Rockville continues to wait for Verizon

City government leaders said on Thursday they’re pleased Verizon finally is entering the cable market in Montgomery County. But under the county’s proposed 15-year franchise agreement, it will be at least three years before the first of Rockville’s nearly 53,000 residents start reaping benefits of the deal. And one of the city’s major neighborhoods isn’t scheduled to join the network for more than five years.

These concerns were voiced by Rockville Council Member Susan Hoffman, on behalf of the city’s mayor, during a public hearing on the issue of cable service.

Hoffman emphasized repeatedly that the hope is for Verizon to move up the time frame for all Rockville homes to receive cable service to within two years of the start of the franchise.

From the looks of maps provided by the cable company, the King Farm neighborhood off of Route 355 won’t be getting service until after the rest of Rockville, according to Hoffman.

“They’re saying it’s served by the Gaithersburg equipment center, and that’s not acceptable,” she said. “It’s in Rockville, so it needs to be treated the same.”

Verizon’s response is that city leaders can “largely control their own destiny” by approving the necessary construction permits to allow the company to upgrade its all-fiber-optic network in the city — a step not yet taken.

Spokesman Harry Mitchell also said that in cases such as Rockville’s, not all areas of a city can get cable access at the same time because of the way cable service borders are drawn.

“We upgrade our network to fiber optics on a central office-by-office basis,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Examiner. “These central offices do not synch up with municipal boundaries, as many of the offices were built before some municipalities existed.”

The hoopla over cable coverage escalated earlier this year when Verizon sued Montgomery County, alleging it was denied access to county customers while Comcast dominated in the market. A judge ordered the county and Verizon to negotiate their differences, the result being the current proposal.

Mitchell has said the plan is to phase in countywide customers gradually, with Rockville scheduled for the second phase.

Another problem Rockville officials is pointing to is Verizon’s reluctance to offer service to apartment and condominium buildings.

Douglas Breisch, television and telecommunications manager for Rockville, said he has been told that’s for technical reasons.

That’s true, said Mitchell, explaining that multi-dwelling units such as high-rise apartments and condos pose technical challenges that Verizon is “working through.”

“As we work through those challenges, we will serve those buildings,” he wrote.