jeffxandra | A Coda(?) to the Cable War

Got this in my e-mail box from Ken Ulman (Howard County Executive) over the weekend

Dear Taylor Village Residents,

It was just over a year ago that I came to your community to discussyour concerns about Ellicott City Cable and the secondary cablefranchise legislation which was pending before the County Council at that time.

Some of the issues we discussed, such as prohibiting your condo association or HOA from charging a monthly cable fee established by the covenants, were quickly resolved after we worked together to amend the legislation. As you know, however, significant problems with Ellicott City Cable's quality of service and residents' lack of access to competing cable providers have continued.

Based on the ongoing service complaints, the lack of open competition, and the numerous problems identified in an independent engineer's report, I have submitted a resolution to the County Council to deny Ellicott City Cable's application for a secondary cable franchise in Taylor Village. A copy of the resolution is attached. The County Council will be accepting testimony on this resolution at its public hearing on Monday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Banneker Room at the George Howard Building (3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City). You can also submit testimony by email to councilmail@howardcountymd.gov.

I know many of you have invested quite a bit of your time and energy in this issue - working with our Office of Consumer Affairs, testifying before the County Council and Cable Advisory Committee, and attempting to resolve your own customer complaints. It is my hope that this resolution will apply additional pressure which will cause Ellicott City Cable to improve its performance. If and when Ellicott City Cable can demonstrate its ability to provide the level of service expected of a cable franchisee, I would be glad to change my recommendation to the County Council. Until that time, however, I simply cannot recommend approval of the application.