PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend, Forks and Jefferson County cable TV, Internet and phone subscribers might see service upgrades should Wave Broadband’s franchise transfer go through without protests, a company spokeswoman said.
Kirkland-based Wave is currently negotiating to buy St. Louis-based Millennium Digital Media’s franchise holdings serving 45 communities in Washington.
Wave Broadband, which has served Sequim and Port Angeles since July 2003, also would acquire the franchise now serving the Forks area as part of the deal.
“If the sale comes through, we plan to upgrade and interconnect as many Millennium systems as possible,” said Angela Higham, Wave Broadband vice president of marketing.
That could bring the latest advances in high-speed Internet, digital cable TV, high-definition TV, digital video recording and digital phone systems, Higham said.
While franchise transfer approval would be required by the Port Townsend City Council, such an OK would not be necessary with Jefferson County or the city of Forks.
Port Townsend City Attorney John Watts said Millennium users in Port Townsend have until the end of June to object to the Wave Broadband acquisition.
The basis for a protest would have to be that the company could not adequately serve the franchise.
Under the city’s agreement with Millennium, an annual franchise fee of $53,000 is paid to the city to finance operations of Port Townsend cable access channels 47 and 48, PTTV. That is 6 percent of the company’s annual gross revenues.
The city’s franchise with Millennium also assesses an additional fee of 47 cents per customer per month, about $11,000, which also goes toward the PTTV operations.
The existing franchise with the city, which would be transferred to Wave in the sale, runs through 2011, said Watts.
