Quote:
Originally Posted by P-3 Guy
Franchise agreements between media companies like Breezeline and the municipalities in which they operate apply only to cable television services, not internet and telephone services. There shouldn't be any reason under law or regulation that would prevent Breezeline from continuing to offer internet and telephone services even if franchise agreements with municipalities lapse. Now, Breezeline may decide on their own to stop offering internet and telephone services if they can no longer provide cable TV, but that would be their own decision.
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Actually, there is. Breezeline, like Comcast, is a cable Multi Service Operator which operates under different rules than telephone companies. Yes, Cable MSOs and Telcos offer similar services, but are regulated differently.
Telcos must offer service regardless of how many potential customers there may be along less populated routes and roads. They receive compensation under the Universal Service Fund for doing so. Cable MSOs on the other hand are not required to do so which means that unless a customer wants to shell out the money to have the cable company run a line to their home they may not receive service. If memory serves, the present franchise agreement with Breezeline stipulates that if the potential customer density is under so many within a half-mile of a trunk line that they are not required to provide service...unless the customer pays the cost for doing so.
Unless Breezeline wants to register as a telephone company - something that can't be done overnight - they would have to cease operation once the franchise agreement expires. (They would also be required to either remove all of their infrastructure - aerial fiber optic runs, OEO nodes, and aerial coaxial cable - or sell it to another operator. Since they lease the space on the telephone poles for their runs, they would need to remove them because they are no longer authorized to operate in that community.)