NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 1, 2000

TOWN ORDERS WTVD RETURNED TO CABLE,
CALLS FOR INCREASED COMPETITION

CARY, NC – Citing violations of Federal Communications Commission rules and local law, the Town of Cary has ordered Time Warner Cable to immediately return local ABC affiliate WTVD to the basic service tier or face the consequences. Shortly after midnight, Time Warner pulled WTVD from local cable systems even though WTVD reports having given permission in writing for the channel to be carried through May 24^th. As the cable franchising authority for Cary, the Town wrote to Time Warner today calling for the immediate return of WTVD to Cary’s basic channel line-up and for subscribers to be financially compensated for "this temporary and illegal degradation in service."

In the letter, the Town notifies the cable operator of its intent to begin fining the company and "to implement all other remedies possible under the law." The Town is also threatening to use this issue in its deliberations on renewing Time Warner’s local contract, saying "such blatant violations of law will weigh heavily against Cary’s ability to grant Time Warner its requested Franchise Agreement renewal as well as the request for transfer of control to AOL, both currently under review by the Town."

"We are using every resource available to us to help those 25,000 households in Cary who paid for WTVD this month but who are not receiving it because of Time Warner’s actions," said Cary’s Public Information Officer, Susan Moran. "However, until there is effective competition, citizens will unfortunately be subject to being held hostage by Time Warner."

With this thought in mind, Cary is working hard to bring that choice to its citizens.

In addition to joining with other jurisdictions from Raleigh to Charlotte in working to approve agreements with potential telecommunications newcomer Carolina Broadband, Cary has taken several steps toward possibly building its own fiber network throughout town. If built, the Cary network would provide the infrastructure—fiber optic cable--for multiple companies to use to offer competing services to all Cary citizens. And it would be the first system of its kind in North Carolina.

"Time Warner is a monopoly that is dictating what Cary citizens will and won’t see and what products Cary citizens will and won’t use. This is absolutely unacceptable," said Cary Mayor Glen Lang. "In proposing our own fiber network, we are leading the way for real citizen choice and opportunity."

An October 1999 study by Raleigh consultants Rendell and Associates found the Cary idea to be feasible, and an actual business plan for the project is expected from the group this week. The business plan will be presented publicly at a televised meeting of the Town’s special Fiber Optic Overlay Project Committee on Tuesday, May 9^th at 7:00 PM in the Cary Council Chamber. More information is available at www.townofcary.org.

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