Cable TV service unlikely for Portola Valley's Hayfields Road residents Cable TV service unlikely for Portola Valley's Hayfields Road residents (June 08, 2005)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

For residents on Portola Valley's Hayfields Road, a steep road that dead-ends after six-tenths of a mile, the likelihood of getting the street's nine homes wired for cable TV and cable Internet services appears not very likely at all.

In the town's contract with Comcast, the local cable service provider, a clause seeming to require cable service for Hayfields residents is at the center of a year-long and increasingly heated discussion at the town's Cable & Utilities Undergrounding Committee.

The town and Comcast are at odds over the meaning of the clause, with the town saying that the nine homes fall within a formula that obligates Comcast to provide service, and Comcast saying that the street needs a minimum of 10 homes.

If the town were to find Comcast to be in violation of its contract, it could levy a fine of up to $300 per day, said Councilman Ted Driscoll at a recent Town Council meeting. The contract is up for renewal in February.

The cable committee will take up the Hayfields topic again at its next meeting on Monday, June 13, at 8:30 a.m. in the Historic Schoolhouse at 765 Portola Road.
A fighting mood

Some Hayfields residents have asked the town to fight for them, said Mr. Driscoll. "I do not understand why (Comcast) is taking this position," he said at the meeting. "It's black and white."

He was referring to Section 4.1 of the contract, which states that "cable services shall be offered to all dwelling units in the town, with standard installation charges applying in areas where the residence density is five homes per cable mile with aerial utilities and 10 homes per cable mile with underground utilities, and the homes are within 300 feet of the cable system's feeder cables."

Hayfields Road is .58 miles long with nine homes, a ratio of about 15 homes per mile. If cable service were provided to these homes -- an investment of more than $100,000, said Andrew Johnson, Comcast's Bay Area vice president for communications -- the residents would be under no obligation to subscribe.

There have to be at least 10 homes to trigger a service obligation, said Mr. Johnson. Asked if Comcast is going to offer service on Hayfields, he said: "At the present time, we have no plans to."

"We can get into technicalities, but the density has to be 10 homes per mile," he said. "The town may have a different interpretation and opinion of the franchise language."

"If and when (the Hayfields) density changes and there's 10 homes, we obviously would meet the terms of the franchise agreement and establish our service out there," he said. "There are only nine homes. We keep counting."

Wiring Hayfields homes for cable just never got done, said Mr. Driscoll, noting that four transfers of ownership of the cable system over the years hasn't helped, with the consequent restarts of negotiations.

Comcast "hasn't been the easiest franchise to deal with," said Mr. Driscoll, who is a Town Council liaison to the cable committee. The roll-out of high-speed Internet services has been slow, he said, and the committee hears many complaints from residents about cable TV service.

High-speed Internet service roll-out is complete, said Mr. Johnson. As to TV service complaints: "I would classify them as a handful," he said, noting that sometimes there's little Comcast can do, such as when a driver collides with a utility pole.

"We'll continue to meet and negotiate with (Comcast)," said Chris Buja, who chairs the cable committee. "The crux of the (Hayfields) discussion comes back to density and minimums."

"They understand what they're doing," he said of the town's Comcast representatives. "We just all have to get on the same page."

Lacking a compromise by contract renewal time, the committee could begin to look at possible violations, he said.

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