Armstrong remains the primary cable provider in Pine after negotiations with Comcast for a new franchise agreement stalled.

Comcast has expressed interest in building out its service into the township and competing with Armstrong for those services.

One of the reasons Comcast is looking to expand is due to the new era of broadband development both in Pennsylvania and across the U.S.

“A tremendous amount of funds have become available for broadband expansion, particularly through the American Recovery Plan Act and the Infrastructure Act. There are literally billions of dollars that have become available to providers for expanding broadband internet service. In Pennsylvania, there are over 600,000 Pennsylvanians that do not have adequate broadband service,” attorney Dan Cohen said at the Oct. 16 Pine supervisors meeting.

The biggest issue the township faced in negotiations with Comcast was itsbuildout network. Officials pushed for a full buildout of the entire township. The franchise agreement is subject to density requirements, or the number of homes per square mile that Comcast is required to build out its network. Comcast’s initial broadband buildout would provide services only to Pine’s Route 19 corridor.

“I’m a little disappointed about the buildout being limited to the broadband areas where you can provide services to the Route 19 corridor and commercial areas and then exclude the residential neighborhoods in that area for the benefits of capturing the commercial area,” township supervisor Pat Avolio said. “We would love to see Comcast townshipwide, and I understand there may be reasons not to do it. It just seems like you’re cherry picking the elements of the highest revenue source. Not trying to give you a hard time, but we prefer to see more for our residents.”

Comcast representatives were in attendance at the public hearing to respond to the board’s concerns.

“We have had a fair bit of discussion over that, and we do absolutely intend to expand service. The concern was just committing to it on a certain schedule,” Comcast government relations director Bob Ritter said. “This is not just about commercial service. This is a great community for us to serve.”

The board of supervisors will discuss the matter further at its next meeting, on Nov. 6.

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