Page 392 - BOXFORD

A new ten-year Cable Franchise contract was executed between the Town of Boxford and
Comcast in June of this past year, extending cable coverage in the Town of Boxford and
funding to BCATv by Comcast through June 2026. The contract includes capital
expenditures for replacing broadcast equipment that will be outdated and possibly made
obsolete due to technology shifts. This budget was developed based upon what we know
today and what we

may reasonably expect will occur in future years over the course of the multiyear franchise
agreement. The Boxford Selectmen unanimously approved this contract in June 2015.

One of the big changes with this contract is the significant reduction in the Franchise
Related Cost (FRC) line item on each Comcast subscriber’s monthly bill. This reduction
results from a couple of changes including Boxford Cable Advisory Committee’s insistence
on replacing the current 25-year-old technology in place used to transport Channel 8 and 22
video streams from Boxford Town Hall to Comcast’s headend in Beverly with new internet
based technology that is more reliable, produces a better quality playback image and
significantly reduces maintenance fees.

Another change was bringing the Comcast PEG Access fee into line with the fee charged to
Verizon cable subscribers that has been in place since 2008. Both contracts are now on a
“level playing field”.

This contract also added a third television channel, which is planned to be operational
before school starts this Fall 2016, to focus on Masco and Tri-Town related events.
Although our preference was for a high definition public access channel, the addition of
this new standard definition educational channel will provide Boxford cable subscribers
with more hours of local community related programming on 2 channels operating 24x7.

We also plan to upgrade out broadcast equipment in the next few months to allow live
video streaming on our website, www.BoxfordCableTv.com, and to offer video on demand
for all of our videos in addition to our government meeting videos.

We are also looking into additional equipment to video government meetings at various
locations that are not currently wired for video, such as Meeting Room 2 at Town Hall and
the Police Station meeting room.

The Boxford Cable Advisory Committee began this past Fall planning the Ascertainment
process and developing a timeline to negotiate a new cable contract between the Town of
Boxford and Verizon, which expires in September 2018. We will keep you apprised of the
progress.

Respectfully submitted,

Rick Rivers, President
Melissa Scheirey, Vice President and Secretary
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