Following more than two years of legal wrangling, Vermont’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) finalized conditions of Comcast’s Certificate of Public Good (CPG) on October 1, 2019, enabling the state’s largest cable operator to continue its delivery of cable television service across the State, while providing public benefits such as line extensions and protections for Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) Access.

The conditions of the “amended, renewed, and consolidated” CPG were set out in a recently mediated Settlement agreement between Comcast, the Department of Public Service (DPS), and the Vermont Access Network (VAN), which represents 22 community media centers that operate public, educational and government access channels in Comcast service territories. The PUC has adopted the conditions of that Settlement in its amended CPG Order.

Lisa Byer, Chair of VAN’s Regulatory Committee, commented that, “The amended CPG reflects a carefully considered Settlement, negotiated with Comcast and the DPS over the past several months. We’ve reached meaningful compromises and settled several outstanding issues which will better position us to meet community communications needs over the next decade.” As reflected in the proposed amendments to the Renewal CPG, the parties Settlement terms now require Comcast to:

• Construct a minimum of 350 miles of additional lines of cable during the full term of the Renewal CPG;
• Maintain existing PEG remote origination sites and provide reasonable accommodations in support of any AMO request for a new site and support of alternative means of providing remote origination sites; and
• Provide a single, statewide HD channel by January 1, 2021 and extend the time for AMOs to request additional high definition (“HD”) PEG channels.

The Settlement contained in the CPG also provides for reassignment of Comcast’s Vermont PEG channels to a dedicated PEG neighborhood enabling them to be listed with individual listings and full functionality on all programming guides and additional funding support for the PEG channel reassignments and equipment needs associated with the statewide HD PEG channel.

Approval of the proposed amendments to the Renewal CPG will effectuate the parties’ Settlement and result in the dismissal of Comcast’s pending federal litigation. The amended Renewal CPG is intended to serve the public interests identified in the PUC’s initial January 13, 2017, Order.

Byer added, “This settlement is the result of many months of work by VAN, Comcast and the Department of Public Service, and incorporates true compromises by all parties to bring this matter to a close. We have made progress on several key points, especially PEG channel inclusion in the Interactive Program Guide (IPG) which will bring our channels in line with current television viewing habits. We are also proud that the settlement provides a clearer path for providing PEG channels both with HD capability as well as the maintenance and upkeep of remote origination sites. We believe that the terms of this settlement will greatly benefit cable subscribers and community members in Comcast service territories. We look forward to refocus our attention on providing the best PEG programming consistent with the needs and interests of our diverse communities.”

ADVOCACY GROUPS CHALLENGE FCC VOTE TO FIGHT FOR LOCAL CONTROL

Vermont Community Media Centers and their supporters are mobilizing with media centers and municipalities across the country to fight a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote that could undermine the ability of states and municipalities to set the rules for cable operators. 

As part of partisan de-regulation strategy, the FCC voted 3-2 on August 1 to limit the benefits that communities can get in return for the corporate use of public property and rights-of-way in its Third Report and Order on cable franchising. 

Under current law, communities have been allowed for decades to charge rent or “franchise fees” for the use of public property and rights-of-way. Cable companies use public rights-of-way to run their cables through communities. Congress capped that rent at 5 percent of gross revenues derived from cable bills. Most cable providers (though not required) pass these fees on to their subscribers. 

In her dissenting vote, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called the order part of the FCC’s effort to “cut local authorities out of the picture when it comes to infrastructure.”

The order is set to take effect on September 26 and will be challenged in federal court by the Alliance for Communications Democracy, The Alliance for Community Media and a coalition of municipal organizations. 

The FCC Order will now expand the definition of franchise fees to include non-monetary support (items like free cable subscriptions to schools and discounts to the elderly) for local communities and PEG Access television, even though Congress clearly intended those fees be only monetary payments. 

The new rules would allow cable companies to assign market values to these benefits, charge the amount back to local communities, and pocket the money. So, in effect, the cable companies will be allowed to pay their rent for use of public lands with “in-kind” donations, and the local governments will have no say in whether this is acceptable or not. 

According to Kevin Christopher, President of the Vermont Access Network, “We won’t know the impact on Vermont’s 25 community media centers until we learn how cable companies choose to interpret this order, but we’re preparing for dramatic shifts in funding and operations.”

“It’s especially discouraging that the FCC is preempting local control at a time when local media is more important than ever to the fabric of our communities,” Christopher continued. “The State of Vermont decided long ago that community media centers were essential to democracy, part of the public good, and should be supported.”

The State has shown its commitment to keeping community media centers strong by creating the Public, Educational, Government (PEG) Study Committee. The committee is charged with identifying potential funding sources that would keep the community media centers financially sound into the future.  

The Vermont Access Network (VAN) is participating in the Study Committee with Vermont Legislators and other public officials and stakeholders to look into ways to keep the state’s community media centers, and the services they provide to the community, sustainable. The Study Committee will hold a public hearing on October 16 at 10am in Montpelier to gather feedback from Vermonters about potential funding streams that could be made available to keep our community media centers strong. 

VAN is a membership organization supporting the state’s 25 Public, Educational and Government (PEG) Access community media centers. Members are non-profit organizations that operate over 80 full-time, commercial-free channels which produce more than 18,000 hours of hyper-local content per year, and employ nearly 200 Vermonters.

More information is available at vermontaccess.net.