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Berkeley is one of the first cities in the state to reject plans for cable service provider AT&T Broadband to merge with its umbrella company. 

Approval from the cities that AT&T Broadband provides service to, including Berkeley, is required for the merger, which AT&T sees as a cost-saving move. 

The City Council voted last week to “deny consent” to the company's wish to transfer control to AT&T Comcast, citing a list of 19 requests and complaints that the cable provider has not addressed. 

Berkeley has requested a discount on cable prices for senior citizens as well as financial protection for the city “in case of an Enron-style corporate meltdown,” said Roger Miller, senior management analysis for the city.  

The council has also asked the company to expand its service to the downtown and other neighborhoods in industrial or commercial areas that don’t currently have cable.  

Also on the city’s wish list is moving local programming from channel 78 to channel 26 as well as a demand for more than $70,000 in unpaid fees from AT&T Broadband for taxes and advertising revenue owed to the city. 

While Berkeley may be the only city in the country to have withheld its consent of the merger, many other cities are still deciding. 

Without unanimous consent, AT&T Comcast will have to run two companies instead of being able to fully integrate the businesses.  

“It means if AT&T Comcast tried to switch to a new billing system, they would have to keep the old one at the same time which makes an awkward situation for them,” Miller said. 

The cable company and the city have been in negotiations since the beginning of 2002, and AT&T Broadband has already gone through two extensions of its applications for consent. 

Miller says that Berkeley is ready and eager to work with the cable provider, and expects an agreement to be reached by Sept. 10, when City Council regroups after recess.