AUBURN – Municipal leaders say they’ll back a $17.6 billion Time Warner buyout of Adelphia Cable, provided local cable TV service improves.
Auburn’s leaders passed a resolution Monday night that puts several conditions on their approval of the buyout.
City Manager Pat Finnigan said it’s something that should be repeated in 60 other Maine municipalities over the next few weeks. Auburn led a consortium of Maine towns and cities in a review of the deal this summer.
The Lewiston City Council is scheduled to vote on a similar resolution tonight.
Finnigan said she was disappointed in Time Warner’s response to the consortium. The company wasn’t willing to negotiate an agreement with the Maine municipalities, she said.
“They told us that their performance in Maine speaks for itself,” Finnigan said.
The cities had no choice but to pass the resolution, tempered with a handful of provisions.
According to the resolution, Time Warner must abide by the current franchise agreement between each town and Adelphia. That includes paying franchise fees and fixing any ongoing problems customers have with their cable service.
They also require Time Warner to meet with them within 90 days of closing to talk about expansion plans. They require them to expand their service significantly within three years and include all but the least dense portions of the city within 10 years.
Above all, they require Time Warner to offer services on par with those available in Portland.
“We really felt it would have been best to negotiate an agreement and an understanding that was mutually beneficial,” said Pat Scully, attorney for the city of Auburn and the consortium. “But once they showed their unwillingness, we didn’t have any resort but to include conditions on our approval.”
Adelphia has been in bankruptcy for two years. Time Warner announced its intention to purchase and take over Adelphia’s service in April.
Time Warner will take over Adelphia’s properties after June 2006, if the deal goes through.
Adelphia, the fifth-largest cable television provider in the country, serves about 200 communities in Maine. Most communities have clauses in their franchise agreements giving them a say in any sale.
Time Warner representatives could not be reached for comment Monday.
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