Web woes

Council chambers around the county have recently been filled with residents attending public hearings on Service Electric Cable franchise renewals, and on Monday evening, Dec 9, Newton residents were the latest to have their voices heard. The most common complaints about the area’s longest-tenured cable and internet provider are slow speeds, increasing price points, and the company’s limited hours for service calls. Residents also lament a lack of consumer options.

In recent months, Newton High School teacher Jim Hofmann has been pushing for better internet speeds in Sussex County, either through Service Electric or from independent providers such as Newton-based Planet Networks, which has been gaging interest for new neighborhoods to supply with fiber optic internet service. Like Service Electric and communications giant Verizon’s Fios service, Planet Networks can currently only run their cable into areas where there is enough demand to justify the expense. Hofmann and like-minded others have been leading an email and social media campaign to encourage people to attend their towns’ franchise hearings as they occur.

Planet Networks owner Robert Boyle attended the last Byram Council meeting to offer his opinion on an ordinance regarding utility poles in that township and said it’s his hope to find an affordable solution for all parties to provide service there. Byram Township’s contract renewal with Service Electric is approaching soon.

Sparta held a public hearing on their franchise agreement with Service Electric in September, and residents there came out to express many of the same complaints as those in Newton. The franchise was renewed despite the criticisms, but at the time of the hearing, Sparta Deputy Mayor Christine Quinn cautioned SEC that this was their chance to do better for their customers.