Stafford shoots down early negotiations with Comcast

STAFFORD — Comcast wanted to talk about an early commitment, but Stafford County leaders just weren’t ready.

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors this week voted to deny Comcast an early renewal of its franchise in Stafford County — an agreement it needs to provide cable TV, internet, and telephone services in the county.

On March 6, Comcast sent a letter to the County’s Chief Technology Officer Michael Cannon stating their intent to open early negotiations for their cable TV franchise renewal.

In their letter, Comcast has invoked Section 626 of the Federal Cable Communications Act of 1984 which allows them to petition an authority such as Stafford County to begin renewal proceedings.

Stafford County signed its current agreement with Comcast which went into effect on December 13, 2016. This current agreement is for a five-year-term which leaves two and a half years to be served with the possibility of extending the agreement to another five years.

The agreement gives Comcast non-exclusive rights to operate in Stafford County as a cable television service provider. Cox Communications and Verizon also provide cable TV service to Stafford residents.

Comcast states in their letter their reasoning for this action:

“Comcast has every reason to believe that Stafford County and Comcast will reach a mutually agreeable renewal of the cable television agreement through good-faith negotiations, thus making many of the Act’s formal procedures unnecessary,” states the cable giant’s letter to the county.

In response to this letter, the Community and Economic Committee made up of members of the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during its April 2 meeting to deny Comcast’s request. The reasoning behind the refusal was the significant legal expenses that would be incurred of the County went into early negotiations.

“The County utilizes outside counsel with significant expertise in cable franchise negotiations.   While it is difficult to estimate the precise costs, it would be significant and likely in the five-figure range,” replied Cannon.

If the county had decided to begin early negotiations, it would have had to initiate the formal process six months after receiving the letter. The process would have involved an ascertainment proceeding which would have allowed residents the opportunity to ask the cable TV company for new services, as well as review its performance under the current agreement.

After this process, a renewal proposal with a draft agreement would have been submitted and the County would have had four months to renew the agreement or to refuse which would trigger a further formal process.

The county’s current agreement with Comcast expires in 2021.