Cable TV changes stay remote for Valley

By Ed Runyan

AT&T’s U-verse allows a customer to find and record TV programs from a computer or phone.

Approved by the Ohio Legislature last year as a way to provide competition in the cable television industry, the Video Service Authorization bill hasn’t yet provided Mahoning Valley customers with any new options.

Senate Bill 117 allowed cable companies to apply for a statewide franchise agreement that would let them provide their services anywhere in Ohio, instead of having to negotiate separate agreements in every city and township where they wanted to offer service.

That means the governing body in charge of the franchise agreement is the Ohio Department of Commerce instead of the cities and townships. It also means customers who have had trouble resolving complaints about the service will be referred to the Department of Commerce instead of their home city or township, said Dan Pribich, assistant law director for Youngstown.

Youngstown reached a new franchise agreement with its cable television provider, Time-Warner, after the law passed. Youngstown Time-Warner customers are now referred to the Department of Commerce, Pribich said.

Other than that, Pribich and local cable television company officials say, Senate Bill 117 hasn’t affected the Mahoning Valley. It did, however, help AT&T start service in several suburban markets around Cleveland, Columbus and Akron-Canton in the past year.

Time-Warner had reached new franchise agreements with most of its cities and townships already, company officials say, while the area’s other large provider, Armstrong Cable, is still operating under older franchise agreements.

In Armstrong areas — such as Austintown and Boardman — the local governments are still responsible for working out disagreements.

Pribich said he thinks Youngstown cable subscribers preferred having a city official to call about cable, saying he’s heard some people say that the commerce department is “less responsive” than the city was.

In addition to Youngstown, Time-Warner has new franchise agreements in most of its Mahoning Valley communities, such as Struthers, Cortland, Howland, Newton Falls, Niles and Warren and Salem.

Chris Thomas, director of government and media relations for Time-Warner’s Northeast Ohio operations, said he thinks most of the franchise agreements reached with its member communities have kept fees the same as they were under the old agreements.

Senate Bill 117 allows the same 5 percent surcharge that was permitted under the old law, Thomas said.

“Most customers didn’t see any changes at all,” Thomas said, adding that Time-Warner doesn’t have any plans to expand service into new areas here.

Ohio’s legislation, modeled after similar laws in states such as Indiana, was designed to encourage economic growth in the state through cable companies investing in the installation of fiber optic cable and other high-tech advancements, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.

The commission said the former system of community-by-community franchise agreements had slowed the development of technology. The bill doesn’t affect satellite television providers.

Though no new competition has emerged in the Mahoning Valley, AT&T has made extensive use of the new system in other parts of Ohio, creating a product called U-verse.

U-verse, which has 379,000 subscribers nationwide, is available in more than 9 million homes, AT&T says. To make the service available, AT&T constructs “hub sites” and other infrastructure to carry the signal.

Construction of the hub sites began in mid-2007, said Bob Beasley, AT&T spokesman in Columbus.

The commerce department says AT&T is providing the service in the counties of Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Geauga, Lake, Licking, Medina, Pickaway, Portage, Stark, Summit and Union.

For competitive reasons, AT&T won’t say when or if it will offer U-verse in the Mahoning Valley, Beasley said.

If it does move into the Mahoning Valley, customers will like it, Beasley said, because “It’s cooler than cable.”

For example, with U-verse, a customer can use his computer or telephone to find or record programs, he said. Someone interested in Tom Cruise movies, for example, could search the name “Tom Cruise,” select a program to watch, then watch or record it.

Prices for the service are comparable to cable, Beasley said.

Dan McGahagan, general manager of the Boardman office of Armstrong Cable, said he doesn’t expect AT&T to offer U-verse in the Mahoning Valley anytime soon.

“In the short-term, definitely not,” he said, citing the costs involved in installing the required equipment. He added that Armstrong also doesn’t have any plans to expand into new areas.

Time-Warner’s Thomas said Senate Bill 117 allows companies like AT&T to “pick and choose” the areas where it will offer U-verse, installing the infrastructure only in wealthy suburbs, where it hopes to lure customers willing to pay upwards of $100 per month.

Sarah Briggs, executive director of TV4US Ohio, a lobbying and consumer group, said Senate Bill 117 was needed because cable companies across the country had a near monopoly, causing price increases and reduced customer service.

There are 29 companies like AT&T currently approved to offer video services in Ohio, but it’s impossible to say when or if any of them will provide service in the Mahoning Valley, Briggs said.

Barney Wolf, spokesman for commerce department, says the only companies approved so far to offer cable television in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties are the ones providing it now: Time-Warner, Armstrong and Comcast.

Dave Wittmann, vice president of marketing for Armstrong Cable, said Senate Bill 117 makes it easier for companies like AT&T to take away Armstrong customers, but Armstrong has focused on customer service and product offerings so that it can compete.

“We are constantly investing in our network,” he said.

Armstrong serves Boardman, Austintown, Canfield and Campbell in Mahoning County, parts of southern Trumbull County and nearly all of Mercer and Lawrence counties in western Pennsylvania.

Comcast serves the village of New Middletown in Mahoning County and parts of Columbiana County.

runyan@vindy.com