On Dec. 11, 2018, the Board of County Commissioners approved a new 10-year franchise agreement with Comcast. The agreement covers the provision of cable television service in Calvert County. By law, cable franchise agreements only address cable television services, not internet service.
Overview
The cable franchise agreement allows cable television providers to build and operate cable systems in county rights-of-way in exchange for providing cable service to residents. The agreement details which areas will be provided service and covers other services such as public access channels, funding to support local programming, studios and equipment, and more.
Comcast has a non-exclusive franchise in Calvert County. While any cable provider can petition the county to provide service, Comcast is currently the only provider to enter the Calvert County market.
Much of the public feedback gathered during the franchise negotiation process centered on the need to extend cable service to unserved areas. A working group between county government and Comcast identified several areas in the county that required connectivity and began work to bring service by seeking funding solutions that would minimize cost to the potential customer.
On Dec. 15, 2020, the Board of County Commissioners committed funding to complete the full buildout of Comcast cable infrastructure in Calvert County. This is a critical investment that will ensure homes have cable services.
Below are some key provisions of the franchise agreement.
The new agreement has a 10-year term, with a 15 home-per-mile minimum density for build-out, as well as a detailed cost sharing formula for extending service in areas falling below the new density requirements.
The agreement increases the length of a standard installation from 125 feet to 300 feet per home, provides greater clarity regarding system maintenance, and includes explicit reporting requirements and customer services standards.
The county's public access channel (channel 99) is now also channel 1070 high-definition (HD) format under the agreement.
Up to 73 government, library and school facilities will receive free cable services.
The agreement includes a five percent franchise fee on gross revenues to be paid by Comcast to the county for use of the public right-of-way and establishes a 72 cent Public/Education/Government (PEG) fee to support local access programming.
Comcast commits to test, repair and maintain the cable system and agrees to review deficiencies found during an inspection of cable infrastructure conducted in preparation for the franchise update.
The agreement includes a comprehensive customer service program covering:
Acceptable on-hold times for phone calls
The maximum wait period for standard installations
Requirements for subscriber notices related to rate, programming or channel position changes
A detailed complaint procedure
Time requirements for responding to service interruptions under normal circumstances
Requirement to provide credits for customer-reported outages lasting six or more hours