This letter is to express my concerns regarding the city’s already approved lease of Fibrant assets to Hotwire Communications.

In all the articles that have been published, not one has addressed the issue of how much Hotwire is going to charge those of us already supporting Fibrant, which as we all know cannot compete with the national companies available to many of us.

I encourage you to look online on Hotwire Communication’s own website and see what their standard rates are. For each service — telephone, TV and computer — I found that they are almost or actually double Fibrant’s currant monthly rates.

This has a twofold impact. First, it will force seniors and others on a limited income to seek service elsewhere. Second, as the city will be receiving a percentage (not a set amount) of the funds the customers like you and me will pay to Hotwire, the city’s income for the lease will be totally dependent on how many customers Hotwire retains, or ads.

Yes, they can get the costs of programming, particularly on TV, lowered through the rates they are allowed, but they apparently don’t pass that on to the customers.

I also found in a Google Search regarding the company, that they have had many complaints filed against them.

I think that in the City Council’s haste to find any solution that will get Fibrant off their backs, they have made a poor choice. If there are guaranteed rates for current customers, that is another story, but I haven’t heard that mentioned in relation to this lease  agreement. Nor have I heard of any lump sum down payment as earnest money for the use of Fibrant’s considerable assets.

I’d be delighted to hear it, if that is the case.

— Sherry Colenso Dillard

Salisbury