Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-20-2015, 08:00 AM
 
81 posts, read 138,392 times
Reputation: 42

Advertisements

So I just noticed that Entouch was charging me a "Cable Franchise Fee City" on my bill starting last month. Its a small amount, but I don't want to pay something I shouldn't be. I do not have TV service with Entouch, only internet and phone. And I have had this service with them for 2.5+ years and this fee just started showing up in December 2014, so I am guessing it is NOT related to the internet service?

I tried to look for Sugar Land city docs which state what the charge is for, but all could find are some old articles from 2001. Anyone have any knowledge about this "fee" and it applies to people without cable (TV) service?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-20-2015, 08:02 AM
 
Location: Non Extradition Country
2,165 posts, read 3,756,782 times
Reputation: 2261
Call entouch customer service and ask them...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 08:25 AM
 
81 posts, read 138,392 times
Reputation: 42
Of course, I already did. When I called in December they said it would be taken off and credited in January. The January statement did not show any credit AND there was a Jan fee as well. This time they said that it is a Sugar Land tax and they cannot remove it. When I pointed out that they agreed to take it off last month and that I do not have TV service, she replied that it was done as a one time courtesy last month and that it is related to the internet service. She couldn't explain why it was never charged for the past 2.5 years that I have had internet service with them, so I asked for a supervisor to contact me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 08:38 AM
 
15 posts, read 17,761 times
Reputation: 18
You live in Riverstone right? I would call back and tell them that you're not in the Sugar Land city limits and shouldn't have to pay a city tax.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 08:47 AM
 
81 posts, read 138,392 times
Reputation: 42
No, I am in Avalon@Telfair.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 05:28 PM
 
8,275 posts, read 7,911,941 times
Reputation: 12122
Even if you did live in Sugar Land proper, I believe their franchise is with Comcast. That money goes towards their municipal channel. Sounds like they are trying to scam you.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-20-2015, 07:13 PM
 
81 posts, read 138,392 times
Reputation: 42
Well spent some time Googling all this cable franchise business (the name is misleading - it is really just the money paid to the city for using the city right-of-way), and yes Sugar Land did have a franchise with TWC, but sole, exclusive franchises have been outlawed for a while. Also, there was legislation passed in 2005 which basically moved the franchising authority to the State PUC, so cable providers apply for a state-issued franchise certificate and then just pay all the cities they are in rather than negotiate franchise agreements with every municipality separately.

The 2005 law said that existing franchise agreements with municipalities could continue till expiration, upon which cable providers had to reapply for a state issued certificate. TWC's franchise agreement with SL ended 2011 so I believe they just applied for one at the state PUC. Entouch never had a franchise agreement with SL prior to 2005, so they applied directly with the state PUC in 2005. Cable franchise fees have to be paid by any video service provider in SL to support public access, even if the municipal channel is being only carried on one provider i.e. Comcast.

I guess the bottom line is all the websites I referred seem to point out that cable franchise fee is specifically paid to the city by providers of video service and programming. So if I don't have video service I shouldn't be charged. Again, all this from just searching online and I am not a tax lawyer, so confirmation from someone would be great. Anyone else with Entouch internet or phone service only being charged the cable franchise fee?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2015, 08:48 AM
 
392 posts, read 751,019 times
Reputation: 212
Hi, we currently have high speed internet through Comcast my download speed right now in 31.5 Mbps and I'm paying around $60 monthly. I received an offer from entouch for 60Mbps download speed for $37.95 per month.
So what do u think? Is this a good offer?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2015, 10:22 AM
 
8,275 posts, read 7,911,941 times
Reputation: 12122
My guess is 60Mbps is a promotional offer and will revert to a higher rate after some period of time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2015, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Foster, TX
1,179 posts, read 1,905,590 times
Reputation: 1525
Quote:
Originally Posted by War Beagle View Post
My guess is 60Mbps is a promotional offer and will revert to a higher rate after some period of time.
I second this notion. When (and it will happen, speaking as a now 5 year-long Comcast customer) Comcast increases your monthly bill, call them and ask them what they can do to lower your bill. Normally they will offer you a new rate per whatever promotion they have running that will be higher than what you were paying but less than what your bill increased to.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Houston

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top