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San Jose residents may have more options when it comes to the type of television broadcast service to which they subscribe if SBC can work out a deal with the city. The telephone company is attempting to break into the television market by providing both phone and cable services to its subscribers through a broadband connection service.
SBC Project Lightspeed will provide digital television using the same technology as the web. Called Internet protocol television, the service will allow for more viewing options, including more channels and movies on demand.
"It provides potential for additional services and competition with Comcast and Dish," said Ed Shikada, deputy city manager.
The city and SBC are trying to figure out how to bring SBC Project Lightspeed to San Jose, but overlapping jurisdictions between state and local laws could slow the deal down, Shikada said.
Shikada called franchise fees the biggest hurdle. "From a regulation standpoint, that's where it gets complicated--cable television is regulated under city law, and phone is regulated at the state level," he said.
Since SBC is proposing to offer both phone and television, Shikada said, working out what regulations the company should fall under is difficult.
Local competitor Comcast pays the city 5 percent of its subscriber revenue, which goes into the city's general fund. The same may not be true for SBC and its phone service because phone service is regulated at the state level, and SBC wants to keep it that way for its television service as well, Shikada said.
The city wants to strike a deal similar to the one it has with Comcast, Shikada said. SBC, which currently has phone services in 1,900 cities nationwide, is not thrilled about the idea of negotiating 1,900 different contracts when company officials begin offering television services to all those locations, he added.
For residents, the biggest concern about the deal may come over the proposed installation of 800 cabinets on private and public right-of-way property throughout the city, as well as construction on San Jose's streets in order to install the necessary infrastructure to allow for a TV signal.
The 800 cabinets would be 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep.
"The look of the cabinet is not welcomed in neighborhoods," said Timm Borden, public works deputy director. "People like the options of the new services, but no one likes the idea of the cabinets. So we are trying to come up with a standard as to how they are disguised or hidden, so they are not a visual nuisance."
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