City Slaps $1 Million-a-day Fine on Cable Company

Chicago Sun-Times

Published February 22, 2004

By Dave Newbart, Staff Reporter

The city levied an unprecedented $1 million-a-day fine Saturday on a cable provider that failed to build out its network or make payments to a public access station.

The Chicago Cable Commission voted to impose the fines, which took effect immediately, against New Jersey-based RCN Corp. The amount includes a $750 fine for each of the 14,000 customers the company has in Area 2, a section of the city that includes the West Side and parts of the Northwest and Southwest sides.

The city levied the fine because RCN, after building a network along the city's lakefront, has refused to expand cable service into Area 2 and other parts of the city as it was bound to do under its franchise agreement with the city. The company was also fined for failing to pay $215,000 to CAN-TV, the city's public access network, under a provision of the franchise agreement.

The fines will be levied until RCN addresses the violations, officials said. Last week, the company said it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. City officials could not say what effect that would have on RCN customers.

RCN has posted $9 million in bonds, money the city could go after if RCN fails to pay the fines, officials said. RCN officials could not be reached for comment.

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