Residents of Roxbury housing project could finally get cable choice

Comcast told the City Council today it could begin wiring the Mission Main project by April.

David Green, a senior manager with the company, said at a council hearing led by Councilors Sal LaMattina and Michael Ross that the company hadn't wired the 535-unit project before because it thought RCN had an exclusive contract with project management. RCN Vice President Thomas Steele told the council that was never the case - he said he did not know why Comcast predecessor Cablevision never wired the complex when RCN moved in in the late 1990s. In any case, he added that federal law now prohibits such exclusive contracts.

Green said the company has already begun contract talks with Mission Main management and that the company has to wait until April because of a city moratorium on winter street openings.

Residents of the Blackstone and Amy Lowell projects told the council they would also like to see Comcast service as an alternative to RCN, especially given recent RCN price increases. One Jewish Blackstone resident objected to RCN charging extra for a Jewish-focused channel when Christian channels are included at no extra cost.