Lack of Cable Service, Answers Has Glenwood Homeowner Frustrated With Provider, City

When Chris Clayton of Glenwood moved with his family about 100 yards from their home on the 100 block of Glenbrook Dr. to their new residence on the 300 block of Valley Street, the thought of losing Mediacom cable television and high-speed Internet service never crossed his mind.

“Mediacom has had Glenwood’s cable franchise agreement for years so I assumed they’re required to provide service to everyone in the city,” Clayton said. “This subdivision has been here since basically 2005, but from Mediacom’s point of view, this address does not exist. The subdivision is shut out for some reason.”

Clayton pointed out that on a section of Birch Street behind his home, the people who live on the east side of the road can get Mediacom services, including high-speed Broadband Internet, but those on the west side cannot. He has researched the matter and learned cable service is unavailable not only to a pocket of homes in his neighborhood, but also in the Hickory Ridge subdivision.

The situation is annoying and frustrating for Clayton because he wants Mediacom services for both television viewing and Internet service. He said Mediacom is the only Internet provider in the area that can provide the service that meets the Federal Communications Commission’s definition of high-speed Broadband.

“On that side of the (Birch) street, you can get high-speed Internet access and cable services. On this side of the street, you cannot,” he said. “It’s frustrating when now I’m paying more for Internet service from a local provider that’s three times slower.”

Clayton and his wife have two teenagers who take up Internet space and he often works from home for his job as an editor for DTN – The Progressive Farmer. He’s not interested in getting a satellite dish so he has to stream the Internet for television service, which is frustrating and unreliable.

“I tried to watch a football game a few weeks ago, but the Internet kept stalling out. It’s just annoying,” Clayton said. “My only other option is an antenna. What is this, 1976?”

What’s compounded Clayton’s frustration is that he hasn’t been able to reach anyone from Mediacom who can explain to him why the service isn’t available. The closest customer service office is in Red Oak, but when he’s called that office he’s been automatically transferred to Mediacom’s national call center, where customer service representatives can’t answer his questions because he doesn’t have an account with the company.

Clayton said he’s heard, “I’m sorry, sir, but your address is not on our service list” more than once.

He’s even written a letter to Mediacom to explain his situation and  last summer came to City Hall to express his concern and frustration to the Glenwood City Council. He said he’s received no follow-up from Mediacom or the city.

“I would like the city to inform Mediacom and say, ‘Hey, these places need to be served. Meet your obligations,” he said. “Otherwise, they ought to open it up and get some competition in here. Maybe we should call Cox. I understand Cox is trying to go to Plattsmouth with 300Mpbs service.”

City Administrator Angie Winquist said there have been discussions with Mediacom concerning city residents who don’t have access to cable services, but she’s unclear where the situation presently stands.

Phyllis Peters, senior director of communications for Mediacom, said the company’s local operations manager and director met with members of the Mills County Economic Foundation in September to discuss the importance of communications services in the Glenwood area. As a result of the meeting, Peters said steps are being taken to connect the Hickory Ridge subdivision to Mediacom services.

“Budgeting for network construction and materials has been approved and the project is listed as a definite for early 2019,” Peters said. “If the weather is good yet this year, work will be started and things might progress ahead of schedule.”

Unfortunately for Clayton, the homes in his neighborhood without cable were not part of the discussion, but Peters said Mediacom is now looking into the unserved addresses on his street.

“The address on Valley Street was not included in the same project assessment as the Hickory Ridge area, but I’m told that an assessment for extending services to homes along that street is now underway,” Peters said. “I want to be clear, it has not reached the same level of approval as the Hickory Ridge area, but it is getting a thorough review.”

In regard to the city’s franchise agreement with Mediacom, Peters said a change in state law in 2007 had a major impact on the franchising process for telecommunications providers. The legislative action resulted in Mediacom’s franchise agreements becoming state-issued authority instead of municipally-based, taking some power and oversight away from local cities like Glenwood.

“So the state law changed the franchise authority and process that had previously given city officials some say in kinds of requirements and provisions Mediacom had to follow,” Peters said. “But overall, we still do business in a similar way and cities still collect franchise fees on the video side of our business.”

Peters said Mediacom is committed to bringing the best available services to Glenwood and the other communities the company serves.

“Our Mediacom area operations director with responsibilities for the southwest quadrant of Iowa is committed to meeting the needs in all communities we serve,” she said. “I believe he is making positive changes to get connected to better information so that neighborhoods without our service can be identified and examined earlier.”

Clayton is hopeful that by expressing his concerns publicly, Broadband Internet service will become a higher priority for city, county and economic development officials.

“It’s just frustrating and annoying to know I’m stuck with slow Internet access in 2018,” he said.