Television watchers in two Maryland counties will soon have another cable company competing to provide programming for their viewing pleasure. In separate actions Tuesday, the Montgomery and Prince George’s county councils approved legislation allowing Verizon Maryland to offer digital cable service to the counties’ residents.
“Today’s action is the perfect holiday gift for residents who soon will be able to choose their cable provider as easily as they choose their phone company,” said William R. Roberts, Verizon Maryland’s president. “Competition drives innovation, value and service quality, and it puts the consumer in control.”
With the passage of both bills, Verizon will compete with Comcast, currently the counties’ lone provider.
Verizon plans to begin offering service before the end of next month in Montgomery and early next year in Prince George’s. The company will phase in service in both counties, starting in more populous regions where it already has installed high-speed cables for its Internet service. In exchange for the councils’ permission, Verizon will pay each county 5 percent of its revenues from the respective county, deliver free cable to government buildings and schools and provide public access channels.
Verizon already offers Internet service in the two counties but needed permission from the county councils to enter the cable market.
In Montgomery County, cable service became a particularly hot issue earlier this year when Verizon sued the county to enter the market, citing the unfairness of Comcast’s utter dominance. In the case decision, a judge ordered the two parties to negotiate, with the just-passed proposal being the result of their deal-making. Marilyn Praisner, vice president of the Montgomery County Council, said several last-minute amendments instituted by county leaders this week were designed to improve customer service features by Verizon as well as to move up the start dates for outlying areas of the county not set to get cable service for more than a decade.
