Windsor businesses to get cable Internet service

AT&T Broadband agrees to town's demand for high-speed access
December 7, 2002

By SAM KENNEDY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

After months of wrangling, AT&T Broadband has agreed to Windsor's demand that it provide cable Internet service to local businesses.

Under an agreement approved by the Windsor Town Council on Tuesday, AT&T promised to start offering its high-speed service to businesses by February.

The move will make Windsor the first municipality in Sonoma County to receive AT&T's business services.

Although the cable company has served businesses throughout much of the Bay Area for years, it has thus far offered its Internet connection only to residential customers in Sonoma County.

Local businesses, meanwhile, have had to choose primarily between DSL and T1 lines, both of which deliver Internet service over copper telephone wires.

With a third high-speed Internet option, Windsor will be more attractive to businesses looking for a new home, according to town officials.

"We saw it as an economic development tool," said Assistant Town Manager Matt Mullan.

The agreement marks the end of a bitter dispute between the town and the cable company. Windsor claimed that AT&T Broadband had promised to offer Internet service to business customers in 1996 when the Town Council approved a franchise agreement that granted the company permission to do business in town. AT&T, however, argued that the agreement required it to serve only residential customers.

"We just felt like they weren't on the up-and-up with us," said Councilwoman Deborah Fudge. "It was frustrating."

Andrew Johnson, AT&T Broadband vice president, said AT&T wasn't ready to handle business customers in Sonoma County, and that the Windsor Town Council had no right to dictate how, when and where his company should do business.

The issue resurfaced last summer as AT&T Broadband was acquired by cable giant Comcast Corp., a $29 billion deal completed last week. The Windsor Town Council refused to extend its franchise agreement to Comcast until the company addressed the town's complaints.

"We got their attention because they wanted something," said Mullan.

Johnson denied that AT&T is offering its business services to Windsor in exchange for the town's approval of the Comcast acquisition. "There was no quid pro quo," he said.

He said AT&T "was acquiescing" to maintain good relations with a business partner. Under the franchise agreement, Windsor collects 5 percent of AT&T's local revenues.

"In the end, we thought it was best to agree that we would accelerate our plans," he said.

Johnson declined to say whether AT&T also would offer business services elsewhere in the county anytime soon.

Whether AT&T could even do so remains unclear. The company revamped Windsor's cable network in the late 1990s. Santa Rosa, by comparison, has an older network with less capacity, much of which city government already uses for its internal communications.

You can reach Staff Writer Sam Kennedy at 521-5312 or skennedy@pressdemocrat.com.