Mediacom Franchise?

[enfuego]

I thought I had read that our County Commissioners were looking at the franchise agreement with Mediacom? If so, does anyone know if that issue has been addressed yet?

Of course my question has a motive and it revolves around slow service to outages, etc. Had on instance this summer where I lost cable/internet and was told they would not come out unless they could confirm an "outage" in the area. Took 10 days to restore our services (SRB).

I am now faced with the same issue and recieved the same reply this a.m. I dont think you should not recieve timely service just because no one else is experiencing issues. That makes no sense...

 

[Kurt]

I am sad that we have gotten in to monopoly and near-monopoly situations with services. It seems by now we should have some competition like most urban areas of the country. Maybe there are some here that aren't well known?

If you can, try DSL as an alternative to cable internet. DirecTV is also excellent.

 

[wrobert]

I thought I had read that our County Commissioners were looking at the franchise agreement with Mediacom? If so, does anyone know if that issue has been addressed yet?

Of course my question has a motive and it revolves around slow service to outages, etc. Had on instance this summer where I lost cable/internet and was told they would not come out unless they could confirm an "outage" in the area. Took 10 days to restore our services (SRB).

I am now faced with the same issue and recieved the same reply this a.m. I dont think you should not recieve timely service just because no one else is experiencing issues. That makes no sense...

I know they are asking about it, at least that is what I have read, but remember in Florida the Counties do not control the franchise agreements like they use too. The cable/telco companies got tired of negotiating with 67 counties plus a whole mess of cities so they passed a law that gives a lot of that authority for new agreements to the State. Never really read it but I wonder how it handled current agreements, maybe let them expire and then they renegotiate with Tallahassee. Something else to research.

 

[miznotebook]

The commissioners did ask legal services to research the cable franchise agreement as a result of public input. A report was provided to them on Oct. 19, stating that since the passage of the Consumer Choice Act of 2007, cable franchises are now issued by the Florida Department of State rather than local governments. This means that the authority to grant or negotiate new cable services franchises is now out of the hands of local authorities. The attorney also reported that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services now has sole authority to respond to all consumer complaints on cable service. Discussion included the fact that the Mediacom cable franchise is not an exclusive franchise, and that it would be possible for other cable companies to be approved for a state certificate of franchise and go into operation in Walton County.

 

[wrobert]

The commissioners did ask legal services to research the cable franchise agreement as a result of public input. A report was provided to them on Oct. 19, stating that since the passage of the Consumer Choice Act of 2007, cable franchises are now issued by the Florida Department of State rather than local governments. This means that the authority to grant or negotiate new cable services franchises is now out of the hands of local authorities. The attorney also reported that the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services now has sole authority to respond to all consumer complaints on cable service. Discussion included the fact that the Mediacom cable franchise is not an exclusive franchise, and that it would be possible for other cable companies to be approved for a state certificate of franchise and go into operation in Walton County.

Thanks. That is the rule I was thinking of. And that did away with all exclusive franchises as they expire, if they existed. Now this is why your Commissioner of Agriculture is such an important elected official. They control the cable companies, thus a large portion of the internet. Who would have thought?

 

[seagrovegirl]

When the cable companies were getting started, they had to lay the cable at great expense, so I can understand a franchise agreement. Is cable even necessary with satelite service available everywhere?

 

[Andy A]

Makes sense. One department handles issuance of franchises and another handles complaints about the service.

 

[Matt J]

When the cable companies were getting started, they had to lay the cable at great expense, so I can understand a franchise agreement. Is cable even necessary with satelite service available everywhere?

There is actually a big difference (FCC wise) between satellite and cable companies.

I'm really hoping Knowledegy comes this way. At this point I'd settle for Comcast.