The Baltimore County Council is considering giving Verizon Maryland Inc. permission to build fiber-optic cable lines, but expressed frustration that the company has yet to decide whether to provide county residents with cable television service.
Verizon needs access to county property in order to replace existing copper wire telephone lines with new fiber optic cable, and is willing to pay almost $2.5 million for the right to do it, county officials said. The new system will allow the company to provide new and faster telecommunication services and build on their network, said company representative Bob Olsen.
“The speed is pretty dramatic,” Olsen said. “We also believe it can provide a network that will last 20 years, if not more.”
In Baltimore County, Verizon provides phone and Internet service, but has not begun selling cable TV access. Council members said they invited the company to apply for a permit to provide cable television in Baltimore County, which Council Member Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, would have also granted access to public right of ways.
Kamenetz sent the company?s assistant vice president of external affairs, Donora Dingman, two letters requesting Verizon apply to provide cable TV service, but received no reply.
“You could have been selling cable television by now,” Kamenetz told Olsen on Tuesday.
The construction, if approved by the council in a vote Monday, could mean minor inconveniences for homeowners and other utility providers, Olsen said. The company plans to notify homeowners? associations, post signs and place doorhangers on residents? homes before construction begins over the three-year timeline. Nowork will be done inside homes.
At the council?s work session Tuesday, a Comcast representative spoke in favor of the request, but asked the council to consider safeguards against potential damage to other utility wires while Verizon conducts its work. Under its agreement with the county, Verizon would have to submit plans for each work site, but Olsen said temporary disruption to residents? utilities is likely.
“We believe there will likely be hits to other customers, whether it be to their electrical service or their cable service,” Olsen said. “We take every step we can to mitigate that damage to utilities.”
The company?s payment to the county was calculated based on a 19-cent fee per foot of cable with an estimated 13 million feet. The agreement stipulates the times and days construction can take place in residential neighborhoods.
OTHER COUNCIL CONSIDERATIONS
» A supplemental $15,000 in federal funds to provide emergency short-term transitional housing for Baltimore County residents with HIV/AIDS
» Removing a monthly tax on mobile homes and trailers, which could result in a $544,000 loss to the county
» A bill that would require the removal of investment property in commercial revitalization districts that have not been in continuous use for five years
» Purchasing four more apartment buildings in the Yorkway corridor for $800,000
