Time Warner Cable action item #1. (But first, some bad news)

At the request of fellow local blogger Gedeon, I am going to provide what information I can for actions consumers can take to address Time Warner Cable's (TWC) experiment with how it charges Greensboro customers for internet access. (Background).

Let's start with Greensboro City Council and some bad news. It used to be that, in North Carolina, cable systems were granted a franchise by cities and counties to provide service. Local governments were free to negotiate guidelines for levels of service, prices and other performance measures. No longer. Thanks to a law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2006 that took effect January 1, 2007, all a company needs to do to procure a franchise now is file some paperwork with the N.C. Secretary of State. The ability for cities and counties to grant franchises has been revoked. (The only area state legislator to vote against the bill was Pricey Harrison.)

So, while TWC appears to be continuing to operate under its original franchise agreement with Greensboro from 1994, that agreement, when it expires this fall, will not be renewable. Indeed, the new state law allows Time Warner Cable to nullify the original franchise agreement at any time simply by applying for the state franchise.

Thus, for all practical purposes, the provisions of the City/TWC franchise agreement that may have allowed the city to exert some control over TWC's plans, no longer apply. Furthermore, the regulations previously found in municipal franchises have been eliminated. Nobody at the state level has the authority to evaluate the cable company's plans or service for compliance with any standards, guidelines or regulations (beyond general "consumer protections" -- more on that later).

That doesn't mean the City is completely impotent in standing up for its residents though. Below you will find contact information for the Greensboro City Council. The first action step is to contact them. Here are some recommendations:

Do's
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• Do inform them that you consider affordable and plentiful broadband internet access necessary infrastructure, vital to the economic success of a modern city and that you consider TWC's new pricing scheme to be to Greensboro's detriment.
• Do suggest that the City Council formally adopt a resolution instructing the city manager to actively recruit, through all means available, new competition for the broadband internet access market in Greensboro.
• Do suggest that the City Council members individually take the initiative to contact the principals of local economic development organizations and ask them to begin an immediate and serious effort to recruit competition for the broadband internet access market in Greensboro.
• Do ask them to put in motion a process for seriously considering the options for creating a city-owned wireless internet access network (Municipal wi-fi).
• Do provide them with your contact information and invite them to contact you if they would like to know more.
• Do let them know if this will be a campaign issue for you. All council members are up for reelection this November.

Dont's
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• Do not ask them to try to regulate TWC in some way -- they simply do not have the authority for the reasons cited above.

HOW TO CONTACT CITY COUNCIL
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Contact by email:
You may use this form to send an email to all city council persons, or those of your choosing.

Contact by phone:
Mayor, Yvonne Johnson: (336) 373-2396
Mayor Pro Tem, Sandra Anderson Groat: (336) 273-9066
Mike Barber: (336) 852-0195
Robbie Perkins: (336) 358-3219
Zack Matheny: (336) 272-0523
Mary Rakestraw: (336) 852-8639
Trudy Wade: (336) 323-6480
Diane Bellamy-Small: (336) 373-2286
Goldie Wells: (336) 621-0634

I also encourage you to post this contact information on your blog.