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The (Syracuse, NY) Every day, Spafford residents drive past new utility poles that won't carry high-speed Internet or television channels to their homes for at least two years. "Basically right now, that extension project has been deferred," said Bill Keiser, general manager of Adelphia's local office. The Spafford cable project was started in April 2001 with plans to finish in November or December 2001. About 500 homes in Borodino, Route 41 and near Otisco Lake were to get cable service through Adelphia. Utility poles were replaced to make room for cable equipment, but before cables could be strung, the company declared bankruptcy. Adelphia is working on a two-year budget plan for review by creditors and courts, but it doesn't include the Spafford extension. "We had it in the plan," Keiser said, "but the bankruptcy aspect precluded us from going through and completing that." After the two years, the Spafford extension will be reconsidered, he said. Ken Lieberman, Spafford's liaison on the cable project, said residents are frustrated by Adelphia. "They kind of dragged us along for a while," he said. "Now we kind of feel like Adelphia is tying our hands." Lieberman is working to get Time Warner Communications to complete the project, but there's a hitch, he said. Wires that share a utility pole must be a certain distance from each other, and Adelphia signed a pole attachment agreement with the companies that own the poles. That leaves no room for more wires, so even if Time Warner wants to take over the project, the company must have its own poles or taller utility poles installed, or obtain Adelphia's space on the existing poles. "We cannot give our attachment agreement to anybody," said Thomas Haywood, Adelphia regional vice president of operations. Time Warner would have to negotiate its own pole attachment agreement with the utility companies that own the poles, he said. Lieberman said he and Supervisor Gordon Ireland met with Richard Strong, of Time Warner, who said his company is interested in bringing cable to Spafford. Unless Time Warner can obtain Adelphia's space on the poles, it would be cost prohibitive to expand into Spafford, said Time Warner spokesman Jeff Unaitis, but the company is willing to work with the town. "It's a good opportunity for us to grow our business," he said. What really bothers Lieberman, is that two years ago, when the cable project began, he chose to go with Adelphia instead of Time Warner. Both companies sought rights to the project. "I went with Adelphia because they committed to picking up 150 more households, so I had to do what was best for the town," he said. Copyright, 2002, The Herald Company Top of Page | back to Borodino Bullett NewsStand |
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