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Cable TV hurdles irk Qwest

Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 22, 2007 at midnight

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Qwest Communications said Thursday it is running into additional obstacles in obtaining TV franchises in Colorado.

The Denver telco said Brighton, Glendale, Northglenn and Wheat Ridge have passed a tougher "model ordinance" that would require the company to disclose "extremely sensitive" competitive information, such as its development timetable and buildout plans.

The provisions were developed by the Greater Metro Telecommunications Consortium, and other municipalities have indicated they may follow suit.

"You might as well label it the cable monopoly protection ordinance," said Qwest spokeswoman Carolyn Tyler. She said Qwest didn't hear about the new requirements until Glendale already had passed it and has been prevented so far from giving its input into the process.

Qwest Colorado President Chuck Ward expressed his concerns about the additional hurdles in a letter to Brighton officials.

Officials from GMTC, a consortium of more than 30 municipalities, weren't immediately available for comment late Thursday.

But GMTC has made it clear previously that individual municipalities should have the right to decide under what provisions Qwest may enter the cable TV market.

Area municipalities overall have been cool to Qwest, in part because of concerns the telco is just interested in "cherry picking" the most economically desirable neighborhoods, rather than offering TV service throughout a community.

Qwest views the latest hurdles as an attempt by area municipalities to pre-empt a new Federal Communications Commission order that encourages TV competition. The order, parts of which aren't yet in effect, would enable Qwest to put municipalities on a 90-day shot clock to approve or reject a video franchise application.

In a recent meeting at the Broomfield City Council, a Qwest executive said the company wants to provide TV services in its home territory. But he also warned that Qwest only has so much money to invest in new TV services and is already eyeing other areas, including Utah and the Pacific Northwest.

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