On 3/1/02, AT&T Broadband (ATTb) filed an FCC Form 394 Transfer Application as a result of their upcoming merger with Comcast Corporation.
In accordance with state and federal statutes defining the Cable Franchise License Transfer process, the Cable Advisory Committee (CAC) organized a public
Westford License Transfer Hearing that took place on Wed., 4/10/02, at the J. V. Fletcher Library.
See related Hearing Materials for more details.
This Transfer Hearing was held by the Westford Board of Selectmen (BoS) to entertain relevant testimony by Westford Residents and members of Town Government along with representatives of the Transferor/Transferee. The hearing was televised live on Westford Community TV Ch. 8, and a videotape and stenographic transcript of the proceedings are available upon request to the CAC.
On 6/11/02, The BoS voted unanimously to accept the CAC's recommendation to Deny the Transfer of the Town of Westford's current Cable Franchise License to the local division of Comcast. This License was originally negotiated with Cablevision (for a 5-year term expiring April 8, 2003) and was transferred to ATTb on 1/12/01.
The CAC Report to the BoS and the subsequent
BoS Denial Letter cast doubt on the management experience, technical expertise, and the financial and legal ability of the Transferee to satisfy our Town's current License requirements.
On 7/18/02, ATTb and Comcast initiated an Appeal of our Town's Transfer Denial to the DTE Cable Division. Legal Documents filed by both parties in this matter can be viewed at: Docket No. CTV 02-5.
On 10/31/02, the Cable Division issued its final Order relative to the Appeal proceedings, which enjoined Westford to reverse its Denial decision.
Unfortunately, we could not justify spending yet more scarce Town funds on our own Appeal of this unfavorable decision, and instead took recourse to a Settlement Agreement with Comcast that was signed by the Westford BoS on 1/14/03.
By signing this Agreement, the Town essentially acquiesced to the Transfer of our Franchise License and received ironclad assurances regarding the timetable for the long-overdue Broadband upgrade of our cable system - which has been a stickling point ever since AT&T Broadband first took over from Cablevision here as of 1/12/01.
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