HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 12/03/2002TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
***December, 2002****
*** 6:00 PM ***
Council Liaison:
Kurt Kastein
Staff Liaison:
Liz Stroh
Chairperson:
Lawrence Bontempo
Phone: 484-3980
(W)
Members Present: Greg Smith, Larry Bontempo, Curt Cramer, Tim Tillson, Braun
Mincher, Herb Saperstone, Rob Koellner
Members Absent: None
City Staff Present: Eric Dahlgren, Gary Gordier, Liz Stroh
Guests: Stan Reifschnieder, AT&T/ComCast General Manager
Chair Lawrence Bontempo called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM
Approval of Minutes
A motion to approve the minutes of the November meeting as made by Braun Mincher,
seconded by Greg Smith. The motion passed unanimously.
AT&T Update
Stan Reifschnieder of AT&T/ComCast announced that the merger of AT&T Broadband
and ComCast was finalized November 18, 2002. 'Brand" changes will begin to take
place in March, 2003.
The budget process for 2003 has been completed, and he will receive information in a
few weeks regarding final approvals. He announced that additional construction
staffing was approved, but that there was a round of lay-offs on November 20t' with
more to come on December 20t'. The lay-offs are a result of the merger, and most
were employees from the corporate office. The Mountain Division office will remain at
the same address in Denver.
Tim asked if there would be a domain name change for the internet access service,
ATTBI.Com. Stan will ask whether or not people will be able to keep old e-mail
addresses, or if new one would be required. Tim reminded him there were a lot of
problems with the transition from @Home to ATTBI and hoped no changes would be
required, so as to minimize any disruption for customers.
02/10/03
Curt Cramer asked Stan if there were any plans to change the packages that were
available to customers, Stan indicated there were no plans to change or modify the
various package deals available to subscribers.
Stan did say that there are plans to migrate to the Comcast network, and wasn't sure
exactly what impact that might have. He will stay in touch with the project and keep the
Board informed.
Gary Gordier asked about the notice in the Denver newspapers about price increases,
and also noted there was an indication that the increases would not be passed on to
areas in Fort Collins that were not "upgraded". Stan explained that all of Fort Collins is
at the 550 MHz/750 MHz spaced requirement of the franchise except for parts of the
CSU campus that have not been upgraded because of on -going easement issues with
CUS.
Braun Mincher asked if Stan knew how many customers were being lost to the satellite
dish networks. Stan indicated that AT&T is taking the competition from dish networks
seriously, and indicated that the cable analog package is competitive with the $22.95
basic dish package, particularly when the cost of including local broadcast stations is
included, raising the cost of the dish to about $30 per month. Stan indicated that the
analog service will be available until 2007, when a final conversion to digital will be
made.
Tim asked Stan about some problems he observed in the last few weeks with the
speed of the internet system. Stan mentioned that the OC3 equipment was put on line
in November, which may have caused the situation. The upgrade means that capacity
is no longer being shared with Greeley, and that there is fiber from Denver to Fort
Collins now in place.
Stan announced Margaret LeJuste will be leaving the company in February, 2003. She
has decided to accept a severance package.
2003 Work Plan
Board members reviewed the draft of the 2003 work plan. Herb asked about
measuring Cable TV customer satisfaction and how that is measured. Gary explained
that the franchise is reviewed with the community on the 5"' and 10t' year, which
incorporates feedback to AT&T from the community. Herb asked that a requirement be
built into the next franchise that would require AT&T to provide information about
customer satisfaction. Stan indicated that he tracks customer complaints, and reviews
monthly and quarterly reports. Herb would like to see information that could help the
Board and the City better monitor services better.
Larry mentioned that in addition to direct customer feedback, that the board represents
the community, and that the feedback provided by the Board should also be considered
as coming from members of the community.
02/10/03
Tim commented that the Internet services from AT&T have improved, and that input
from the Board had a role in flagging some of the areas that needed attention.
Larry questioned Stan about the life expectancy of the outside cable plan. Stan
explained that as they do upgrades to the system, they look at the condition of the
cables.
Curt suggested that the Board collect information regarding who provides
telecommunications services in the area, what those services are, how many customers
they serve, etc. This information will help the Board determine how much competition
exists in the area, and reveal areas the Board should be aware of. Herb added that
working with the Chamber of Commerce would be one approach to getting information
about providers.
The work plan was amended to incorporate these suggestions. Greg Smith made a
motion to accept the new work plan, seconded by Braun Mincher. Vote was
unanimous.
Other Business
Larry presented a Thank You card to Greg Smith for his 8 years of participation on the
Board. The December meeting will mark Greg's last as a Board member.
Adjou
Greg
Chair
Staff Liaison
by Tim; the vote was
3
02/10/03