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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 12/08/1998TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD MEETING MINUTES **** December 8, 1998 **** *** 7:00 PM *** Council Liaison: Chris Kneeland Staff Liaison: Liz Stroh, Michael Gitter Chairperson: Greg Smiths Phone: 686-4755 (W) Members Present: Greg Smith, Larry Bontempo, Tom Maher, Ernie Powell Members Absent: Howard Lowell, Dave Augustine City Staff Present: Gary Gordier, John Duval, Eric Dahlgren, Liz Stroh Guests: TCI @ Home representatives Dottie Lane and Patrick McGrew, Kathy Stewart Chair Greg Smith called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM Approval of Minutes: Minutes: Tom Maher made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, Larry seconded the motion which passed unanimously. PRPA franchise discussion Greg Smith read comments sent by Howard Llowell who was unable to attend the meeting. Howard expressed concern about the definition of "Telecommunications Carrier" as it might relate to the CSU campus phone system. John Duval, Deputy City Attorney, explained the definition was taken from the 1996 Telecommunications Act. John explained that the agreement allows PRPA to lease to other carriers, but PRPA is not a carrier or service provider. Larry Bontempo complimented the staff involved in the effort, indicating that he felt it was a good thing for the community and for the City. A discussion followed concerning how Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) might be used in the future and how that might impact the agreement. John Duval explained that the DWDM aspect wasn't 0 addressed in the agreement. DWDM technology allows providers to use the same fiber and multiplex multiple wavelengths over it. Eric discussed that there are other opportunities that may arise from this project, and that the City and PRPA have tried to position to be the most flexible. PRPA is currently discussing a lease agreement with ICG, a telecom provider with a presence along the Front Range. Net profits from this lease will be given to the City by PRPA as franchise payments. Larry asked about construction costs; Eric reported that PRPA spent 6.5 million in all 4 cities. Tim asked about a completion date; Eric reported that final splicing will be completed within the next two weeks. The total mileage for the loop around the city was 24 miles. Board members raised questions about on -going maintenance and who is responsible for this. PRPA will be responsible for repairs, with the costs being billed to whomever damages or cuts the fiber line. Tim asked if there were plans to use any of the City's 12 stands for FortNet. Gary indicated that that was not currently under consideration. Gary also reported that the City will need to buy the necessary electronics needed to use the system, both as an internal network and to connect to US West should phone service be provided on the City's portion of the fiber lines. Tom Maher moved to recommend to Council that the franchise be adopted as written. Larry seconded the motion. During discussion, the question was asked about the ability to increase the amount of the leases. Eric reported that the lease amounts will increase based on the Consumer Price Index. John explained that the City's charter required that the option to purchase the system at the end of the franchise term be included in the franchise. The City Council could chose to renew the franchise at the end of the 20-year term as well. Revenue from the leasing will be passed on to the City by PRPA, after costs are met. The board unanimously approved the motion recommending to Council that they approve the ordinance for this franchise. TCI Presentation: Dottie Lane. Director of Product Development, and Patrick McGrew technical support for TCI's @ Home product gave a presentation to the board. @Home is 60% owned by TCl/ATT, and the product has been marketed for about 6 months. Plans are to bring it to Fort Collins by end of summer, 1999. The system is based on fast Ethernet switch technology using coax to provide the connection for the home, with a dedicated return path. The system is designed to be able to grow as saturation increases. The system is engineered using 1200 households passed as the initial assumption. As the customer demands increase fiber can be allocated without having to actually install more fiber cables. Over time, subscribers will see more and more digital formats and less analog cable channels. Larry mentioned that this type of technology is something that home designers and builders want to include in designs for "smart homes". Installations take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. @Home is considering a tiered installation, depending on whether or not the subscriber will install the software, etc. Currently one modem will provide access for up to 3 computers. There are many potential uses, including the use of Net Meeting or similar programs. @Home will provide one outlet to each school in the service area as a public service and to demonstrate their commitment to education. @Home is meant to be a residential service, and other products are currently under development including @ Small Business, @Office, etc. TCI of Fort Collins plans to have beta sites in place by mid -year. TCI Update Kathy Stewart announced that the Sci Fi channel will be added back to the analog basic service, in response to customer requests. Other programming additions and changes are in the works, and Kathy will have a line up next month. Tom complimented Kathy on the 6 minute news show running on the CNN channel. Kathy announced they were trying to put together a show that featured the high school coaches in an attempt to provide better coverage of local sports. 1999 Work plan The Board updated the 1998 work plan and identified new areas of interest for 1999. Tom made a motion to adopt the plan for 1999. Larry seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Meeting Attendance Greg began the discussion by explaining that over the last 3 months the board had been unable to meet due to the lack of a quorum, and explained what the by-laws required regarding attendance. He asked for ideas in dealing with this. Various members acknowledged that it was important to attend if a commitment had been given, in order to avoid future problems. Ernie Powell mentioned that his job required him to be on stand- by and is not always able to forecast when he might be called out. The Board is obviously very valuable to the community, the City and City Council and there was concern expressed that the board looses credibility if it does not meet. All agreed to give some thought to their individual situations and make a determination about whether or not they could continue to serve within the guidelines outlines in the by-laws. Meeting Date and Time Change The board voted unanimously to change the meeting day from the second Tuesday of the month to the first. The next meeting will be January 5' at 7:00 PM in the Information Technology Conference Room. Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.