Alternate cable service proposed

By By Leada Gore, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle officials are considering an offer that could give the city a second source for cable television programming.
Hartselle’s City Council has been presented a proposal by AT&T to provide Internet-Protocol-based video, similar to cable television services. Hartselle currently has only one service provider, Charter Cable. Charter has a contract with the city and to make sure there are no conflicts with adding a provider, the city is working with Local Government Services to evaluate AT&T’s offer.
The city will spend up to $2,000 with LGS to evaluate the proposal. LGS is the same firm the city used to negotiate its most recent Charter contract.
Charter’s contract calls for the company to pay 5 percent of gross receipts to the city, as well as other licenses and fees. One of LGS’s tasks will be to evaluate AT&T’s offer to see if it will pay similar costs for operating in the city.
Tankersley said they have not set a timetable for deciding on the AT&T offer.
There are currently 34 cities or counties in the state using the AT&T services, including Birmingham and Jefferson County, Madison, Jasper and Gardendale.
AT&T’s program offers more than 200 channels, digital music and local stations, as well as video-on-demand and picture-in-picture viewing.