The long-simmering battle over Qwest's entry into the pay-TV market is gaining steam. Though the telco's bid for a statewide cable franchise died in a House committee this week, Qwest continues talks with several cities.

Comcast has argued that Qwest should have to provide service throughout a community if it wants to enter the video market. John Aragon, 61, Comcast's senior director of government affairs, knows the phone company's perspective well. He worked at Qwest predecessor Mountain Bell (later U S West) for about 20 years before joining Comcast in 2003. Before that, the New Mexico native was a reporter at the Albuquerque Journal and later the Albuquerque Tribune.

1 In a nutshell, what's Comcast's position on statewide video franchising legislation?

We oppose the Qwest bill. It's bad for consumers, and it would put government in the role of picking winners and losers instead of letting consumers decide.

Qwest wants the state legislature to let it red line by serving just the affluent areas, while ignoring middle and lower income neighborhoods. If Qwest agrees that more competition is good, why does it want to limit service to just wealthier neighborhoods?

The bill tries to get government to handicap the marketplace and give Qwest a competitive advantage.

2 What do you like best and least about your job?

For both the industry and the company, it's really an exciting and dynamic time. During my career, I've been in companies that are shrinking, and it's not fun. It's depressing when you're managing a company that's cutting costs; it's a lot more exciting to be managing a growing company. Comcast is not only growing, but it's added so much convenience and value in the customer experience in the way we watch TV with video on demand.

As for what I like least, that's an easy one: long meetings. I don't do well and never have sitting in a room for a whole day. But sometimes you have to do it. In our business, there are so many interdependencies among departments that always impact other departments. So you have to sit down sometimes and plan it out.

3 So are you a doodler?

Oh, yeah. I'll come out with my papers covered. I wish I were a better artist. I'm a geometric doodler - diamonds inside of triangles. It's probably something deep in my psyche that needs help.

4 You've said that you've been lucky to have career mentors who have encouraged you to have five-year plans. So what's yours?

My next career move would be to work in the nonprofit area. My real love has been working with kids, particularly minority kids, to help them stay in school.

One program that I worked with in Albuquerque was called Choices, where we went into ninth-grade classes and talked to kids about how not getting an education will put them at the back of the line. We went into a whole series of practical exercises - ninth-graders are a tough crowd, and if you don't get their attention in 10 seconds they will chew you up.

There were enough times when a kid came up to me afterward and said "thank you" that I thought we were having some influence.