Selectmen vote on cable license transfer
Published on November 9th, 1999
STONEHAM, MA - On Tuesday, Nov. 9, the Board of Selectmen will vote whether to transfer the two cable licenses in town from Media One Group, Inc. to ATT Corp.
Town Counsel Bill Solomon does not anticipate any difficulties.
"All the issues have been resolved," Solomon said.
Now it's up to the Selectmen.
One question which has not been asked yet in open session is whether or not Internet service providers (ISPs) not affiliated with ATT will be given free access to ATT's fiber optic cable network.
OpenNET, a coalition of ISPs lobbying for open and free access to the broadband cable, argues that allowing multiple ISPs to compete for customers will bring prices down for Internet users.
ATT, in a public relations rebuttal, says it is not planning to freeze out independent ISPs but does want to charge a fair fee for use of the Internet infrastructure it built.
Weymouth and Cambridge are among a handful of communities nationwide which required cable companies to promise free access to competing ISPs before granting a municipal cable contract.
The actions of these communities indicate that Stoneham has the legal authority to do the same.
But there are many aspects to the cable licensing contract, and the Board of Selectmen must decide what is best for Stoneham.
Due to the Veterans' Day mail schedule the Independent published before the meeting this week.
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