I found a law on the books that says any company selling telecommunication services within the city must have a franchise license with the city. None of my competitors have ever done this. I thought it must just be on the books from a time when all telecom was ran in the ROW, and therefore it would make sense.
Against my better judgement, I contacted the city about leasing space at a few of their properties. Now, they want a franchise agreement for me to even offer service within the city at all. I have not had a chance to view this agreement yet. How does this make sense? Is a franchise agreement a profit sharing type of scenario? Does anyone have a franchise agreement with their city to provide wireless service? What does the agreement usually entail? Would it make sense to just cease operations within city limits and then get all of the customers that want service to sign a petition? Is this worth fighting them over? You don't see McDonalds or WalMart signing franchise agreements with the city, why would any private entity have to have an agreement with the city to do business? Is this standard practice?
