LUDLOW – With the contract set to expire, the Ludlow Board of Selectmen hosted a public hearing for the renewal of the cable contract with Spectrum during its Nov. 23 meeting.

To start the cable license hearing, Michael Hill, the manager of Ludlow Community Television (LCTV), said the negotiation process took several years before coming to the board.

“We have been over the past three years in the process of negotiating with Charter Spectrum. One important thing from our point of view is the funding for our department, Ludlow Community TV. That is one of the major things we are able to negotiate, because there is a lot we are not able to negotiate,” he said.
Hill added that the funding for LCTV comes through a Public Access Educational and Governmental (PEG) grant through the Spectrum contract.

With the license wrapped up for 10 more years, Hill said it also secured funding for LCTV over that same time.

“In this license we were able to secure 10-year funding, which is good for us. The last one was also 10 years, and it is a good amount for us to operate, for staffing and equipment – we are always replacing and upgrading equipment here, the school department and at the TV studio,” he said.

Hill also addressed concerns residents have with keeping Spectrum as the town’s cable provider.

“There are a lot of people unhappy with Charter. A lot of people are unhappy with pricing, customer service and a number of other things. The big question I get asked a lot is why can’t we get another cable provider, but as far as I know it is a cable company’s choice to apply for a license, we cannot pick,” he said.

Were another company to provide cable in town, Hill said it would have to build its own infrastructure separate from Spectrum’s layout.

With some language in the contract, Bill August, the town’s legal counsel during the contract negotiations, said it opens the door for a company to come compete.

“The license we negotiated is non-exclusive, it could not be clearer on that point, which is the legal basis which allows potential competitors to come in. There is nothing that prevents that and opens the door to competition by having non-exclusivity language,” he said.

August also discussed some of the strategies other companies have taken when approaching expanding their service into other towns.

“Comcast has never competed with an incumbent operator, they just do not go into other companies’ territory to compete. Verizon is a potential source of competition so you should keep an eye on their willingness to compete, but they stopped applying for additional licenses about four years ago,” he said.

The board unanimously approved a motion to renew the town’s cable license with Spectrum.

Following up on the discussion from the previous meeting about hiring a full-time health inspector to help the Board of Health meet its requirement for health inspections each year, the board voted 3-1 to deny the request for the new inspector.

The Ludlow Board of Selectmen next met on Nov. 30 and coverage of that meeting will appear in the Dec. 9 edition of The Reminder..