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Date: 2/22/2022
SPRINGFIELD – After extensive talks, Springfield reached a new, non-exclusive Cable Television Franchise License agreement with Comcast on Feb. 11. The new contract will be in place over the next 10 years.
Ongoing contract talks between the two sides reached an impasse at the end of 2021, with Mayor Domenic Sarno issuing a letter detailing the two parties’ inability to reach agreement before their contract expired on Dec. 26. The license agreement only applies to Comcast’s TV license within the city, according to Sarno.
“I think they were surprised a little bit and caught off guard that I didn’t renew immediately…I’m fighting for the citizens of Springfield and the business community,” said Sarno in an interview with Reminder Publishing. Before the contract expired, Springfield remained proactive in garnering community opinions on the city’s contract, including hosting a public hearing meeting on Feb. 23, 2021 to discuss the matter.
Sarno and his team negotiated several key points for the new contract, including a non-exclusive clause that allows other cable providers/operators to negotiate cable television franchise license with the city.
The mayor expressed that the non-exclusive clause, as well as the cable company’s continued operation of their Comcast Customer Service Center in Springfield and a 2 percent franchise fee, were essential factors on the city’s behalf. The new contract also includes the expansion of Comcast’s senior discount to 62-year-old clients, according to the city’s press release.
Another element of the contract is Comcast’s continued support of its Public Educational and Government (PEG) access TV entity Focus Springfield. The agreement provides four channels with PEG access while Comcast will connect the Focus Springfield’s new studio location on Bridge Street at no additional cost.
“I fought very hard to make sure I keep Focus Springfield going. They’ve been invaluable, especially as we move to defeat this pandemic…The crew does a great job. They’ve been key to keeping government going,” said Sarno.
While the mayor advocated for several changes, he stressed that the city does not control the pricing of cable services. “People say ‘mayor, can you do something about the cost of programing’? I wish I could. I can’t, that’s under state and federal regulations. Unfortunately, I have no control over that,” said Sarno, who shared that internet pricing falls under a similar umbrella.
With the new non-exclusive agreement completed, the mayor hinted at the city’s future exploration of fiber optic internet.
“I appreciate Comcast’s past efforts…Some of the other local surrounding towns and cities have done their own fiber or are looking into doing their own fiber network, so I told my team ‘I want you to commission a study looking to do our own fiber network.’ Competition is good in this case when it comes to technology,” said Sarno.