Chapel Hill Technology Advisory Committee

[Terri Buckner <tbuckner AT ibiblio.org>]

Cleveland threatens to seize Adelphia fiber

From Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 11, 2005
By Thomas Ott

Cleveland Heights — The city has threatened to seize miles of 
fiber-optic cable so it can provide wireless Internet service.

The network, which belongs to the Adelphia cable television company, 
links all City Hall, schools and all other public buildings in Cleveland 
Heights, keeping them in contact through high-speed telephone, data and 
video connections. Adelphia built the system as a condition of its 
municipal franchise agreement.

Adding transmitters would let laptop-computer owners jump onto the 
Internet in any area near the public buildings.

The city has decided to explore the project, Law Director John Gibbon 
said. Officials have not determined how many transmitters to use, who 
would operate the system and whether to charge users a fee.

“It depends a lot on cost,” Gibbon said. “I think it’s premature to say 
what this would eventually look like.”

If Cleveland Heights gets access to Adelphia’s cable, the city would 
save money on installation, leapfrog to the front of the Wi-Fi movement 
and bolster the aging suburb’s appeal to young professionals.

“In the big picture, it’s one more reason to live in Cleveland Heights,” 
city Planning Director Richard Wong said.

Gibbon said Cleveland Heights would be content to lease or tie into the 
network but threatened to go to court under its powers of eminent domain 
because Adelphia has not turned over information on the network.

City Council delayed action Tuesday, at Adelphia’s request. Adelphia 
spokeswoman Lee C. Shapiro said the company is negotiating with the 
city, but she declined to say more.

Telecommunications companies have protested the creation of municipal 
wireless systems, and some states have outlawed them. Ohio legislators 
have discussed a ban, said Gibbon, who oversees a telecommunications 
section at the law firm of Walter & Haverfield.

Cox Communications, which supplies cable television to 10 cities in 
western Cuyahoga County, has talked with several of the cities about 
adding wireless Internet service, spokeswoman Christy Frederick said. 
She would not name the cities.

Cleveland officials want to set up wireless Internet service for city 
workers with the help of the nonprofit group OneCleveland. OneCleveland 
seeks to provide high-speed, ultra-broadband Internet access to public 
and other nonprofit agencies in Northeast Ohio.