Town Counsel fights to keep basic cable rates down
Published on August 8th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - Of the 144 communities served by AT&T Broadband for cable television, only Stoneham challenged the 2000 rates.
Stoneham Town Counsel Bill Solomon fought the rates, and the lawyer won. Basic cable rates for 2001 will be around 25 cents less for Stoneham subscribers for the rest of the year, and subscribers will receive a credit of several dollars on their bills.
“We keep them honest,” Solomon said.
Cable providers in Massachusetts set their rates according to Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE) guidelines. Communities get to challenge the rates after the fact, and the remedies used are either refunds or reductions in rates going forward.
AT&T agreed to issue a credit to customers after Solomon showed the DTE that AT&T had double billed for studio staffing costs, using AT&T’s own budget documents as evidence.
Although Woburn, another AT&T Broadband customer shares the public access studio on Montvale Avenue with Stoneham, Woburn subscribers won’t get a rate reduction or a credit because Woburn officials have never formally asked the DTE to regulate the city’s cable.
Solomon thanked past Selectmen Al Conti and Pat Jordan and the current board for paying attention to cable issues.
Competition
RCN cable originally agreed to offer service in Stoneham by June of 2002.
Solomon is not 100 percent confident that RCN will be ready by next spring, but as with AT&T, he’s keeping an eye on them.
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