HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 08/05/2003TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
****August 5, 2003 ****
*** 6:00 PM ***
Council Liaison:
Kurt Kastein
Staff Liaison:
Liz Stroh
Chairperson:
Lawrence Bontempo
Phone: 484-3980
(W)
The August Meeting of the Telecommunications Board was called to order by the Chair
at 6:05 PM.
Present: Larry Bontempo, Curt Cramer, Herb Saperstone, Tim Tillson, David Heiberg
Staff: Eric Dahlgren, Liz Stroh
Guests: Michael Beninati and Edie Ortega from Qwest
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Curt Cramer to approve the June meeting minutes as
submitted. Tim Tillson seconded the motion, which was passed unanimously.
Qwest Update:
Edie Ortega reported on recent Qwest activities. Qwest is discussing a partnership that
would lead to an entry into the video market, and is in discussions with Sprint to move
toward a national presence in the wireless sector. These initiatives are part of the
company's goal to expand services, as demonstrated by the recent entry into the long
distance telephone service.
Edie reported that the new management at Qwest is focusing on customer service, with
a resulting decrease in customer complaints in the last year. She also reported that
Qwest will be spending one million on DSL deployments.
Michael Beninati explained Qwest's marketing efforts have a stronger community focus
which helps keep in touch with customers. Marketing staff are working with home
owners associations and other groups to determine interest in products such as DSL.
This results in a win/win situation, as Qwest can implement services in areas where
people are willing to pay for them.
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Larry Bontempo asked about DSL deployment. Edie explained that the Qwest web site
should have information about whether or not DSL is available in various areas. She
will follow up on Larry's request from several months ago. She explained that to deploy
DSL, the company had to go through a disclosure process so other competitors could
be prepared.
Board members were curious about how Qwest deploys advanced services versus
universal services. Edie explained that a big factor is ability to recover costs. Qwest
has upgraded central offices to be more prepared to roll out services when the demand
meets a cost recovery formula. One of the ways they determine where deployment will
occur is the field contacts with neighborhood groups and associations. Qwest has
provided the Colorado PUC with information about the costs associated with making
DSL a basic (universal) service. The cost is prohibitive, and DSL remains an advanced
service.
Gary asked about the number of DSL customers in the area. Qwest doesn't track by
area, but Edie will send state-wide numbers. Qwest is trying to find ways to lower DSL
costs, and are also actively working with MSN (Microsoft Network) to resolve some
issues so MSN is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) and Qwest owns the customer
account. This arrangement would simplify things for the customer.
Tim asked about aggregation of services. Edie responded that with partnerships with
Sprint and Echostar, they now can offer local and long distance phone service, wireless
and video services. The cost varies according to the package purchased. The range is
from $50 to $100 per month. Right now Qwest is undertaking a major campaign to
offer unlimited long distance service as part of a package.
Tim Tillson commented that he believes service has improved and complimented
Qwest on this accomplishment. He suggested bundling is a good way to provide
discounts, and encouraged Qwest to provide customers with information on ways to
consolidate services and subsequently save on rates. He also mentioned that ore and
more people are interested in the number portability. Edie responded that Qwest will
be ready about November, 2003 with answers to the portability demands.
Some of the issues to be resolved include E-911 issues, adapting technology to meet
more complex needs as well as continuing to provide basic service as the provider of
last resort.
In response to the question about whether or not existing contracts will be honored as a
result of the merger with Sprint, Edie reported that nothing is changing right now, and
that pricing plans continue to change and evolve. To take advantage of some of the
new services, some customers may have to change their plan. She will investigate
further.
Curt asked about the UNI order list. Edie explained that telecommunications
companies want to see access charges (to other competitor's networks), replaced with
some type of intrastate assessment. Edie also reported that the PUC is still committed
to keeping residential costs low at the expense of the business sector.
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Other issues that will be on the Public Utilities Commission agenda include Voice over
IP and the use of the public switched network to provide those services. Qwest is
concerned about competitive advantage some companies have if they aren't regulated
in a similar manner. Rates have been based on technology, not service, in the past,
and there may be some efforts in the future to change the regulatory structure.
The Board asked Edie to provide some information regarding regulatory issues for a
future meeting — specifically a comparison of PUC and Qwest positions on those
issues. Edie announced that Zone charges have been eliminated, so that people
calling outside main areas no longer pay distance charges.
Edie closed her presentation by commenting on some current discussions with the City
of Fort Collins related to under -grounding efforts, and costs associated if required to
r)articipatd in those efforts.
Board
/i/71,03
Date
10/07/03