A new cable provider and 5G network eyed for Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE — A new cable provider could be coming to the city as well as the introduction of 5G wireless service.

A franchise agreement with Comcast to provide cable service is on the agenda for the Feb. 11 City Council meeting.

Mayor George Brown on Friday said he’ll ask Council to approve the 10-year agreement that provides the city with 3% of the annual gross revenues from the operation of the provider’s cable system.

This year the city budgeted $175,000 in franchise fee revenues from the current provider Service Electric Cable TV Inc.

The agreement with Comcast of Colorado/Pennsylvania/West Virginia LLC will be presented as an ordinance, requiring two separate readings and majority approval by the five-member Council.

Brown said Comcast will not replace SECTV, but will be its competitor.

“I want to give people a choice,” Brown said.

Comcast will overbuild a new system throughout the city, Brown said. “It’s a wireless service,” he said.

The franchise will be non-exclusive and the rates, fees and charges will be in accordance with Federal Communications Commission regulations, the agreement said.

If another provider wants to come in the city is open to that, Brown said.

The other technology-related item on the agenda will be in the form of a resolution, requiring a single reading and majority approval. It authorizes the city to enter into a master license agreement with Northeast Pennsylvania SMSA LP, doing business as Verizon Wireless, for small wireless communication facilities.

Brown said the agreement will allow Verizon to bring in 5G technology. The fifth generation of wireless technology or 5G transmits data faster at higher download speeds than the previous generations and expands the connectivity beyond just cell phones to other smart devices.