Qwest Corporation is currently operating their telecommunications business in the City of Portland, without paying any fees to the City. And this has been going on since 2001. Tomorrow, October 10, 2007, Qwest Corporation goes before the Portland City Council to obtain a franchise agreement to operate cable communications within our city.
This would be a disaster to our town, as Qwest is currently in litigation with the City of Portland. While in litigation, The City of Portland does not retain recourse against the plaintiff to revoke the Temporary Revocable Permit they currently operate under. Or enforce any stipulations of a franchise agreement.
Essentially, if Qwest never pays a dime to the City of Portland for the Cable franchise, but continues to appeal their telecommunications lawsuit, there is nothing the City can do.
In March 2002, Qwest owed the City of Portland $4.2 million dollars in unpaid franchise fees. Qwest was ordered to pay this amount to the City. Quest appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court, and on September 16, 2006, was again ordered to pay up! I shudder to think what the amount would be now.
As of yet, Qwest has yet to pay these fees, and has re-filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
It becomes painfully obvious, that Qwest has NO intention of ever paying their franchise fees to the City of Portland. And..as long as they continue the appeals process, Portland cannot enforce the conditions of their Temporary Revocable Permit for telecommunications, which they have been operating under since 2001, when they first filed this ridiculous lawsuit.
Qwest is really pissing me off. I cannot believe I am their customer. Every phone line in the City of Portland is under their unpaid franchise agreement, so if I want DSL, they will get my money no matter who I write the check to. It almost makes one want to go back to cable, it really does.
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