HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 08/03/2004TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
***August 3, 2004***
*** 6:00 PM ***
Council Liaison: Kurt Kastein Staff Liaison: Liz Stroh
Chairperson: Curt Cramer Phone: 482-9822 (H)
Present: Herb Saperstone, Tim Tillson, Robert Reichenberger, David Heiberg, Curt
Cramer
Absent: Chip Cushman, Larry Bontempo
Guest: Stan Reifschneider, Comcast
Staff; Gary Gordier, Eric Dahlgen, Liz Stroh
Chair Curt Cramer called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM
Approval of Minutes
David Heiberg moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Herb Saperstone seconded
the motion, which passed unanimously
City Council Meeting Update
Curt and Herb gave an update to the Board about the Periodic Review meeting with
City Council. The Board's recommendations regarding priorities for cable franchise
renewal were received favorably. Council seems to agree with the prioritization and
appreciates the Board's role in the renewal process. Curt reported that Council was
also interested in a broadband project initiated by the City's Utilities Service Area.
Tim brought up Council's and Board's first priority, that of a lower cost basic cable
package. He asked Stan why Fort Collins was different that some of the other Front
Range communities. Stan explained that some had to do with history, demographics,
and business models. They have looked at various models to determine if any changes
would work, and concluded that the current package and pricing structure is the best.
Customer Service Standards
Liz reviewed the list provided to Council regarding potential Customer Service topics.
Robert suggested that clearly defined standards would benefit the customer as well as
Comcast, in that expectations would be clear regarding different aspects of customer
service. Liz explained that the standards will be developed in parallel with the franchise
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agreement, and there will be additional opportunities to review, discuss and amend the
existing list,
Curt asked Liz and Stan to provide some information regarding complaints received
from Fort Collins subscribers. Based on that information, the Board can concentrate
on the most important and frequent complaints to determine what should be included in
the standards. The Board can also determine what types of information they would like
the reports to contain.
Tim asked if Internet (ISP) outages were reported as well as Cable outages. Stan
indicated that Cable is the only area that is included in these reports.
Robert asked what is included in the reports required by the FCC. Stan explained that
proof of performance tests are conducted twice a year at end of line, as well as some
other tests.
Robert asked that customer privacy requirements be clearly defined in the standards.
Stan explained that Comcast provides information to subscribers letting them know if
they don't want to be included on a mailing list, they need to notify Comcast. David
mentioned that there also needs to be privacy related to sites people visit, video on
demand requests, etc.
The Board is also interested in getting more information about Comcast's complaint
procedure. A suggestion was made that a form be made available on the City's and
Comcast's web sites that customers could fill out if they have complaints. Information
on how complaints are handled would be included.
Some of the topics of interest to the Board that might appear on a report include
numbers of subscribers that add or drop cable service, and why. Herb indicated that by
watching for trends and other information from subscribers, the Board can act more
proactively and be helpful to the community.
The Board suggested adding information to the City's Web site about the process for
Cable TV complaints.
Robert asked Stan about services that may be coming to Fort Collins. Stan explained
that some network upgrades were in process, but wasn't sure if Fort Collins was
included and, if so, when the upgrades would be scheduled. Stan also mentioned that
Comcast is attempting to meet customer demands, and are developing a product that
will retrieve programming so customers can watch what they want, when they want.
Other improvements and services such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are also
being pursued in various cities nationally.
Gary asked about emergency system testing. He mentioned that he observed that
there were three tests done within a short period of time recently, and wondered if a
new system is being tested, or if there are problems with the systems. Stan mentioned
that the tests are scheduled to happen at different times during the day, and the length
of the test has been shorted.
Other Business:
10/05/04
Meeting day/time: Members continued a discussion from July concerning day and time
of meetings. The question is whether to continue to meet on Tuesday, or change the
meeting day. After some discussion, it was decided to change the meeting day to the
3rd Monday at 6 PM, beginning January 1, 2005. Tim Tillson made a motion to change
the meeting day, seconded by Herb Saperstone. The motion was passed unanimously
Curt mentioned he had been contacted by a local magazine concerning the franchise
process.
Robert moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Tim. The motion carried
unanimously.
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 PM
/o—
Date
Staff Liaison Date
10/05/04