On December 2, the District of Columbia Council tentatively approved a franchise agreement with Verizon that would allow the telecommunications giant to offer Internet and TV service to all District residents over the next 10 years. The agreement would make D.C. one of the first urban areas in the country to get access to high-speed FIOS service. Council members should give this deal a thumbs up when it comes up for a final vote on Tuesday.
Verizon initially negotiated a 15-year franchise agreement with the city’s Office of Cable and Television that would have bypassed some D.C. neighborhoods. But the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs, chaired by Council member Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, wisely insisted that the service be available to the entire city within nine years, with a 12-month extension if needed. That prompted Verizon to install FIOS in areas of the city it would no doubt have preferred to bypass. If the Council approves the final agreement, Mayor Adrian Fenty has 10 days to okay it before sending it for a 90-day congressional review. Both the mayor’s office and Congress should exercise due diligence and make sure all the fine print is in the public interest.
Verizon’s fiber-optic FIOS technology is 20 times faster and has far greater capacity than copper cable. It’s also easier to maintain and less likely to be affected by weather conditions or electrical interference. But that’s not the main reason Council members should approve this agreement. Competition is. District residents who want cable TV service are basically stuck with Comcast, which has a virtual monopoly in the city. But Comcast’s customer service is often appallingly unresponsive – just what one would expect from a monopoly business that doesn’t have to worry about keeping its customers happy.
That’s not to say that everybody is totally happy with Verizon, either. There have been complaints from Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland where the FIOS system has already been installed. However, a 2006 Federal Communications Commission report found that cable service charges increased 93 percent over the last decade, largely because most cable companies have protected territories. In communities where other options are available, the FCC found, cable TV rates averaged 17 percent lower than places with no competition. Consumers have a much better chance of getting good service at lower prices when companies have to compete for their business.
