HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 01/02/2001TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
**** January 2, 2001 ****
*** 6:00 PM ***
Council Liaison: Kurt Kastein Staff Liaison: Liz Stroh
Chairperson: Greg Smith Phone: 686-4755 (W)
Members Present: : Greg Smith, Tim Tillson, Braun Mincher, Howard Lowell, Bill
Murray, Tom Maher
Members Absent: : none
City Staff Present: Gary Gordier, Eric Dahlgren
Guests: none
Chair Greg Smith called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM on January 2, 2001
Approval of Minutes:
Board unanimously approved minutes as submitted.
AT&T Broadband Update:
Kathy Stewart, General Manager for AT&T Broadband, Fort Collins was not present.
She did call with some information to be shared with the board.
The AT&T Broadband call center has completed its first month of operations
supporting the Fort Collins area. From the personal experience of some of the
board members, the call center has some significant problems. The Board asked
that we specifically inform Kathy Stewart about this and ask that she come to the
next Board meeting so specific issues and suggestions could be shared. It might be
helpful if the person managing the call center could attend to talk with the board.
This request was made, not to complain, but to offer some constructive suggestions
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since this is something new.
Capacity has been increased for @home service. In her comments, Kathy stated
that a new fiber line is complete. This should improve the service and reduce the
problems that customers were experiencing with email and general access. There
is some question about this being a new fiber circuit, or if it is the new DS3 Qwest
circuit that was mentioned in a previous meeting. Clarification on this would be
informative.
AT&T Broadband announced today a new rate increase. No information was
provided to the City or to the Board regarding this increase. Initially, the city learned
about it from the press. Kathy said it would be approximately a 5% increase. Basic
service will go from $29.49 to $30.96. Digital packages will see specific dollar
increases depending on the package. Customers will not be charged for both the
basic service and the digital package increase. It will be on or the other.
2000 Annual Report
Tim Tillson moved approval of the Annual Report as presented. The motion received a
second, and received unanimous approval.
Discussion and Brainstorming on attracting cable television competition:
A discussion was entertained regarding step that could be taken to attract cable
television competition. It was noted that many companies might be "risk averse" at the
present time based on the stock market and the difficulty -acquiring fiber. The following
suggestions were made as possible ideas for the City to consider.
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If possible in working with PRPA, encourage providers to use PRPA fiber at no initial
charge or lease fee, but the provider would pay a fee from future revenue generated
by their customers. This would result in some shared risks to PRPA and the
provider.
Continue looking into the viability of deploying fiber in our sewer system as a way of
reducing costs to any provider.
Pay particular attention to what is happening in the wireless world. Site issues for
transmission facilities will need to be addressed.
Attend some industry trade shows with a booth to market the city. Goal to get a
competitive vendor sooner. The City should check with the Chamber of Commerce
about sharing costs. It was suggested that we would likely be looking at a cost of at
least $10,000.
The City should be as encouraging as possible to inquiries that are made. Perhaps
make sure the city is a "marketing package" to provide to potential vendors.
Try to use the Internet and our website as a marketing tool. Make sure the
information about community resources is cross -linked.
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2001 Workolan — Prioritization and specifics:
The Board reviewed the 2001 Workplan and established items in the following order of
priority.
1. Address Franchising issues (As appropriate for new applications or current
compliance)
2. Monitor other services offered by AT&T Broadband Services. (Continue)
3. Monitor State and Federal legislation related to Telecommunications. (Continue)
4. Public right of way management (Continue)
5. Keep abreast of the latest implemented technology in broadband services for the
benefit of our citizens and helping maintain Fort Collins as a city for the "New
Economy".
6. Equity and access issues - deal with issues of "cream skimming" (OK)
7. Items related to IT Strategic plan. (Continue)
8. Plan a field trip to Aurora for a site visit on their telephony approach.
9. 800 MHz
10. Microwave- Research use of microwave for last mile access. (Continue)
11. Review other community's issues. (Continue)
12. Fixed wireless (Continue)
13. Investigate ITFS frequency. (Howard??)
14. City's broadband utilization
15. Schedule meetings with the City Council Liaison on an as needed basis.
Other Business:
None.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:07 PM.
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