Marblehead will allow cable companies to compete

MARBLEHEAD-Marblehead wants cable companies competing for local customers – and the sooner the better.Selectmen voted unanimously to have the Cable TV Oversight Committee begin licensing negotiations with Verizon Wednesday evening – and the town will seek waivers of federal requirements, allowing them to file an application in 30 days rather than 60, and without advertising for suppliers in a national trade journal.Verizon offers fiber optic cable service and will follow the town’s telephone lines. Town Administrator Tony Sasso asked if Verizon could wire the Marblehead Causeway before the repairs there are repaved this summer.Former Salem Mayor Stan Usovicz, now a Verizon representative, appeared before selectmen with Cable Committee Chair Paul Rabin, who endorsed the idea of competition.The town’s contract with Comcast expires in 2010 and the committee is gearing up to negotiate a new contract. Usovicz said negotiations with Verizon normally take 12 months.Verizon already offers cable services to customers in 61 communities, including Lynn, Lynnfield, Nahant and Swampscott.Selectman William Woodfin asked Usovicz if Verizon offered what cable companies call a la carte selection to their customers, allowing them to choose the channels they would pay for instead of accepting channels in large groups.?I find I watch nine out of 110 channels,” he said.Rabin advised the townspeople to make public comment supporting that kind of offering. Usovicz said that competition could put pressure on cable providers to offer a la carte selection.Selectmen also appointed three members to fill vacant seats on the seven-member cable committee: Wayne Arvidson and Jerry O’Neill, who have career experience in technology, and Ron Olson, a longtime former member of Salem’s cable committee, who negotiated with their provider.