Council Tables 15-Year Insight Agreement Renewal

The agreement that regulates how Insight Cable operates in Louisville will get another review by the Metro Council.A council committee unanimously approved Insight's franchise agreement last week. The full council, however, sent the agreement back to the committee Thursday due to some questions about the company's operations.Specifically, the council will look at why Insight waited until this month to pay more than five million dollars for taxes owed in 2009. Insight contends that the bill was late, but majority caucus spokesperson Tony Hyatt says more review may be necessary."There have been some members of the caucus who have been concerned that there is not enough monitoring of Insight in the light of what we've been finding out there in the last week or so," he says.Also at question is whether Insight has been open enough with the city. Hyatt says council members will review how well the cable provider has followed recommendations from a previous audit."This is going to be more of a situation where the committee looks at what it would like to see as far as any type of annual report or update coming from Insight, because the auditors in 2006 had recommended Insight needed to do an annual report on various areas of its operations."While the council may require Insight to report more frequently to the city, it's not clear whether the body will impose more regulation on rates or services. Hyatt says cities often don't strongly regulate cable providers."As the cable industry and communications in general have been deregulated over the years, the Public Service commission handles an awful lot now, the federal government with the FCC handles a lot now," he says.The committee that will review the document will likely meet once more this year.