Rant

Time Warner Cable No longer Committed to Education

Posted 14 months ago|1 comment|719 views

TAGS

Time Warner Cable , Education Extortion , KY Board of Education

Written by

Slim Pickens

3/26/11
Richmond Kentucky

The Richmond Register reported today that Time Warner Cable, the areas sole cable provider has recently announced a 520% increase to the price of maintaining the area wide network that services the Madison County School district. And that price is rising every day. The latest negotiations bring a 1568% increase, and this in a time of hard economic choices for the areas already cash strapped federal state and county budgets.

Partial cost of these classroom connections are reimbursed by the Universal Service Fund a part of the Telecommunication Act of 1996 and overseen by the (USAC) Universal Service Administration Company with funds coming directly from telecommunication customers in the form of fees on their monthly bills.

The current contract, which the Madison county government has been seeking to extend ends up costing the county a little over $32,000 per year after USF reimbursement. Time Warner informed the District in December that they would not honor any further extensions and proposed a new five year contract that would cost $480,000 pear year leaving the county school board to pay 168,000 in yearly out of pocket expenses.

The KY state board of education however requires that contracts of this nature have yearly options to avoid placing financial responsibilities on future board members. Options Time Warner refuses to include in the contract, offering instead a year to year "deal" charging a whopping 1.44 million a year. A 1568% increase over this years cost.

The Kentucky department of education has sent a letter to Time Warner exec's stating that the current offer is unacceptable and awaits a response.

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Cynthia Godby

13 months ago: The reporter posted a revised story - http://richmondregister.com/localnews/x3...

In short,

• Their current arrangement was made with Adelphia and is not a service that TWC offers. TWC acquired the contract but does not market dark fiber service, and therefore, is phasing out its support of the product. The old Adelphia contract we were operating under allowed for either party to terminate with 6 months written notice. In December 2010 we provided them with written notice that we would no longer be able to support their current service starting July 1st 2011. This is a seven month notice.
• It is inaccurate to portray this as a price increase – it's a different product that requires a new infrastructure.
• They sent out an RFP asking for pricing for 3 or 5 yr term. We believe we submitted a very competitive bid. In fact, it is our understanding that our bid was among the lowest submitted.
• Over and beyond responding to the RFP requirements, TWC has also suggested several more efficient and cost-effective service options that we feel would meet all of the Board's needs at a lower price point. We continue to see these service options as excellent alternatives to the stated RFP requirements.
• While they verbally awarded us with the contract, they then wanted to change the terms 4 days prior to the scheduled signing. In response to their request, we submitted a revised bid to reflect a one-year term. As is the case with most all telecommunications providers, a short term contract is priced higher than a long-term contract, simply based on the rate of return on investment.
• We sincerely hope to continue our service relationship with the district and remain committed to working with them to find the best TWC product and price point that meets their needs.

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