Gadsden council to hear request to transfer cable tv franchise

The Gadsden city council is expected to learn Tuesday about possible changes in cable services for the city if federal regulators approve Comcast Corp.’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable.

City Attorney Lee Roberts said the council will meet with representatives of Comcast during its work session at 10 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the transfer of the city’s cable franchise to GreatLand Connections Inc.

Roberts said as part of the $45 billion purchase of Time Warner, Comcast plans to divest its ownership of certain cable systems, including the Gadsden area, to gain approval of the transaction from federal antitrust regulators.

He said the plan outlined by Comcast will be to spin off cable systems to GreatLand Connections, a new company.

GreatLand Connections will be a publicly traded company that will provide all services to the Gadsden area and to about 2.5 million Comcast customers in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Roberts said Comcast shareholders, but not Comcast itself, will own about two-thirds of GreatLand Connections and Charter Communications Inc. will own about one-third of the company and provide cable and other services.

Federal approval could come sometime next year.

The resolution would allow Comcast to transfer the franchise to the new company.

The council in 2006 approved extending the non-exclusive cable franchise to Comcast for 15 years, until 2021.

Comcast has been in Gadsden since 1986.