Of the three companies among Michigan’s 39 video and cable provid...

report based of surveys of providers and municipalities. Asked how to improve Michigan’s 2007 video franchise law, four of 38 providers responding suggested clarifying responsibility for public, educational and government interconnection, explicitly barring local entities from objecting to franchise issuances, and repealing the law. In its report, the commission urged the legislature to adopt a franchise complaint resolution process that it proposed in May 2007. The commission also asked to be allowed to assess video providers a fee to defray commission costs. Of 1,030 video/cable complaints logged in 2008, the first full year in which the commission collected complaints under the 2007 law, Comcast drew 52 percent and Charter 42 percent, the report said. AT&T generated 6 percent of 2008 complaints. Wideopenwest of Michigan, Charter and Comcast are Michigan’s top three video providers. The regulator counted only complaints by consumers willing to give their names and contact information, it noted. In descending order, consumers complained most often about billing, charges and credits, PEG channel issues, Charter channels freezing and channel line-ups, the commission said. During 2008, Michigan had 2.32 million video/cable customers, an increase of more than 50,000 over 2007, the report said. Since Michigan enacted its franchise law, providers and municipalities have filed nine formal complaints, including two -- AT&T of Michigan vs. The City of Clawson (Case U-15683) and City of Rogers City vs. Charter Communications (Case U-15527) -- filed during 2008, the commission noted. Five suits have been withdrawn or found not to meet the criteria for court action. The four cases still pending -- City of Detroit vs. Comcast (Case U-15329), City of Adrian vs. Comcast (Case U- 15427), City of Romulus vs. Comcast (Case U-15439) and AT&T of Michigan vs. Clawson -- mainly involve franchise fees and PEG fees, the commission said. An online survey of municipalities found that the franchise law shifted complaints about video service to the state, the report said. Of more than 1,700 municipalities surveyed, 373 responded, with 55 percent indicating that they no longer take video/cable complaints, the report said. “The number of complaints filed (in 2008) with municipalities that do take complaints is a very low number, so it would appear that the Commission is receiving the majority of the complaints,” it said. “However, approval of the dispute resolution process could ensure that the Commission receives all video complaints in the future.” Municipalities most frequently fielded complaints about rates, service or gear problems and outages. Among municipalities responding, 92 percent indicated no disputes with providers. Of those with disputes, 37 percent said they reached out to the commission about them. Disputes mainly involved PEG fees, franchise fees and PEG channel relocation or such channels moving to a digital tier. The regulator also asked that the deadline for the report be moved from Feb. 1 to March 1 to provide more time to collect and analyze material from all parties.