Montgomery County, Verizon ordered to mediation over cable

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Garbis on Tuesday ordered Montgomery County and Verizon to work together through a court-appointed mediator to see whether they can come to an agreement over providing cable service to residents, Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said.

Verizon filed the antitrust lawsuit in June. It contends that the county has made numerous unlawful demands during a year of negotiations, including that Verizon set aside 65 channels for public, educational and government programming, although the county only has 11 such channels.