Within a month the state public utilities commission will settle a year-long battle that could open up three East Bay towns to cable television competition for the first time — competition that some believe will eventually destroy the local cable company that now provides service to the area.
While the hearings have revolved around technicalities, the underlying issue has been competition, and the battle between a local provider — Full Channel TV — and the giant, Cox Communications, which controls cable in virtually every other part of the state.
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“It has been said that the introduction of Cox Communications’ services in Area 5 will promote competition,” wrote Stephen Roy, chairman of a group trying to preserve the local company. “In reality the introduction of a huge communications company with virtually unlimited resources will quickly overwhelm Full Channel Television.”
Cox Communications wants to provide service to Bristol, Barrington and Warren, but Full Channel TV, the incumbent operator in those towns is trying to keep Cox out of the picture.
As part of an organization called the Rhode Island Area 5 Citizens Advisory Committee, FCTV filed briefs with the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers and the Public Utilities Commission to complain that Cox was not in compliance with Rhode Island rules governing community antenna television systems last year. Area 5 is the designation given to the tri-town area.
John Donofrio, FCTV’s president, had asked the DPUC to enforce a provision that would require Cox to build an industrial/institutional network as required in all 10 service areas it serves, covering 96 percent of the state.
Cox requested a waiver, saying it could provide the same service without installing the network, by using what it called a “Virtual-B” system. The company suggested that installing an actual B-cable system would result in installing an outdated technology. The section requiring the system has not been updated since it was written in 1980, Cox officials said.
Cox Vice President of Government Affairs John Wolfe said the waiver is not to excuse Cox from providing any technology, but to allow the company a different way of providing the same service.
“What we’re saying is that the focus should be on the applications, not on obsolete technology,” he said.
Donofrio disagreed.
“Our position to Cox is ‘get your own house in order before you want to come into Area 5′” he said. “They’re asking for waivers and we’re saying we complied with the system and we’re a small company.'”
Terry Mercer, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, said the issue at hand seems to center on competition.
Full Channel has been operating since the beginning of cable television in Rhode Island, and the company is among the state’s last independent providers. Cox has either merged with or bought the other original Rhode Island cable entities such as Colonial Cable and Dimension Cable.
There were even negotiations for Cox to purchase Full Channel at one point last year. Area 5, Block Island, and Foster are the only areas in the state where Cox does not provide cable services. Cox recently filed a petition with the state to provide service in Foster. Block Island Cable provides service on Block Island.
In a recent letter to DPUC Administrator Thomas Ahern, Roy, chairman of the Area 5 Citizen’s Advisory Committee was pessimistic that his small group could effectively challenge a corporation with the power of Cox.
Barrington resident Seymour Glantz, vice chairman and secretary of the Area 5 Citizen’s Advisory Committee, addressed a state panel in Bristol earlier this year, saying he was concerned about the amount of public access available to Area 5 residents.
Wolfe said he has heard that concern many times and that Cox will provide “precisely what Full Channel provides today,” if not better service.
The case is now in the hands of a DPUC hearing officer who expects to issue his order between June 15 and June 30. After a year of public hearings which included input from New England Cable Television Association, the Attorney General’s Office, the Advocacy Section of the DPUC, Full Channel, Cox and public comment, all parties, with the exception of Full Channel, have actually signed what the DEPUC termed a “stipulation” supporting Cox entry into the three-town market.
Associate Administrator of Cable Television for the DPUC Eric A. Palazzo said he supports cable competition in the state.
“Our stance is equal and fair competition,” he said, “Let all the chips fall where they may.”
Roy predicted the chips would not fall in Full Channel’s favor.
“Some may say it’s a natural consequence of inadequacies in the incumbent’s service, and they may be right,” he said. “But in the end the incumbent’s demise will be a result of the inability to get investors or banks to advance the money needed for a smaller company to compete with Cox.”
