”
Red Phone, I’m frustrated with the city of Morgan Hill’s stance
on adding certain services to the city. I have had lengthy
discussions with various representatives from companies such as
AT
&
amp;T and have inquired why I cannot receive their services
where I live.
“Red Phone, I’m frustrated with the city of Morgan Hill’s stance on adding certain services to the city. I have had lengthy discussions with various representatives from companies such as AT&T and have inquired why I cannot receive their services where I live. When I am told it is because the city will not allow it, it really frustrates me. I should have the ability to choose any provider of service that I want if they have made themselves available in that area.
Take for example AT&T. I told them I was unhappy with my Internet provider, Charter, but basically had no other alternative that would provide me with the speed necessary for home and business. The best alternative is AT&T, but I was told that the city would not allow AT&T to provide a fiber optic network much less an additional cell tower in Morgan Hill. We are one of the many families who have no use for landlines and rely solely on cell phones, but the coverage is spotty at best.
I would like to know what can be done. I understand Morgan Hill’s desire to control growth and I find that admirable. What I don’t understand is the hesitance to become a more progressive city. Tell me, when was the last time you truly noticed a cell phone tower? Get with the times, let companies into your city and give the residents of your city the choices they deserve.”
Red Phone: Dear Wants Options, Red Phone contacted Anthony Eulo, program administrator for the city. He began by saying that the city shares your frustration both with the lack of choice in providers and with the misinformation that you have apparently received.
“I can summarize our position by saying that we would welcome new telecommunication providers into the community and believe that our residents and businesses would be best served by having more choice in the telecommunications marketplace,” Eulo said. “To state that we have prevented new providers from entering the Morgan Hill marketplace is completely untrue.”
He provided some basic facts:
- Telephone service areas are determined by the State Public Utilities Commission and the city has no regulatory role with regard to phone service – except controlling the installation of phone lines and equipment in the public right-of-way. Complaints about phone service are handled by the PUC. They would be happy to expediently process a request from a new company, like AT&T, to build a fiber network in the community in the public right-of-way.
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Cable franchises are explicitly not exclusive and other providers are free to build additional cable systems in an area. The anticipated revenues from a second system, however, aren’t typically enough to justify the high capital costs associated with building a cable system. This economic reality would even be true for the construction of a new combined phone-cable-internet network. “I have personally placed calls with potential new entrants in the past and have been met with no interest,” he said.
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While the city used to issue the cable franchise, the PUC is now in charge of this as well. In the past, however, federal law protected the incumbent cable provider and made it essentially impossible to eject a cable provider from a community. “Believe me, the city investigated this seriously before establishing a new franchise with Charter in 1998,” he said.
With regard to cell towers, the facts are basically the same. “While towers are regulated in order to minimize their visual impacts, applications for new towers are periodically received and permitted by our Planning Division,” he said. “In fact, an application from AT&T to place a tower on Nob Hill was withdrawn a few years back after they merged with another provider.”
Hope that answers your questions, good caller.
Butterfield extensions coming soon
“Red Phone, are any plans in the works to extend Butterfield Boulevard from the business complex in north Morgan Hill to Dunne Avenue?”
Red Phone: Dear Wondering, not sure if you are aware, but Butterfield Boulevard exists from Cochrane Road in north Morgan Hill to Tennant Avenue to the south.
“The city has plans to extend it north from Cochrane Road to connect to Madrone Parkway within the next year, and south from Tennant Avenue to connect at the Monterey/Watsonville intersection within the next two years,” said Jim Ashcraft, director of public works.
There you have it, good caller.
