Xfinity will be around for the foreseeable future.

The Board of Estimates is scheduled tomorrow to renew the city’s contract with Comcast as the sole provider of cable television services in Baltimore. (Xfinity is Comcast’s standard plan that carries phone and internet, as well as television, into homes.)

The spending board’s action will be followed by final ratification of the franchise agreement by the City Council.

10/19/16 UPDATE: Comcast’s contract was approved this morning by four members of the BOE led by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young abstained.

The decision to go with the cable giant for the next 10 years is not a surprise given that, since 2001, Comcast has been the only company to seek a license in Baltimore to use public rights of way to deliver cable television.

The Mayor’s Office of Cable and Communications (MOCC) says the new pact will bring an estimated $114 million in revenue through 2026 and offer better safeguards for reliable TV service.

Significantly, though, the new contract does not address cable broadband services in Baltimore, which critics say have lagged behind other cities and counties.

Investing in Broadband

MOCC says it is not able to push Comcast to improve broadband service because it is not part of its regulatory mission under the 1984 federal Communications Act. (In addition to Comcast, Verizon offers broadband in Baltimore through its telephone lines. Its share of the broadband market is much less than Comcast’s.)

The Baltimore Broadband Coalition, a grassroots group, has not taken a position for or against the Comcast TV renewal because “our primary goal is to improve broadband internet,” Philip J. Spevak, one of the group’s leaders, told The Brew.

Spevak said the group did call on the Rawlings-Blake administration to improve the new Comcast contract in several ways.

Most important, he said, was to funnel all conduit and franchise fees into infrastructure improvements of the city’s fiber and conduit system. The coalition also wants annual audits of MOCC and Comcast of Baltimore LLC.

Between 2006 and 2013, Spevak said, coding errors led to Comcast underpaying Baltimore nearly $1 million in revenues, which was subsequently corrected and revenues paid. Spevak said his group found out about the revenue shortfall only by filing a Maryland Public Information Act request with MOCC.

None of the recommendations were part of the contract provisions that were disclosed to the spending board.

A “Reasonable” Contract

In a statement to the board, MOCC said that Comcast “has substantially complied with the material terms of the existing franchise” and that the new contract “is reasonable to meet the future cable-related community needs and interests, taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests.”

In addition to conduit fees estimated at $30 million, the contract will require Comcast of Baltimore to pay 5% of its gross cable revenues. These franchise fees, which are the maximum permitted by federal law, will gross about $70 million through 2026, MOCC estimates.

The new contract requires Comcast to allocate up to six standard-definition channels and three high-definition channels for PEG (Public, Educational and Governmental) Access, which is paid for by Comcast and included as a charge in customer bills.

Charm TV, the municipally-owned cable channel, uses Comcast access to reach local viewers.

Also part of the new contract: a “Customer Bill of Rights” with more detailed standards of service by Comcast, a provision for video-on-demand programming, and quarterly compliance meetings with the city to address employment development and initiatives to help minority and women’s businesses.