Activist & Consumer Groups Stand with City Council Members to Call for Delay in Verizon Franchise Agreement

NEW YORK, NY (05/21/2008)(readMedia)-- Common Cause/New York, Consumer’s Union, New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), and People’s Production House joined this morning with NYC Council Chairs Gail Brewer (Technology in Government) and Tony Avella (Zoning and Franchises) to call for New York City’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee (FCRC) to delay approving the City’s proposed cable franchise agreement with Verizon. The groups and council members spoke from the steps of New York City Hall at 11am.

“The agreement begs the question: Whose best interest is served by this contract, that of the City or of Verizon? Why is this contract being rammed through, without sufficient time for interested members of the public to review it carefully? ” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause /NY. “This agreement raises public interest questions regarding the availability of technological advances for public, educational and government access channels, as well as numerous consumer protection issues. Existing cable franchise agreements bar the costs of these PEG channels from being shunted onto the backs of New Yorkers. This agreement, seemingly for the first time, lays in doubt whether proper resources will be sufficiently provided or if the PEG channels will be treated as second-tier channels. Even more upsetting, the contract appears to roll-back significant consumer protections for cable customers. The Verizon deal, on first review, appears to be a terrible precedent as the City enters into negotiations to extend cable franchises with Time-Warner and Cablevision. The public deserves, and the situation demands, ample time to properly review this contract.”

"A deal of this magnitude deserves more than a passing glance from the public and our elected officials,” said Joshua Breitbart, Policy Director of People's Production House, a comprehensive media justice organization serving New York City, Washington DC, and the Gulf Coast. “It will largely determine how we watch TV, make phone calls, and use the Internet in New York City for at least the next 20 years. The fine print tells you that this franchise is not designed to serve all New Yorkers equally.”

“We welcome the FCRC’s interest in fostering greater consumer choice by promoting competition in New York City’s highly concentrated cable marketplace,” said Chuck Bell, Programs Director of Consumer’s Union, the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. “However, we think it is crucial that citizens have adequate advance notice and the opportunity to review the provisions of the proposed franchise agreement before critically important decisions are made by New York City.”

“This is a big, complex agreement and there’s a lot of stake for New Yorkers, so we’re saying, ‘let’s step back, take a deep breath and let the public take a longer look at this,’” said Russ Haven, NYPIRG Legislative Counsel. “If we get this right, cable consumers will see lower prices and better service and real competition for a piece of their montly telecom bills.”

The 12-year franchise agreement between New York City and Verizon would permit the cable company to provide cable television service throughout the city, alongside with its phone and Internet services. The agreement was negotiated by Verizon and the Mayor's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications behind closed doors. Under Section 371 of the City Charter, at least one public hearing must be held before a deal of this sort is approved and proper and sufficient notice must be provided to the public in advance of that hearing.

On May 20, the FCRC held what is currently scheduled to be its only public hearing regarding the agreement, before which the public was not properly notified, nor was the agreement under discussion made readily available to interested individuals and organizations.

Gathering on the steps of New York City Hall, the groups urged the FCRC to extend the public comment period by 120 days, to mid-September 2008.

After being fully approved at the city level, the franchise agreement is required to be approved by the state Public Utility Commission.

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