Authorizing the Joint Committees on Public Property and Public Works and the Committee on Technology and Information Services to hold hearings that will provide an additional opportunity for public comment on issues related to the cable franchise negotiations between the City of Philadelphia and Comcast and to also further investigate issues related to the needs assessment and franchise negotiations.

WHEREAS, A cable franchise agreement enables the franchise holder to utilize the City's public “right-of-way” for an agreed term of years to operate its system and deliver cable service; and

WHEREAS, All cable television providers must negotiate franchise agreements with local municipalities or states, dependent on local law, for the right to run cable television wires through public property; and

WHEREAS, As required by federal law, cable television companies pay municipal governments at least a 5 percent fee of cable-TV revenues in exchange for access to public right-of-ways; and

WHEREAS, Comcast holds a franchise for each of the four franchise areas in the City, covering all of Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, The City of Philadelphia's current 15-year cable television franchise agreement with Comcast will expire in 2015; and

WHEREAS, As part of the renewal process, the City conducted a “needs and interests assessment” to learn from Philadelphia consumers what they think about Comcast's cable service and to get community feedback on residents' experiences with and services by Comcast to assist and inform Philadelphia's Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT) during the renewal negotiation period; and

WHEREAS, City Council has a responsibility to the public to ensure that the franchise renegotiation is an open process and that the renewed agreement is structured to support the interests and needs of the Philadelphia residents; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the joint committees on Public Property and Public Works and the Committee on Technology and Information Services be authorized to hold hearings that will provide an additional opportunity for public comment on issues related to the cable franchise negotiations between the City of Philadelphia and Comcast and to also further investigate issues related to the needs assessment and franchise negotiations.

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