The Metropolitan Area Communications Commission
MACC was formed in 1980 under Oregon Statute 190
These statutes allow local governments to join together for a particular purpose, and to create an organization for administrative purposes.
MACC is governed by a Board Of Commissioners, consisting of a representative from each of the 14 MACC jurisdictions . Each jurisdiction is given one vote, regardless of its size.
MACC also contracts with the City of Milwaukie to administer their cable franchise with Comcast
MACC's mission is to serve the public interest through developing, overseeing, evaluating and promoting an area-wide cable communication system, and acting as a forum on communication issues and alternatives.
View the MACC Intergovernmental Agreement authorizing MACC to regulate the Cable Franchises for the member jurisdictions or any of the MACC FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS.
MACC Mission
Upset With Your Cable Provider?
Click here to find tips for getting good service from your cable provider, information on rate regulation, service standards and more!
MACC was formed in 1980 under Oregon Statute 190
These statutes allow local governments to join together for a particular purpose, and to create an organization for administrative purposes.
MACC is governed by a Board Of Commissioners, consisting of a representative from each of the 14 MACC jurisdictions . Each jurisdiction is given one vote, regardless of its size.
MACC also contracts with the City of Milwaukie to administer their cable franchise with Comcast
MACC's mission is to serve the public interest through developing, overseeing, evaluating and promoting an area-wide cable communication system, and acting as a forum on communication issues and alternatives.
MACC was formed in 1980 under Oregon Statute 190
These statutes allow local governments to join together for a particular purpose, and to create an organization for administrative purposes.
MACC is governed by a Board Of Commissioners, consisting of a representative from each of the 14 MACC jurisdictions . Each jurisdiction is given one vote, regardless of its size.
MACC also contracts with the City of Milwaukie to administer their cable franchise with Comcast
MACC's mission is to serve the public interest through developing, overseeing, evaluating and promoting an area-wide cable communication system, and acting as a forum on communication issues and alternatives.
View the MACC Intergovernmental Agreement authorizing MACC to regulate the Cable Franchises for the member jurisdictions or any of the MACC FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS.
Be Alert to Extra Costs
Comcast, Verizon and almost all telecommunications companies have marketing strategies that emphasize customers’ initial cost of service. But customers soon find out that their first bill is higher than they anticipated – and sometimes they get a big surprise six months or a year later.
Watch for three things when ordering new or upgraded services:
o Equipment costs
o The price for the same services after the introductory cost
o Fees and taxes
Click Here to see two charts that show the initial cost of recent Comcast and Verizon offers for a package of three popular services – video (cable), telephone and Internet service.
VERIZON ASKS MACC FOR PERMISSION TO SELL CABLE BUSINESS TO FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS
On May 13, Verizon and Frontier Communications publicly announced a deal that would sell to Frontier all of Verizon’s "rural" landlines in Oregon, Washington and several other states. This transaction includes the MACC area and the FiOS Video Service franchised by MACC and eleven of its member jurisdictions.
Federal law provides most of the requirements and the framework for reviewing a cable franchise transfer. The companies involved in the transfer are required to provide MACC with a completed FCC Form 394 Application and any other information required by MACC to show that the incoming company has the legal, financial, and technical ability to own and operate the FiOS cable system. We received the Application on June 1, 2009. [Attachments to Form 394 -- Agreement Plan, Distribution Agreement, Frontier Financial 10-K Form ]
Staff is currently reviewing that information and has developed a detailed Request for Information (RFI) with questions seeking additional information and clarification from the parties.
Once staff has completed our review, MACC Commissioners will recommend that the affected MACC member jurisdictions either approve or deny transfer of the Franchises to Frontier. Then, each of the affected jurisdictions must consider the transfer at their City Council or County Commission meeting. In addition to the reviews conducted by local governments, the Verizon/Frontier transaction will be subject to a number of other reviews at the Federal level and by the Oregon PUC.
Since little is known about Frontier, especially in regards to their legal, financial, and technical qualifications to own and operate the Verizon FIOS system, we expect to spend considerably more time in reviewing this transaction than we have previous transfers.
To help in this effort, MACC is working with other northwest jurisdictions where Frontier is acquiring FIOS cable franchises to share costs and information. This will save all of us time and resources.
Members of the public with comments or questions should contact MACC.