San Bruno Cable may offer VoIP

SAN BRUNO -- In the competitive world of pay television, San BrunoCable has a leg up on the corporate contenders, for now.

Just more than 10,000 customers subscribe to the municipalservice, about 70 percent of homes in the city. That is better thanthe national average of 60 percent for an "incumbent" cable provider -- the first one to build infrastructure and roll out service --according to Tenzin Gyaltsen, the city's cable television director.

But the number is down from a high of 12,000 customers about fouryears ago, he said. So to fend off satellite providers such as DishNetwork and DirecTV, which have siphoned from San Bruno's marketshare, the city may add Internet telephone service for its customers.

"We are here to provide the community a service," Gyaltsen saidWednesday. "They're going to see Comcast and other cable operators inthe Bay do the same thing. We have to stay competitive in themarketplace."

Gyaltsen made a pitch at Tuesday night's City Council meeting forSan Bruno Cable to provide VoIP, or "voice over Internet protocol,"which would cost about the same as landline phone service.

San Bruno has been the sole cable provider for the city since1971, but Gyaltsen said he is keen to keep abreast of developments inthe industry, noting Comcast's recent Bay Area rollout of a digitalphone, cable and high-speed Internet package for $99 a month.

He said San Bruno Cable, which earns $8 million in annual revenue,would offer competitive packages and that the phone service would bepriced to compete with AT&T and other landline providers.

Mayor Larry Franzella noted Tuesday that the city keeps its feesat 6 to 20 percent below Comcast's, saying, "We're not in it forprofit."

But others are. AT&T and Verizon could provide video servicethrough new fiberoptic lines in the city if Gov. Schwarzenegger signsAssembly Bill 2987 this week, making the competition even tougher.

Gyaltsen said he plans to bring a formal proposal before the CityCouncil within 30 days and hopes to launch the VoIP option by early2007.

He said cable Internet customers already can subscribe to a third-party phone provider such as Vonage, but such companies rely on thepublic Internet and have no infrastructure of their own, leading tocomplaints about service interruptions.

"We strive to deliver the 'five nines' in terms of keeping thesystem up and running," Gyaltsen said, referring to a policy ofoperating at least 99.999 percent of the time. "We can ensure servicequality."

Staff writer Todd R. Brown covers the North County. Reach him at(650) 348-4473 or tbrown@sanmateocountytimes.com.