CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Parkersburg-based cable company may be operating in Charleston in the near future.
CAS Cable submitted a cable franchise agreement application to the City of Charleston on Wednesday. The city already has an agreement in place with Suddenlink, which is headquartered in St. Louis.
Ben Adams, an at-large Charleston city councilmember, chairs the Select Committee on Cable Franchise which was created in November 2020 to review the city’s current agreement and to recruit new competition to come into the area.
He told MetroNews while nothing is done deal until city council approval, this could mark the first time there’s been competition for cable in the city in a long time.
“The city has had a franchise agreement in place since 1988, the first one that was ever in place. Since that time, we have never had multiple franchise agreements,” Adams said.
If a cable franchise agreement is reached, CAS Cable would provide competition for cable, phone, and internet service throughout the city for residents and businesses.
Adams said his committee has spent months reviewing the current agreement with Suddenlink and the customer experience with the company. Suddenlink has made headlines this year as the state Public Service Commission opened an investigation after receiving thousands of service complaints from Suddenlinkâs customers.
“We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of input from email and phone calls from folks within the city who have told us about their experience with Suddenlink. We have taken that all under consideration as we have worked towards a new cable franchise agreement,” Adams said.
Currently, CAS Cable serves multiple communities in West Virginia and Ohio. If an agreement is reached, CAS Cable intends to expand service into North Charleston and the West Side of Charleston during the first quarter of 2022 and will work to reach all of Charleston thereafter, a city release stated.
Adams said the company would anticipate coming into the city with routing from Jackson County through Route 21 that empties into North Charleston and the West Side.
CAS Cable made a statement to MetroNews on the agreement:
“As a West Virginia company, CAS Cable has always had the goal of helping build better communities by providing great service through cutting edge technology. With our expansion into Charleston and the surrounding communities, we will be providing industry-leading high-speed Internet service at speeds of 2 Gigabits per second, HD video options, and advanced communication services along with superior customer service.”
The Select Committee on Cable Franchise will hear a presentation from CAS Cable at their next meeting on Oct. 25. The committee would then make a recommendation to the city council as a whole.
“We’ve had lots of positive reviews of folks living in those areas that are customers of CAS. We are very excited to have CAS in Charleston,” Adams said.