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© 2007
Birmingham Area
Cable Board

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Gorilla Interactive

COMCAST LOCAL OFFICE CHANGE

NEW OFFICE LOCATED AT

4500 Delemere Blvd.

Royal Oak

(Fourteen Mile past Coolidge - Right on Delemere)

Office Hours  M-F 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

                                                    Sat 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

 

NEW CABLE BROCHURE ABOUT

TV OPTIONS

CLICK HERE    Cable Brochure-TV services

 

CLICK ON "LINK" ICON ON LEFT TO SEE SUMMARY OF 2006 BACB CABLE SURVEY

About the BACB

The Birmingham Area Cable Board is a citizens' body, formed in spirit of inter-local cooperation between the cities of Birmingham and the Villages of Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, and Franklin, for the purpose of insuring representation of citizens and participating local governments in matters regarding cable franchises and cable communication issues.

It is the mission of the Board to use the provisions and authority granted by applicable law and franchise agreements so as to maximize the value of cable communication to the citizens and community of the City of Birmingham and the Villages of Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, and Franklin.

To fulfill this mission the Board shall:

  • Provide the City of Birmingham and the Villages of Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, and Franklin, with timely and comprehensive advice for the establishment of policy and governance of their respective cable franchises, including but not limited to the following: applications for new franchises, transfers, renewals of current franchises, and monitoring franchise compliance audits.

  • Protect, encourage and review participation in any and all available cable access.

  • Monitor the use of funds or resources referenced in franchise agreements or ordinances, on a quarterly basis or as needed.

  • Provide a neutral forum for complaints and disagreements between franchisees and subscribers or users of cable facilities and systems as may be requested by: individual board members, officials of the City of Birmingham and the Villages of Bingham Farms, Beverly Hills, and Franklin or other officials, franchisees, cable subscribers, users or citizens, and issue rulings thereon.

About the Comcast Contract

IMPORTANT:  Regarding the misconception that Comcast is a monopoly in our area, or that cable competition is somehow being blocked to our area... Please Note:  The BACB has a non-exclusive contract with Comcast, meaning that any other wire-line video content provider (cable or telephone) may do business in our area, provided that they have signed a local franchise agreement with the BACB.  Within the past year, other companies such as Wide Open West (WOW) have been contacted by the board to come to our area to establish their services.  They have graciously declined our invitation, stating they are simply not interested at this time.  Based upon industry facts and observations, their unstated reasoning may include the following:

  1. Huge start-up capital (technology, labor, marketing) is required to build a video delivery system to all community members.
  2. Geographically, many homes throughout our area are not tightly located together (as may be found in Royal Oak for example).  This creates an above-average deployment cost for newcomers to consider.
  3. The Rouge River Watershed cuts a path through our designated area, further increasing the cost to deploy a new telecommunication system.
  4. Wide Open West may simply be content upon investment and refinement of their services in territories where they currently operate.

Regarding Rate Regulation -- It should be understood that due to federal cable deregulation that occurred during the 1980's & 90's, the BACB only has the authority to control and review Comcast's entry-level,  Basic Tier cable rate.  All other tiers and services are priced at the discretion of the cable provider, .  The BACB has regularly passed resolutions and petitions requesting that Congress rewrite its legislation to allow for the return of cable rate regulation.  There is a link on this website for you to contact your elected official regarding rate regulation.