It seems like every year the senior management of Easton Utilities must prepare themselves to once again explain to the Town of Easton (their boss) and their customers why there will be another increase in their monthly cable fees. And like almost everything else in the world of the cable business and new technology, that answer is not the easiest question to understand.
If Easton Utilities was driven by profit or seeking an aggressive return on investment that question would be easy to answer, but that simply is not the case for this unique municipality-owned utility company. In fact, according to Ted Book, who headed up EU’s cable and internet programs, Easton Utilities has not increased base cable rates, i.e., the cost of physically providing the service through satellite dishes, cable, and maintenance for close to twenty years.
That is just one of the interesting facts that come out of the Spy’s recent interview with Ted about the cable industry’s alarming rate increases and the impact it has on small providers like Easton Utilities and their customers.
Ted’s point of view is particularly helpful given the remarkable fact that he has witnessed the almost entire history of the company’s involvement in cable and internet services. His perspective is quite useful as he discusses cable’s current chaotic marketplace as “cord-cutters” increasingly turn to internet streaming services for television networks which profoundly impacts cable’s core business model and the direct result of broadcasters demanding more money to carry their signals.
This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Easton Utilities please go here
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