Uh, I doubt they could enforce a franchise on you for a wireless company. I have a franchise agreement for fiber within the city I work in, but even then, it was illegal for them to charge any sort of per customer fee.
My lawyer talked to their legal and straightened that out really quick. So maybe you need to retain my legal guy, lol! From: Af [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jeremy Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 12:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Franchise Agreements with the city I know that you've dealt with it Chuck, because you run fiber. Have you ever heard of a wireless company being required to have a franchise? Did you just bill it line item like a tax? ie. XYZ City Franchise Agreement Fee - 5% - $2.25 They are consulting the city attorney and getting back with me. If they determine that it is in fact required for wireless then I will obviously be seeking counsel before making any determination on which route to take. I had just never heard such a thing. The determinations made in the cases and appeals of Qwest vs. Oregon seem to point at it as purely an issue for cities to be able to control their public ROW. It is hard for me to find any basis for requiring this fee for any other reason than that. On Tue, Nov 10, 2015 at 11:40 AM, Chuck McCown <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I wouldn’t sweat it. Generally the fees are 2-5% of revenue. You tack it on the bill, blame the city, then raise holy hell with the city about other companies operating there without a franchise. I have ran into this multiple times. From: Jeremy<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 11:08 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [AFMUG] Franchise Agreements with the city 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?
