A fair argument for Comcast in Pitcairn
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I write this in the ardent hope that the Pitcairn Council will see fit to sell the Pitcairn Cable franchise to Comcast. I understand that such a decision would be unpopular and controversial with many in the borough who have grown up with a localized cable franchise, such a rare thing in this day and age. No doubt that Pitcairn has done a fine job of providing traditional cable television service to the residents of the borough for decades. I have lived in Pitcairn for four years, and I have been a Pitcairn cable subscriber for the majority of that time, with few complaints.
Times and technology, however, are changing at breakneck speed like never before in the television and communications industry. Pitcairn has done a commendable job in keeping pace with those technological advances, as evidenced by the recent launch of the cable Internet service. Still, there are many more advances both within our grasp and quickly arriving on the horizon, and a wide variety of services currently offered by other service providers, services that the current incarnation of Pitcairn cable will not easily be able to provide to the residents of the borough.
There are a number of valid reasons as to why Comcast is the best option for the future of Pitcairn cable subscribers, not the least of which is the availability of high definition programming. High definition and digital broadcasting are about to become the industry standard, as you no doubt have learned from endless commercials purporting February 17, 2009 as the day when television "changes forever."
B&B Cable may be eager to upgrade Pitcairn's cable infrastructure to support this technology, but this will also, in all likelihood, lead to a drastic increase in everyone's cable bill. Opponents of Comcast that I have spoken to almost universally mention a bill increase as the primary reason why they don't want Comcast in Pitcairn. I humbly suggest that such increases will be completely unavoidable if the technology in Pitcairn is to evolve and keep up with the times, regardless of who gains control of the franchise.
That said, isn't it preferable to allow a larger company, one which no doubt already has in place much of the infrastructure necessary for this upgrade, to handle the job? Comcast already services Monroeville and other surrounding areas; linking Pitcairn's network, as it were, to Comcast's nearby services, I would imagine, would be much less difficult than upgrading Pitcairn's stand-alone equipment and infrastructure. Plus, there's not even a guarantee that B&B Cable will upgrade the system at all, leaving the good residents of Pitcairn in the digital dust.
That leads to another weighty concern: B&B Cable, according to an article published in the June 26th Times Express, will "keep (Pitcairn Cable) in its current form." Here we have an opportunity to greatly expand the entertainment options and services available to Pitcairn residents, and yet we are considering an action which will maintain the status quo -- a palatable option to some, but one many of us would soon come to regret.
Even if you have no desire to ever own a high definition television, understand that when the analog signals for local networks such as KDKA, WTAE, WPXI, etc. go dead on February 17, 2009, Pitcairn Cable, using its current equipment, will no longer be able to transmit any signal for those networks. This means that whoever controls the franchise at that time will be forced to upgrade equipment -- at a great expense -- simply to maintain the status quo and keep those channels available on our system. That, no doubt, means that your bill will go up, and yet you'll likely see nothing new or different on your TV screen.
And what of those of us who would like something new? I can't possibly be the only borough resident who is unsatisfied with the considerably slim offerings of Pitcairn Cable in its current incarnation. True, the borough has added several new channels over the past few years, an action worthy of commendation. But there is still so much that can be offered... popular channels such as the NFL Network, MSNBC, BBC America, Encore, The Movie Channel, Cinemax, GSN, IFC and countless others are unavailable to Pitcairn Cable customers. Comcast offers all of the above and more.
If I want pay-per-view, and I am a Pitcairn Cable subscriber, I am out of luck. If I want video on demand, and I am a Pitcairn Cable subscriber, I am out of luck. If I want a DVR, I'm forced to buy a TiVO, something not all of us can afford to do. Renting a DVR receiver is not an option with Pitcairn Cable. I would very much like to be able to enjoy all of the above without having to install an unreliable satellite dish -- something I did briefly as a Dish Network customer two years ago. Their service was so dreadful, I canceled and went back to Pitcairn Cable. The people of Pitcairn deserve plentiful choice, and frankly, they cannot get that with Pitcairn Cable in its current form. And B&B Cable's promise to maintain the franchise as-is gives me no hope for any meaningful future improvement.
Comcast, the monstrous conglomerate out of Philadelphia, seemingly would not mesh well with Pitcairn's small town, working class atmosphere and ethics... but understand that B&B Cable is no knight in shining armor either. I did not set out to dig up any dirt on B&B Cable, I merely did a Google search for the company name to try to learn what I could about them. I was hoping to learn about just what B&B Cable could stand to offer our town. I found no website for the company and nothing positive about what they do. What I did find was a story from wavy.com, the website for WAVY 10 News out of Norfolk, VA, which can be found here: http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=7982136
It details the recent conviction of the principal of the company, Mr. Raymond Buttery, on charges of employing illegal immigrants as laborers in their company. I seriously question whether or not the people of Pitcairn want to do business with a company which has so recently skirted and flaunted the laws of this country. Comcast may not be a small "mom-and-pop" style company, they no doubt have their flaws and get their fair share of bad press, but this shouldn't be about "good guys" vs. "bad guys." This should be about which company can provide the best and most efficient service to the people of Pitcairn, and who can best prepare us to welcome the technological advances of the future.
I should end this by stating that I am in no way, shape or form affiliated with Comcast Cable, or any company or person who has anything to do with Comcast. I live on Second Street in Pitcairn, and I stand to gain nothing if Comcast purchases Pitcairn Cable. Nothing, that is, except for the variety in service I have desired ever since I moved here. I hope the council makes a sound, logical decision on Monday night.
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Before the borough decides to sell the cable system in Pitcairn, they should look at the advantages and disadvantages of owning their own cable. Don't the profits from the cable help keep the taxes down? If they sell the cable and get some immediate revenue, what happens when that money is all spent? What will be the next step? Raise taxes...and pay much higher cable rates. And what happens to the great service provided by Pitcairn employees? If you have a problem, you usually get a response within hours, not days. Will the current internet service go to someone else too? It has been a pleasant surprise and better than the DSL I had from Verizon. I feel that 70 channels for the rate we pay is a bargain. All the so called specials available from the major cable providers aren't all they're cracked up to be. And the issues about Hi Def and On Demand can be provided I'm sure if the citizens really want them. But most of the people I talk to are happy with things the way they are. Also, the info about about Pitcairn not being able to transmit signals after Feb 2009 is incorrect. The only people who will lose their signals are the people who still use rabbit ears on their TV's. If you now get programs on cable TV, nothing will change in 2009. As far as Comcast is concerned, read about their service problems at this website run by Consumer Affairs.com http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cable_tv/comcast_cable.html Ask some of your Comcast neighbors their opinions and see if thats the direction Pitcairn should take. And ask the officials again, what ARE you planning to do with money from the sale and what happens AFTER the money is gone?
The clear problem with Pitcairn Cable is that there is no other choice for cable service unless you want Direct TV or Dish Network. I spoke with a Verizon service tech that was installing DSL into my neighbors house the other day and I asked him when Verizon FIOS was coming to Pitcairn. His exact answer was "NEVER" because Pitcairn Borough will not let Verizon use the poles to put in the much needed and better service. If Verizon were to put in these lines, Pitcairn Cable as we know it would cease to exist (not that that is a bad thing). I was advised by a Pitcairn Council member that the reason Verizon can't get in is because of Rollo. That's believable. But the real reason is that Pitcairn never inventoried thier utility poles to figure out which ones belong to Pitcairn and which ones belong to Duquesne Light. Verizon does not own any poles and therefor would have to "lease" the poles from Pitcairn.
What it comes down to is that Pitcairn Borough monopolizes the entertainment of the Pitcairn residents as far as television is concerned. I have Pitcairn Cable for internet access and I have to say that it's pretty good, but what do I do when I want the latest technology? I only use Pitcairn Cable for the interent and order it without tv programming. I use Dish Network for that.
Every other resident that lives in a surrounding community has the ability to choose ComCast Cable, which also provides phone service, they can also get Verizon that offers TV programming, cell phones, home phones and internet all in one bundle, at a cost savings. We Pitcairn residents cannot enjoy this luxury because Pitcairn wants the money for it but won't provide the things that other companies provide but say that there are upgrades to the cable. Adding more channels is not upgrading. Adding Fiberoptics, pay per view, on demand, DVR and HD would be upgrading. The Borough need to quit bamboozling us and make better options available to us, and quit using the excuses that people on fixed incomes won't be able to afford ComCast or Verizon. As far as I'm concerned, that's not an issue that government needs to worry about. They need to worry about the drug and violence problem, the public safety problem, the bumpy roads like Wall Ave from St Michael's to Sugar Camp or the entire length of Broadway. If people want to watch anything beyond basic cable, they will pay for it. In all actuality, it's entertainment, and the Boro should not be in the entertainment industry.
People need to quit living in the past. Pitcairn Cable has stopped turning a profit, we have crap for choice in what to watch, we have no HD or DVR or VOD or anything that the young people moving into this town want. I don't really care about property taxes, and since most everyone I know in Pitcairn rents, if they raise property taxes we'll just get our rent raised to pay for it, so who cares? It's inevitable anyway, the least we can get is some decent TV service. Sell it and spend the money to keep Center Ave from collapsing into Wall Ave!
I don't care that one of the companies hired illegal aliens, I just want something more than the garbage we have to settle for, and I don't want to have to get a satellite dish. Some of us aren't allowed to have Directv! Everyone should get a say and not just the old people who have nothing better to do than show up at council meetings on Monday nights!!
From the looks of the full page ad council took out in Thursday's Times Express, it seem they need to sell the cable to pay for the "super park" they want to build off Broadway. A park with a new pavilion, a gazebo, a skateboard area, a basketball court and boardwalk over the creek plus who knows what else? They tell us the town has a shrinking population so do we really need a new park? Down in that area? They would probably have to purchase additional land to construct it too. Pitcairn already has a nice facility at Sugar Camp which according to the borough is still available for weekend rentals. Do we need another park to sit empty and be vandalized? Monroeville has just completed their beautiful new municipal park and it is everything one needs and only a stones throw from Pitcairn. Why duplicate what Monroeville spent big money on when a lot of Pitcairn residents already use their site. It seems that council doesn't have the funding in order to build their 'field of dreams', so rather than raise taxes or obtain grants or just admit it is a waste of money, they decided to take the easy way out and sell one of Pitcairns' assets, the cable system. After the last meeting, somebody finally realized Pitcairn wasn't getting what the system is actually worth, so they decided to re-bid it. They have a wish list of other projects too we haven't be told about yet. (remember the word transparency?) What happens when the wish list keeps growing and the money runs out (which it will), what will they do next? Sell the electric too? Wait till Comcast gets into your wallet every month for $60-$100++...ask your friends in Monroeville what they pay. Soon you'll be sitting in a new gazebo, reading the grafitti and wishing somebody had done the right thing.
I hope you are joking. I mean if you take a good look around, the town needs more than a park. That's like splashing Brute Cologne on a horse's ass. It's still gonna be a horses ass. The roads are crumbling, the houses are falling the store fronts on Broadway are filthy but hey, we have a new park? Who is going to use it? The transients who don't pay for anything. The seniors will never go over because they might never make it back. They need to be stopped before Pitcairn is swallowed up by its own stupidity. It's like the idiot Governor trying to sell the Turnpike for a couple of frogs now and ignoring what it will bring in for the future.
This writer should pull their head out of that horse's ass, and attend a council meeting, or read the numerous newspaper articles highlighting council's proposed programs for the revitalization of our community, before making these negative comments. The park in question is not a "New" park, rather a renovation of the exsisting sports complex, converting the entire area into a "Community Center" for all of our residents to enjoy. This project is part of the revitalization of the entire Business District, which will include a facelift to our existing buildings, and includes additional off street parking. both of which are essential if Pitcairn wants to attract new businesses and development. Council, like this individual is aware of the deterioration of our infrastructure, and is taking the appropriate steps to address these problems as well as the funding to correct them. The existing issues that plague our community didn't happen over night, nor can they be corrected overnight. With the completion of the Comprehensive Plan, council will be able to apply for the appropriate funding to pay for these projects. If Pitcairn is fortunate enough to get accepted into the numerous government sponsored programs they have applied to, we'll be able to address the rehabilitation of the Business District, aiding in a residential facelift, and repair our streets and alleys. This council has been the most transparent and proactive governing body Pitcairn has had in years. We have begun to lay a solid foundation to repair the physical and social decay of our community, and have solicited the help and support of the community to help in this effort. Perhaps this individual should join in the cause.
Why is it so bad for this town to provide a "state of the art" park to it's residents? Sure, Monroeville has a beautiful park system in place. But it was built for the residents of Monroeville. A sale of the cable system could provide this park, it could be a community asset. Lets face it, Sugar Camp it severly outdated and need to be modernized. It's also too far away from parts of town that people who don't drive and they shouldn't have to walk more than a mile to get to. Believe it or not, but the creek is an approved trout water by the State. I know I used to fish that creek when I was a kid. If we can get people interested in the creek again, people will fish it again. Another community asset if you ask me.
It's up to ALL of us as citizens of this town to police our town, if you see some kids at the park defacing it, littering, or just plainly being "bad" so to speak, say something to them. If that doesn't work call the police. If we keep enough "law abiding citizens" at the park, the riff raff won't be inclined to be there. It won't be worth thier trouble.
Oh, by the way SELL SELL SELL the cable system! Pitcairn should not be in the entertainment business as I said before.