. Verizon Plays Hardball with Pound Ridge, NY
Recently the town of Pound Ridge, NY, located in northern Westchester, has been having difficulties in securing Verizon FiOS as a new cable provider to compete against long time incumbent cable provider Cablevision, according to the The Bedford Pound Ridge Record Review. Pound Ridge is an affluent, quasi- rural community and home to such celebrity NYC weekenders as Mike Meyers, Gary Trudeau, Zoe Caldwell, Tom Brokaw, Vera Wang, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robins, Richard Gere and others.
It seems that Verizon withdrew its application to bring FiOS to the town because of negotiations over the company's request to offset $12,000 in real estate taxes from its franchise fee it would have to pay to the town. Quoted in the article is Verizon spokesperson John Bonomo, who stated "By and large the vast majority of towns and villages we negotiate with, we do reach an agreement."
Though the application is withdrawn at the moment, its seems that Verizon is still evaluating its next steps with the town. Cablevision's contract with Pound Ridge is coming up for renewal early next year.
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Franchise fee? What purpose does such a fee serve, other than to limit free access to a market? I wonder if the Cablevision's agreement came before or after the town created a franchise fee for companies offering cable services....
Posted by: Farley | July 20, 2009 at 05:44 PM