Senator Joe Robach (R-Greece) Repudiates Time Warner's Cap Plan

Senator Joe Robach (R-Greece), whose district includes several suburbs around Rochester, responded to StoptheCap! reader Tom R., expressing his concern about Time Warner implementing a usage cap system in his district.

“I agree that this new plan would produce costly bills and would not meet the needs of the Rochester community,” Robach wrote.

Senator Robach, a Republican member of the New York State Senate, wrote the NY State Public Service Commission and requested a thorough review of Time Warner’s plans.  He noted that Rochester is in a unenviable position of being the only major city in New York state not to be wired with fiber optics to the home, as part of Verizon’s FiOS project.  Rochester is served by an independent telephone company, Frontier Communications.

Robach accused Time Warner of setting their proposed usage caps so low, most customers would exceed their bandwidth allowance, leading to costly overlimit fees.

NY State Senate - 56th District Map

Unfortunately, the Public Service Commission has no regulatory authority over the cable industry’s broadband product, but increasing attention to the issue of cable company market abuse may lead to a more careful review of whether or not communities wish to retain Time Warner as the incumbent cable provider come franchise renewal time.  A community can revoke or choose not to renew a franchise if a cable operator is deemed not to serve the best interests of the community, allowing a different company to potentially provide service.

Robach’s involvement demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to the issue of unfair broadband usage caps, proving once again that this is not a “right or left” issue — but one of common sense.

Time Warner indefinitely shelved the proposal last week at the behest of consumers and elected officials, but StoptheCap! remains convinced the company will attempt to bring it back for another try later this year.