Council Asks Comcast, HCTV to Address Cable TV Problems

City Councilor Colin F. LePage.

City Councilor Colin F. LePage.

City Councilor Melinda E. Barrett.

City Councilor Melinda E. Barrett.

Haverhill city councilors are backing calls to reconvene the Haverhill Cable Advisory Board as, among other things, a voice to resolve issues affecting local subscribers to cable and internet access provider Comcast.

The council this week voted unanimously, on a motion by Councilor Colin F. LePage and seconded by Vice President Melinda E. Barrett, to ask Mayor James J. Fiorentini to regroup the advisory board in part, as Barrett said, “an ombudsman for the citizens of the city.”

“I’ve heard from a number of citizens that have run into being manhandled by customer service representatives from Comcast. And that’s just one of the issues. The contract for Comcast with the city is on the horizon and I think it would be prudent for us to have a committee up to speed on technologies and upcoming issues and the issues our citizens are having,” Barrett said.

Haverhill City Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan.

Haverhill City Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan.

Councilor Thomas J. Sullivan called upon public access provider Haverhill Community Television to address “constant complaints” he said he has received over the quality of their council meeting broadcasts.

“People can’t hear us, sometimes they can’t see us. And I don’t understand why our equipment can’t be replaced. I understand there’s a cost to that but we give them $800,000 a year out of the Comcast contract, I believe. I would hope they value us enough that they will see fit in the near future to do an assessment on what they can do to replace the equipment in this chamber. The coverage is awful and it needs to get better fast because I’m losing patience,” Sullivan said.

The request to Fiorentini is the council’s second attempt in the last 14 months to have the cable advisory board reactivated in advance of negotiations to a new cable contract for the city, as expected to come by 2019.

3 thoughts on “Council Asks Comcast, HCTV to Address Cable TV Problems

  1. You’re not going to be in a position of strength until there is another high speed internet provider in Haverhill. If Verizon won’t do it then find someone who will be willing to build a glass network to give Comcast a run for their money. Keep in mind that if you haven’t dealt with other cable companies, you don’t know how good Comcast is. They may seem bad at times but as someone who has to deal with cable companies in ME, NH, and VT and has also dealt with them in MA, CT, and RI, Comcast is the best as far as speed and reliability. I’m talking copper, not glass. You want to keep Comcast but bring in someone who will compete with them using a glass network and give people a choice. In reality, we don’t need different companies to built their own infrastructure. Run glass to every house and business in the city and let company’s come in and connect to the glass at a central location. You could choose who want connected at the other end of that nice fat fiber optic pipe.

    I don’t know why you guys are relying on Haverhill community television. You can use your own microphones and cameras and be live on the internet. You don’t need to be on a cable system. Besides, many people don’t watch TV. In 2016 TV isn’t needed. Others are on satellite TV.

    By the way, may I suggest that if Verizon has no interest in providing first world internet in Haverhill, the city of Haverhill should not use Verizon services, landline or wireless. I would hope that Haverhill has already moved their landline phones away from Verizon.