Chelsea is asking residents to rate Comcast’s cable service before the city sits down to negotiate a new contract with the company. A survey is open until November 30, and a public hearing is set for Wednesday, November 18, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, 500 Broadway, Room 305.
The city says everyone is welcome to weigh in, whether or not they subscribe to Comcast. The survey is an online form in English and Spanish, ten questions long. It asks who your television provider is and for how long, which other services you buy from them, how you rate the picture and sound and the customer service, how much television you watch, which streaming services you use, and whether you watch local programming and government meetings on the public access channel. It does not ask about outages, wiring, internet speed or whether you would switch to another company. Those points belong in the written comments or at the hearing. Paper copies are available from Bernabe Rodriguez at [email protected] or 617-466-4106. Written comments and questions go to [email protected] or Chelsea 311 at 617-466-4209.
Why the city is asking
Comcast operates in Chelsea under a license issued by the city. Under federal cable law, a city that wants to renew that license begins by reviewing what the community needs from its cable system and how the company has performed under the current agreement. The survey and the November 18 hearing are that review. What the city hears becomes the basis for the terms it asks for in the next license.
Those terms typically cover the fee the company pays the city on its cable revenue, support for the public access channel that carries City Council and board meetings, customer service standards, and where in the city service is required. The city’s notice does not say when the current license expires or how long the next one would run.
Where else to complain
The state Department of Telecommunications and Cable takes cable complaints that a company has not resolved. Its Consumer Division is at 1-800-392-6066 or 617-305-3531, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and [email protected]. Complaints on file with the state are part of the record a city can cite in a renewal.
Our view on what Chelsea should ask for, including a second provider, is here.
What to say
The city is looking for specifics: outages, billing problems, how long it takes to reach a person on the phone, whether service is available at your address, and whether you watch the public access channel. Residents who have dropped cable for streaming are asked to say so too, because the number of subscribers affects what the city can negotiate.
The hearing is in Room 305, the same room the City Council uses for committee meetings. Those meetings are not streamed, so anyone who wants to be heard needs to attend in person or send comments by email before November 18.