According to a recent letter sent to Jeanne Fox, the President of the N.J. Board of Utilities, Robbinsville residents have complained about receiving letters from Cablevision of Hamilton which state that unless they convert to digital cable boxes that they will lose several channels. These new cable boxes will come at an additional cost, and customers that refuse to convert to a new box will not only lose channels, but will not see a rate reduction. All this comes while Verizon continues to work on spreading FiOS throughout Robbinsville.

The full text of the letter is:

Jeanne Fox, President
N.J. Board of Public Utilities
2 Gateway Center, 8th floor
Newark, N.J. 07102
Dear President Fox,

In recent days, several Robbinsville residents have contacted my office regarding a letter they received from Cablevision of Hamilton. The letter states that unless residents select to subscribe to the IO package by May 20, 2008, these households will lose several channels without a digital cable box, which must be placed on each television at an additional cost.

The timing of this letter comes as Verizon FiOS service is being installed in some neighborhoods in Robbinsville. Portions of the Township are currently served, while other areas will take longer to receive service due to the presence of underground cable throughout our community. It is hard to predict precisely when the entire Township will have a choice between Cablevision and FiOS. Also, our Township is in the midst of its review of an updated cable TV ordinance, which is being discussed by our Council this evening.

Residents who have contacted us note that if they refuse to sign up for the IO package or the cable box, they will lose channels without a reduction in their monthly bill. They view this action by Cablevision as a back-door rate increase and question how this can be permitted. They note the timing of this action, when some residents have choices but others are still months away from having the options that will ultimately be available to them. The May 20, 2008, deadline strikes both the residents and me as an attempt by Cablevision to grab revenue before the full force of competition begins in Robbinsville.

Our Township was one of the first to support the legislation that promoted customer choice in cable services. I ask that the BPU look into this matter and offer the residents of Robbinsville a full explanation for the timing of this action by Cablevision.

Sincerely,
Dave Fried
Mayor, Robbinsville Township

Source: http://www.robbinsville-twp.org/bpu_cablevision_0508.pdf