HomeMy WebLinkAboutTelecommunications Board - Minutes - 03/19/2007TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
March 19, 2007
6:00 PM
Council Liaison: David Roy
Staff Liaison: Jenna Stieben, Management Information Services; 221-6790
Board Chair: Curt Cramer
Vice Chair: Herb Saperstone
Present: Curt Cramer, Chip Cushman, David Heiberg, Wayne Wiemerslage,
Herb Saperstone
Absent: Robert Reischenberger
Staff: Eric Dahlgren, Jenna Stieben, Tom Vosburg
Guest: Kat Shackelford
Chair Curt Cramer called the meeting to order at 6: 00 PM.
Public Input:
None
Minutes:
Chip Cushman introduced a motion to approve minutes, seconded by David
Heiberg. Minutes were approved unanimously.
Curt Kramer informed the Board that Robert Reischenberger resigned
Update on Intern Project
Kat Shakelford presented a Powerpoint presentation and a handout (attached) of
the completed project to the Board. The Board discussed some ideas that might
help the public with understanding the information better. They would like to write
out Voice over IP, rather then abbreviate it, Show a range of prices rather then
just the lowest price available, and make sure it is possible to link all the
resources on the web site. Add a link for wireless cards, add a link for consumer
reports, and add a link to Whitefence.com.
The Board was very pleased with the work in progress and hopes to have it
available to the public soon. The Board will review the changes at the April Board
meeting.
Municipal WiFi
Tom Vosburg gave the Board a report summarizing his findings from the
Municipal Wireless conference which he attended in Dallas on 4/4/07. The focus
of the conference was on the municipal use of wi-fi in US communities and on
the underlying technology and business plans involved. There are approximately
400 municipals which either have wi-fi systems or are in various stages of
acquiring a system. WI-fi is a relatively proven technology but is still evolving in
terms of better security, higher bandwidth, and the use of multi -radio access
points. WiMax, which is the next generation of mobile wireless, is much newer,
has not developed solid standards, and is evolving very rapidly, but holds great
promise for higher bandwidth and greater range.
One of the primary issues for Fort Collins is which business model to focus on.
Almost every muni wi-fi system has a slightly different model ranging from total
public ownership to total private ownership and every stage in between. Fort
Collins will need to decide based on our community's unique needs how much
ownership and control we want to create. More control, of course, means more
investment and involvement. Fort Collins is very attractive to wi-fi vendors
because of several attributes that we could bring to the table including a locally -
owned electric utility (for access to the streetlight poles, electricity to power the
access points, and a labor force to mount the antennas), an extensive fiber optics
system to provide high -bandwidth backhaul, a growing and high-tech community,
and very little competition for the local incumbent telecom providers (Comcast
and Qwest).
Tom explained that the city intends to work closely with CSU and other local
agencies to explore creating one or two pilot test areas in the city in order to get
better educated about the issues involved in building and operating a muni wi-fi
system. Tom will do a presentation to the City Manager and selected City
Council members sometime in mid to late May (moved from May 2).
Adjournment
Herb Saperstone moved to adjourn, seconded by Chip Cushman. The motion
passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:28 PM
Board Chair Date