HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 1/17/2013Fort Collins
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Date: January 9, 2013
Communications and Public
Involvement Office
215 N. Mason St.
PO Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522
970.221.6505
lcgov. corn
To: Mayor and City Councilmembers
Through: Darin Atteberry, City Manager �—
Kelly DiMartino, Employee and Communication Services Director N -'
From: Kim Newcomer, Communications and Public Involvement Manager
Re: Comcast Cable Franchise Negotiations
As you know, the City of Fort Collins has a non-exclusive cable franchise agreement in effect with the
Colorado subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (Comcast). It went into effect on March 17, 2006 and
expires on March 16, 2015.
Comcast has indicated they wish to renew the franchise agreement. The renewal process includes an
overall evaluation of Comcast's compliance with our current franchise agreement, a community needs
assessment to identify community expectations, City staff review of the current state of the cable
industry, and active negotiations with Comcast.
The City will work with consultants to evaluate the financial, technical, and customer service standards
compliance to ensure that Comcast is meeting the obligations outlined in the Franchise Agreement.
The following provides a general timeline of the renewal process.
January - February 2013: Request for proposals (RFP) for consultant services released and
consultants hired via the City's standard RFP process
March - August 2013:
City Organization and Community Needs Assessment - includes an evaluation of compliance
with Customer Service Standards, input from City Council, and public input through events,
surveys, and outreach to our Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) partners (Poudre
School District, Fort Collins Public Access Network, and Colorado State University).
• Technical Audit - includes an evaluation of infrastructure, signal quality, system integrity,
undergrounding, and future capabilities.
Financial Audit - Comcast charges a small PEG fee to all subscribers. It also pays a franchise
fee. These monies constitute the $1.2 million in revenue per year to the City's General Fund. To
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ensure that Comcast is complying with the financial obligations as outlined in the Franchise
Agreement, an audit is needed.
September — November 2013: Analysis of data and information collected in prior months
December 2013: Council Work.Session
January 2014: Active Negotiations with Comcast begin
February — December 2014: Council Work Sessions and Executive Sessions as needed
March 2015: Renewal of Agreement
As you may recall, these negotiations are often complex and time -intensive and at times even
contentious. Consequently, I wanted to make you aware of the overall project plan. I will provide more
detailed updates and progress reports as we move through the renewal process.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.