Red Bank TV

This letter, with some minor proofreading changes, was recently send by Tom to a local online newspaper. 

I am happy to see that Verizon picked Red Bank as one of its pilot towns in which to apply for a cable TV franchise and I am glad to see that the Red Bank town council has approved Verizon’s application.  Now that the two partners have entered the negotiation phase I see several subjects that should be on the negotiating table.

‘A la carte’ cable service

‘A la carte’ cable service allows the subscriber to pick and pay for only those channels that they want to subscribe to.  Many of us don’t think twice about the price we pay for cable service but to many Red Bank residents cable TV is not within their limited budget.  If you are a parent and want to help your child by subscribing to educational or children’s programming then you are forced to subscribe to a cable package which will include many gossip, political and sports networks.  You should not be forced to pay for those channels.  Verizon should promise to offer ‘A la carte’ to Red Bank residents.

Municipal WIFI

As New Jersey’s ‘hippest’ town, Red Bank may someday choose to follow the lead of progressive cities around the country such as San Francisico and Philedelphia by offering a free municipal WIFI network.  This network would provide free internet access to all residents regardless of income level, thus helping to fight the emerging digital divide between the “well off” and underprivileged.  Verizon has vehemently fought municipal WI-FI plans.  As a partner with Red Bank, Verizon should promise to not oppose a future municipal WI-FI network.

‘Network Neutrality’

Verizon will be using Internet Protocol (IP) to deliver video service to Red Bank residents.  Thus it is appropriate to ask Verizon to address the issue of Network Neutrality.  Telecom bosses, including Verizon’s, have been talking a lot lately about Network Neutrality and Tiered Internet plans.  These plans would restrict or charge extra for internet users to visit certain web sites such as Google Video or Apple’s iTunes.  Verizon should promise Red Bank residents that they will respect the principals of Network Neutrality and not implement Tiered Internet plans.

CableCard and V-Chip

The federal government mandates that cable services support these two consumer protection technologies.  Verizon should promise to support these technologies from the get-go.

Many municipalities are watching to see how Red Bank and Verizon proceed with their partnership.  The Red Bank town council is in the unique position of holding sway over a huge corporation.  Verizon needs this deal with Red Bank much more than Red Bank needs the Verizon cable service.  The Red Bank town council must negotiate strongly with Verizon and not be dissuaded by corporate largess or red herring excuses.

If Verizon is not willing to address these issues then the Red Bank town council must not be afraid of walking away from the negotiating table and pulling the offer.