CLEVELAND, Tenn. - A recent telecommunications study indicates significant challenges may be in store if Cleveland Utilities wants to provide a complete array of Internet, television and phone services.
In a recent meeting, Cleveland Utilities President and CEO Ken Webb offered a few insights into the study to utility board members.
"I will go ahead and tell you that it's not overly optimistic about us being able to provide 'triple play' [Internet, television and phone] services," Webb said. "The capital requirements are extensive, and the startup cost could present issues."
Cleveland Utilities staff members are still in the process of digesting the study and a full report will be presented at the board's late July meeting, he said.
"There is a possibility of offering services that are not full-blown services," Webb said. "There are a lot of decisions yet to be made, and a lot of review has yet to take place."
Webb has repeatedly stated that Internet connections today equate with the electrical connections of the 1930s.
The study, launched nearly a year ago, was intended to explore the cost and benefits of using Cleveland Utilities' existing fiber optic network and to consider cooperative opportunities with other telecommunication systems.
Cleveland Utilities' fiber optic infrastructure extends 40 miles along the electric division's transmission lines, Walt Vineyard, vice president of the utility's information technology division, said last summer.
The fiber lines would have to be run into neighborhoods and directly connected to homes for Cleveland Utilities to actually provide residential services, he said.
Telecommunication offerings through Cleveland Utilities could be a useful tool to bring business to the city, utility officials said before the launch of the fiber study.
Two other telecommunications studies have been performed for Cleveland Utilities, with the most recent one occurring nine years ago.
Webb's announcement of a less-than-optimistic fiber study comes a few months after state legislators did not go forward with bills that would allow communication providers to extend services beyond their footprint areas.
In March, Rep. Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, who co-sponsored the House version of the legislation, claimed that the bill is "still very much alive" and that only a "pause button" had been hit until January 2016.
"We simply rolled it back," said Howell, citing concerns that there was not enough support in the Senate for it yet.
Service providers such as Comcast and AT&T have criticized the proposal, as have state officials and proponents of limited government.
If such legislation passes, it would "open up a number of options" for Cleveland Utilities, Webb said. He cited possible agreements with EPB.
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.