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Home > Press Room Archives > 2005 > Press Release
Press Release
Angelenos
Demand a Fair Deal from Bankrupt Adelphia Cable
Coalition Calls
For Payment of Millions In Unpaid Back Fees and Creation of
Innovative Trust Fund To Promote Technology Transfer
June 21, 2005, Media Contact: Jennette Gayer,
(213) 251-3680 x 333
Los Angeles — June 21 2005 — As a result of
their bankruptcy, Adelphia Cable submitted a
proposal on Monday to transfer its nationwide
franchises to Time Warner and Comcast. A broad
coalition of Los Angeles civil rights,
community, consumer, technology and union groups
is demanding that the city get a “fair deal,”
including recovery of millions of dollars in
unpaid cable fees owed to the city and the
establishment of a new “Neighborhood Technology
Trust Fund” as a condition of any transfer.
“The
city is entitled to the $10 million or more in
fees Adelphia has wrongfully withheld, harming
our city and our neighborhoods,” said AEAT
member Micheline Wilcoxen, Interim Director of
the Community Technology Organizing Consortium (CTOC).
“To undo this damage, the city must ensure that
a condition of the transfer be the endowment of
a Neighborhood Technology Trust Fund, which will
fund groups promoting more technology access and
innovation throughout the city.”
AEAT
is insisting that the city refuse any proposal
that does take responsibility for the current
and obligations of Adelphia, and include strong
protections for the rights of both workers and
consumers. The Board of Information Technology
Commissioners of Los Angeles has recently
released a Bill of Consumer Rights which
includes suggestions on cable installations,
customer service, technology access, and rates
for low-income citizens. AEAT is working with
the City Government to ensure that any new cable
provider adheres to these standards.
According to T Santora of CWA Local 9000, “Those
who work for cable operators, like all employees
in Los Angeles, deserve a fair and healthy
working environment, which includes a living
wage, diverse workplace, benefits for families,
and a right to collectively negotiate their work
contracts”.
“AEAT
is urging the City Council, where negotiations
are being led by Councilmember Jack Weiss, to
ensure that all cable agreements, from this
Adelphia transfer to the franchise renewals, are
forward-looking agreements that give the city
and its residents a 21st Century media system
that serves our needs, now and tomorrow,”
concluded Jennette Gayer, consumer advocate for
the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG).
“And we certainly expect that at a minimum, the
consumers and community groups of Los Angeles
will reclaim what they have been denied for many
years by the shoddy service and community
neglect of Adelphia.”
Furthermore, an agreement filed with the FCC has
given Time Warner exclusive rights to nearly the
entire city of Los Angeles, leaving consumers
little option. “Time Warner and Comcast will be
swapping systems, effectively creating
“clusters” all around the nation and eliminating
the possibility of competition by other cable
systems,” said Alex Nogales, President and CEO
of the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC).
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AEAT is a
coalition of the following groups: CALPIRG,
American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists, CodePink, Assistive Technology Project,
NALIP, CWA 9000, SAJE, CTOC, NHMC, Community
Coalition, Little Tokyo Service Center,
Michillinda Park Homeowners Association,
Nosotros, Annenberg School, UCLA Law, NABET-CWA
Local 53, UCLA Center for Health Policy
Research, East-West Players, CWA Southern CA
council, Grand Coalition – AIFTV – NAIMC. For
more information, see
http://www.calpirg.org/cable
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