The route for a fiber optic cable planned by Comcast Cable to supplement its customers in bigger markets to Vicksburg’s east and west could change, but might prompt the Vicksburg Bridge Commission to tweak its contract with the company.

Originally slated to hug railroad property under the overpass on North Frontage Road and cross the Mississippi River on the old U.S. 80 bridge, the line’s proposed path takes it either north or south and would pass through switching stations between the bridge office and the river.

Gary Carlson, a construction and technical official with Comcast, told the commission Wednesday the current route is too close to natural gas lines and other fiber optic lines in the area. So far, he said, efforts to plot the line to Iowa Boulevard and Confederate Avenue “fell through” in recent months.

The commission paused a decision on the request, its members saying later issues have arisen between the communications giant and the railroad. An existing contract would have to be “modified” in some way to make a new map work, chairman Robert Moss said.

In April, the company said the line will function as a backup communications link between the cable provider’s Monroe and Jackson markets during service interruptions. No plans exist to extend service in Vicksburg and Warren County, where Vicksburg Video holds the franchise for cable television service inside the city and parts slightly beyond.

Comcast agreed in October to pay the county $30,000 upfront and about $314,000 over 10 years to use the bridge as a trellis for the line. Annual fees grow 3 percent through October 2020 and the company is barred from selling or subletting the cable without permission from the county.