Comcast is coming to central Blair County to compete with Breezeline.
The TV cable company has so far publicly discussed potential franchise agreements with Hollidaysburg and Duncansville boroughs and Allegheny and Blair townships.
Meanwhile Altoona and Logan, Frankstown and Antis townships have been fielding offers from a law firm that wants to represent municipalities in franchise negotiations with Comcast, according to information from the company and local officials.
“We are continuously looking at opportunities to bring our state-of-the-art products and services to more consumers and businesses, where it is geographically and economically feasible,” Comcast regional spokesman Robert Grove wrote in an email Friday.
“They’re trying to establish a presence here,” Allegheny Township Supervisor Dave Burchfield said. “My understanding is that they would be building all new infrastructure and investing quite a lot.”
Comcast’s presence would benefit the area, predicted Antis Township Manager Doug Brown.
“Competition is good,” Brown said. “So residents have a choice.”
Competition could lower prices and generate better service, Burchfield said.
Franchise agreements like those all eight municipalities already have with Breezeline are non-exclusive, according to the local officials.
They’re also competitively neutral, such that municipalities can’t make terms more onerous for one provider than for another.
The agreements by law allow municipalities to charge up to 5% of revenues, but only revenues generated by cable TV service.
The incumbent provider is unperturbed.
“Breezeline typically operates in competitive markets, including those with multiple internet, TV and voice providers, and we have entered multiple markets where Comcast and other providers are already available,” Breezeline spokesman Andrew Walton wrote in an email. “Even in the most competitive markets, Breezeline always has been able to win and maintain market share by delivering best-in-class services and a great customer experience.”
It has become more economically feasible in recent times for cable companies to come into an area to compete with existing providers, because network infrastructure like fiber optic cable has become less costly and because cable companies can also obtain revenue through internet and phone service.
Officials in both Allegheny and Antis townships are hopeful that Comcast doesn’t limit its investment so that it would be serving only easily accessible customers — the ones that provide the best return on investment.
It would be unfortunate for Comcast to run lines down the main arteries, catching the bulk of available households, while neglecting residents who live farther away, as one supervisor expressed it, Burchfield said.
The attorney who is trying to create a consortium of municipal clients for franchise negotiations might be able to work out agreements to guarantee service to outlying residents, Brown said.
Comcast intends to begin building infrastructure in the more southern municipalities, then work its way north, as he understands it, Brown said.
The Logan Township supervisors Thursday approved an agreement with the firm that has reached out to the local governments — Cohen Law Group — to represent the township in negotiations with Comcast.
The cost is $7,120, refundable if Comcast doesn’t decide to come to the township.
City Council will consider a proposal from the Cohen group on Monday.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.
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