City of Savannah officials want to meet with Comcast

Is the City of Savannah getting ready for a face off with the areas only cable provider? Earlier this week, city councilman Tony Thomas ripped into Comcast for what he called a "monopoly" on local cable service and questioned whether or not the city had prevented competition.

Since Tuesday, Thomas says he has received a staggering number of calls and concerns about Comcast, their customer service, their internet and cable service and overall displeasure.

The city now says they want to meet with the cable company.

Thomas says the city is ready to hold Comcast's feet to the fire, so to speak. They are asking for all Savannah residents who have any problems their cable service to call the city directly using the 311 system, so they can monitor and collect information on how many people really are having issues with Comcast.

Thomas has the support of other council members who say it's time to find some competition.

"That would give us a choice, and right now, we don't have a choice," Mary Osborne, District 2, said Thursday afternoon.

Osborne and others say they agree with Thomas on this issue and want the city to take a stand for their residents. We spoke to Comcast's local vice president, Mike Daves, this week. He said he had not heard from the city yet, but he should be expecting a call soon.

City leaders say they want to sit down and meet with Daves and others from Comcast to find out how they can fix the problems customers are having.

In a memo to Savannah City Council, city manager Rochelle Small-Toney said since 2008, two companies, Hargray and AT&T, have filed franchise applications with the State of Georgia to provide cable service in Savannah. Neither have followed through, as of yet.

In the memo, Hargray representatives responded to the city by saying their delay is based on demand.

The city said Comcast does not have a "granted monopoly."

Thomas says the feedback to the issue has been overwhelmingly negative in regards to Comcast's service.

"I've heard from a flood of people about problems they had experienced with Comcast. I'm seeing it on Facebook. I'm hearing it. These folks aren't answering and helping people like they should and we are going to hold them accountable," Thomas told WTOC.

Thomas says the city's goal is now to get Comcast to, as he calls it, clean up their act and find another cable company to come into Savannah to offer a choice.

Mike Daves with Comcast told me Thursday afternoon, despite all the publicity, Thomas nor the City of Savannah have not contacted Comcast but they are willing to sit down and talk. He says customer service is their first concern.