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Call to Sign Petition to Deny Openband Franchise
- Rating:
5 after 3 votes
Residents of Lansdowne:
At the end of this post is the text of a petition that we are seeking residents of Lansdowne to sign. If you are interested in signing this petition, please email:
freedom2choose35@yahoo.com
Someone will get back to you and arrange to come and get your signature. Although we already have hundreds of signatures, we feel it important to get every resident's signature who agrees that Openband's franchise should be denied. We expect to need to provide this petition to the board of supervisors in the coming weeks.
Please spread the word to other Lansdowne residents who may not see this message.
I would be happy to answer any questions there may be regarding this petition.
The Petition Text:
Residents of Lansdowne on the Potomac
Scott K. York, Chairman at Large - Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
1 Harrison Street, S.E., Fifth Floor
P.O. Box 7000, Mail Stop #01
Leesburg, Virginia 20177-7000
Dear Chairman York:
For many years now, homeowners of Lansdowne on the Potomac have received
video services from Openband as part of their mandatory multiservice
offering. During this time, significant issues with these services have
been identified; but they have rarely been corrected to industry
accepted service levels. These issues include, but are not limited to:
• Lack of HD channel lineup offerings when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
• Continuous issues with video/audio quality (e.g., video pixilation and audio/video synch issues)
• Long delays in trouble ticket resolution
• Frequent video outages within entire or large portions of Openband’s network
• Public Access, Governmental and Educational channels that often are
not viewable, lack audio, and/or have snowy/grainy picture quality
• Significantly archaic video technology when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
• Set top boxes that are legacy technology from nearly a decade ago
• Erratic and unstable firmware updates to set top boxes during normal viewing hours
• Limited Video on Demand Library and basic program offerings when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
In addition to these issues, it has come to our attention that Openband
has been operating for at least 12 months without a required franchise
agreement. Based on the terms of their expired agreement, Openband
neglected to notify the County, in June of 2008, with their intent to
renew their franchise agreement; which is required by Loudoun County
Ordinance 805 and 809.
It should also be considered that our developer entered our community
into these mandatory contracts with Openband. To that point, these
contracts span 65 to 75 years. Furthermore, this contract term was not
disclosed to homeowners upon time of settlement. We are also being
charged rates that when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios are not
competitive. Openband is not required to compete for new subscribers nor
are they concerned about customer retention.
Openband has shown no regard for the quality of their services or the
concerns of their customers. Now Openband is not adhering to Loudoun
County ordinances. Therefore, we the undersigned residents of Lansdowne
on the Potomac strongly urge the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to
deny Openband Multimedia, LLC a franchise agreement to operate video
services within Loudoun County.
A vote to deny is to no longer allow this monopoly to exist. A vote to
approve will allow this burden on your constituents to continue.
Sincerely,
The undersigned residents of Lansdowne on the Potomac.
Cc:
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
Loudoun County Cable and OVS Commission
Lansdowne on the Potomac Board of Directors
At the end of this post is the text of a petition that we are seeking residents of Lansdowne to sign. If you are interested in signing this petition, please email:
freedom2choose35@yahoo.com
Someone will get back to you and arrange to come and get your signature. Although we already have hundreds of signatures, we feel it important to get every resident's signature who agrees that Openband's franchise should be denied. We expect to need to provide this petition to the board of supervisors in the coming weeks.
Please spread the word to other Lansdowne residents who may not see this message.
I would be happy to answer any questions there may be regarding this petition.
The Petition Text:
Residents of Lansdowne on the Potomac
Scott K. York, Chairman at Large - Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
1 Harrison Street, S.E., Fifth Floor
P.O. Box 7000, Mail Stop #01
Leesburg, Virginia 20177-7000
Dear Chairman York:
For many years now, homeowners of Lansdowne on the Potomac have received
video services from Openband as part of their mandatory multiservice
offering. During this time, significant issues with these services have
been identified; but they have rarely been corrected to industry
accepted service levels. These issues include, but are not limited to:
• Lack of HD channel lineup offerings when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
• Continuous issues with video/audio quality (e.g., video pixilation and audio/video synch issues)
• Long delays in trouble ticket resolution
• Frequent video outages within entire or large portions of Openband’s network
• Public Access, Governmental and Educational channels that often are
not viewable, lack audio, and/or have snowy/grainy picture quality
• Significantly archaic video technology when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
• Set top boxes that are legacy technology from nearly a decade ago
• Erratic and unstable firmware updates to set top boxes during normal viewing hours
• Limited Video on Demand Library and basic program offerings when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios
In addition to these issues, it has come to our attention that Openband
has been operating for at least 12 months without a required franchise
agreement. Based on the terms of their expired agreement, Openband
neglected to notify the County, in June of 2008, with their intent to
renew their franchise agreement; which is required by Loudoun County
Ordinance 805 and 809.
It should also be considered that our developer entered our community
into these mandatory contracts with Openband. To that point, these
contracts span 65 to 75 years. Furthermore, this contract term was not
disclosed to homeowners upon time of settlement. We are also being
charged rates that when compared to Comcast/Verizon Fios are not
competitive. Openband is not required to compete for new subscribers nor
are they concerned about customer retention.
Openband has shown no regard for the quality of their services or the
concerns of their customers. Now Openband is not adhering to Loudoun
County ordinances. Therefore, we the undersigned residents of Lansdowne
on the Potomac strongly urge the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to
deny Openband Multimedia, LLC a franchise agreement to operate video
services within Loudoun County.
A vote to deny is to no longer allow this monopoly to exist. A vote to
approve will allow this burden on your constituents to continue.
Sincerely,
The undersigned residents of Lansdowne on the Potomac.
Cc:
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors
Loudoun County Cable and OVS Commission
Lansdowne on the Potomac Board of Directors
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by johnf on
-
To be clear, we are only asking for one signature per home. We are going to homes to insure that we have bonafide Lansdowne residents. The hundreds of signatures referenced represents hundreds of verified Lansdowne homes.
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Lori,
Could you please send an email to freedom2choose35@yahoo.com so that we can get your physical signature?
Thank you!
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Donovan on -
There has been a very positive response on the petition. Several hundred residents have signed the petition requesting the County to deny a franchise to OpenBand. If there are more residents who are interested in signing the petition before the final copy is delivered to the County then please email your interest and contact information to
freedom2choose35@yahoo.com
Someone will respond and coordinate a time to get your signature added.
Share the word and information with your friends and families. The more signatures gathered the stronger we become.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Donovan on
-
During the LOTP Special Meeting held on Oct. 11, John Whitbeck stated several times that he would be interested in knowing how many of the home owners would be willing to pay an assessment to fund the cost of legal fees to fight the OpenBand contract. John even asked the residents that attended the meeting. All residents raised their hands in favor of paying an assessment. John asked us if we are still willing even if the legal cost were to reach $100K or $200K. All residents still raised their hands.
I don’t know how John Whitbeck expects to get the answer to his questions when the Board will not send out a survey to the community or assemble a committee to gather the information. Perhaps the Board expects the residents to take action on surveying each other. So let it start here. Think about this, we have a community of 2155 homes in LOTP. This would mean that if each home paid $100 the HOA would have over $200K to put towards legal fees. I think it is worth the investment. I have been told that one resident proposed asking the community if they would be willing to pay 1 additional month of HOA dues to fight OpenBand. That would equate to almost $600K. That amount of money could go a long way towards paying legal fees. Any money that was not spent on legal fees could either be returned to home owners or used to pay off the loan for the pool repairs. This sounds like a good plan/proposal. I wonder why our Board chose not to accept the proposal. And if our Board had been reasonable to Southern Walk, the two communities would have a greater amount for handling legal fees but more likely cost would be much less because the two communities would split the expense.
If you are in favor of paying a reasonable assessment to fight OpenBand then email John Whitbeck and the rest of the LOTP Board to let them know. Send your email TODAY and spread the word to your friends and neighbors.
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