Cable television first came to Redmond in the 1960's when Vista
Television Cable, Inc. began installing coaxial cable lines via utility
poles in many of the city's then newer neighborhoods. By the late '80's,
most citizens living or working close to a public right-of-way could
contract with the cable operator for cable service, and many did.
Currently, about 83 % of Redmond households are cable subscribers.
However, a lot has changed since 1987. For one thing, the cable
company keeps changing. First it was Vista Television Cable, then
Viacom Cable, then TCI Cable, then AT&T Broadband. In 2002, AT&T
Broadband was purchased by Comcast and that is now the current provider
in Redmond.
In 2001, the cable operator installed fiber optic lines throughout
the city to replace the more limited coaxial cable. This has
allowed increased cable subscriber options as technology continues to make more services available.
In December 2002, the City of Redmond negotiated a new cable
franchise with Comcast that will be in effect for the next ten years.
View the new
Ordinance 2143 and the
Cable Franchise document in pdf format. (To read pdf
documents, download Adobe
Acrobat for free if you do not have it.)
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