(1/10) The Town Council approved, in a four to one vote, entering into a cable franchise agreement with Glo Fiber, a fiber optic internet company owned by the telecommunications company Shentel. Residents will have access to Shentel's broadband services, including cable, internet and phone services. Commissioner Jim Hoover cast the single dissenting vote.

The agreement allows Shentel to run its fiber optic cables along the Town’s public rights-of-way. Previously, only Comcast provided high-speed wired connections within Town, but their contract is nonexclusive, which means the Town can search around for better pricing and services without penalties.

All customers of the new service will be charged a five percent ‘town franchise fee’ on their total monthly bill, which Shentel will give to Emmitsburg in return for use of its rights-of-way.

The Town’s contract with Shentel allows for adjustments to the franchise fee in the event the FCC changes the maximum amount a company can charge from the current five percent. Shentel will be required to match the new upper franchise fee limit, which would ensure the Town is compensated fairly for the use of its rights-of-way.

However, the contract also contains a clause that the Town cannot compel Shentel to pay a higher franchise fee than any other cable operator providing service within the Town.

Hoover cited this clause as the basis for his ‘nay’ vote, telling his fellow Council members he "did not want to be locked into language that would prevent the town from potentially charging more."

Comcast’s 15-year agreement, which was put in place in 2011, does not allow the Town to require Comcast to charge the maximum allowable ‘town franchise fee.’

"If we don’t give ourselves the option to allow a higher ‘town franchise fee’ in the Shentel agreement, we will not be able to put it into the Comcast agreement when it comes up for re-negotiation in a few years," Hoover said.

Facing an incumbent like Comcast, Shentel representative Kirk Costco claimed that the language asked to strike would give Shentel an unfair, competitive disadvantage, as it would be asking Shentel to charge residents more through the franchise fee than Comcast does, thus making the bill higher.

"For us to come in and charge more than Comcast really prevents customers from wanting to switch," he said. "These are the kind of things that have always been barriers to competition in the past," he said.

New to the Shentel agreement and not in the Town’s current Comcast agreement is the agreement that the Town has the ability to come in and stop project work if not performed adequately. Shentel also agreed to provide installation of an outlet for both Emmitsburg elementary and Mother Seton schools.

Shentel currently has cable franchise agreements with the City of Frederick, Middletown, and has recently signed with Thurmont.

Costco said he expects to have Glo Fiber’s fiber optic network up and running within a year. The lowest price for internet service is approximately $65 a month for 600 megabits/second. For television streaming packages, the least expensive package costs $49 a month. An unlimited calling plan costs $20 a month.