she recalled saying that once the digital enhancement was completed,
Comcast would look into the extra channel for Lincoln. That
enhancement was completed in December.
Piscola said she felt it was time to dive into the topic and get
everything worked out, and O'Donohue said he felt the city has been
ready and waiting to dive into it for quite some time.
Piscola then said: "Technically there is nothing preventing the
city from putting their meetings on Channel 5 now."
To which Anderson said, "And are we going to operate the
cameras?"
O'Donohue asked about the opposition to
SB108, a Senate bill that would include fiber optic Internet in
the official definition of infrastructure in municipalities,
therefore making it fundable through tax dollars.
Cable companies are opposed to this rule because they feel it is
unfair competition.
Piscola said she couldn't comment on that a great deal. She knew
there had been meetings about it in the corporation. What she could
tell the council was that a meeting is being planned now where a
Comcast representative will hope to meet with area businesses and
explain to them the services Comcast already has in place and what
the company's real capacity is to serve their needs.
As the discussions wound down, Anderson said she was sure Piscola
and Stehn could tell that the council was more than a little
frustrated over this. She said she wants action quickly and was
tired of this situation dragging out.
Piscola will send a list of available dates to Snyder, and he can
choose a time best suited for everyone concerned to get together and
discuss the future.
She closed by saying she sees every problem as an opportunity.
Attorney Bill Bates then commented: "In that case, the
opportunities for Comcast in Lincoln are limitless."
[By NILA SMITH]
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