However, with the advent of thousands of cable channels and high-speed broadband, the service became increasingly expensive for the city to operate.
San Bruno had already recently paid for the installation of fiber-optic service in nearly 20% of the city — primarily in multi-family complexes. However, it would have cost roughly $20 million more to complete the citywide upgrade, which the council declined to approve in 2023. Last year, the council unanimously decided to ask the city manager to begin exploring the sale of CityNet.
“This outcome was inevitable,” Hamilton said. “I wish it had happened sooner before it had accrued so much debt.”
He also noted that all San Bruno residents subsidize CityNet through their tax dollars, even though only about 40% of households are customers of the service.
Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast has promised it will not increase rates for at least 12 months as it begins converting the infrastructure across the city.
Comcast, the only company to respond to the city’s request for proposals, initially offered $7 million but agreed to $8 million if certain conditions were met, including the retention of at least 5,400 CityNet customers.
Comcast has faced its fair share of complaints over the years from customers claiming the multibillion-dollar conglomerate charged them bogus, deceptive fees. That includes a 2016 class-action lawsuit in California, in which plaintiffs alleged they were charged $10 extra per month in “broadcast TV” and “regional sports” fees that the company disguised as government-imposed taxes.
During a six-month transition period after the sale has closed, San Bruno will continue operating CityNet while Comcast begins upgrades and starts transitioning customers to its service, City Manager Alex McIntyre told council members at last month’s meeting. For most customers, he said, the process is expected to be fairly seamless and will likely be completed by the end of the year.
“It’s not like selling a car where they hand over the keys,” McIntyre said. “It’s a marriage of our technology into their technology. It’s more like handing off the airplane midflight.”
The city manager’s team said it is working on a plan to transition CityNet’s 19 employees into other city departments.
In a statement, San Bruno Mayor Rico E. Medina said that the evolving demands of maintaining and upgrading the network underscored the need for a partner with more resources and expertise.
“This transition will ensure that our residents and businesses continue to have access to top-tier broadband services today and well into the future,” he said.
For Hamilton, the sale is somewhat bittersweet.
“It was kind of a point of pride to be able to say that we have our own municipal cable enterprise,” he said. “We were one of the first in the nation to have one, and now we’re one of the last in the nation to give it up because the sun has set on cities being able to do this effectively.”
But he said he has no reservations about the decision.
“I’m very hopeful that this is going to be a great solution for San Bruno,” he said. “The old solution wasn’t working. The time had come.”
