A Quarter of Philly Loathes Comcast

Just how much does Philadelphia dislike Comcast? Turns out that one quarter of all citizens are unhappy with the cable-services giant, according to the results of a sweeping report constructed by City Hall. The results come during the city’s discussion of a 15-year franchise agreement with Comcast that’s due to be renewed this year. The results show a low customer satisfaction rate as compared with numbers from other markets, and it’s hard for city officials not to take notice. In delivering the results, Mayor Michael Nutter called the numbers “not satisfactory to [him] or city government.” City Council says it will hold its own hearings on the topic, held jointly by its Committee on Public Property & Public Works and Committee on Technology and Information Services.

Mayor Nutter addresses the press during a conference held yesterday on the results of the Comcast survey. Photo: phillymag.com

The official report, all 571 pages of it, was revealed during a press conference at noon yesterday. Nutter and city officials were criticized for releasing the results to Comcast before they were released to the public, but the city claims the only difference in the report was the redaction of private customer data.

The franchise agreement up for grabs will give Comcast the right to install its equipment and utilize the city’s rights of way to deliver cable and internet services to Philadelphia customers. Critics say that Comcast has a near-stranglehold on Philadelphia’s market and decry the monopoly.

Activists are attempting to take advantage of the moment by compelling Comcast to expand their service offerings to the poor and to increase its tax payments to the city in order to better fund the (always struggling) public school system.

A Quarter of Philly Loathes Comcast

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