Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/12/09 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - RegularOFFICIAL MINUTES ST. LOUIS PARK TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION MEETING OF DECEMBER 9, 2015 ST. LOUIS PARK COUNCIL CHAMBERS MEMBERS PRESENT: Maren Anderson, Bruce Browning, Dale Hartman, Toby Keeler and Rolf Peterson MEMBERS ABSENT: Cindy Hoffman and Andrew Reinhardt STAFF PRESENT: Reg Dunlap, Civic TV Coordinator; John McHugh, Community TV Coordinator; and, Jacqueline Larson, Communications and Marketing Manager OTHERS PRESENT: Karly Werner, Comcast Cable; Tyler Middleton, CenturyLink 1. Call to Order Chair Browning called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Present at roll call were Commissioners Anderson, Browning, Hartman, Keeler and Peterson. 3. Approval of Minutes A. Telecommunications Commission minutes: August 12, 2015 It was moved by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Keeler, to approve the minutes of August 12, 2015, without changes. The motion passed 5-0. B. Telecommunications Commission minutes: September 23, 2015 special meeting It was moved by Commissioner Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Keeler, to approve the minutes of September 23, 2015, without changes. The motion passed 5-0. 4. Adoption of Agenda It was moved by Commissioner Keeler, seconded by Commissioner Peterson, to approve the agenda. The motion passed 5-0. 5. Public Comment - None 6. Reports & Discussion A. CenturyLink Franchise update Mr. Dunlap stated that the City Council adopted the proposed franchise on November 16th and staff is in the final stages of getting it finalized with signatures from CenturyLink. The effective date of the franchise is December 12th. A CenturyLink representative was invited to talk about when service will be available in St. Louis Park. Tyler Middleton, CenturyLink’s Vice President for Operations, said service would be available in a matter of days and certainly by the end of year, after they finalizing some things system-wise. Once that is done, residents can go to their web site to see if they are eligible. They will also be mailing marketing brochures to eligible households and have sales teams going door to door. Chair Browning asked how long does it would take to get connected? Mr. Middleton replied statutorily it is seven days, but it usually takes two days. There is a lot of interest and demand. The final date is fluid, but by 12/23 for sure. Chair Browning asked what the cost of service and how it compared to other areas? Mr. Middleton replied the best way to look at options was on their web site and cost depended on what customers wanted to have. Mr. Dunlap asked if they have to be CenturyLink telephone or Internet customers for this service? Mr. Middleton replied telephone was not required, but it runs over their Internet, so they work hand in hand. The pricing offers are the same across Metro area, and eight cities are live right now. Commissioner Keeler asked what channel they got for St. Louis Park? Mr. Dunlap said channel 22. Mr. McHugh noted they came up with the slogan “Choose Your View on 22.” Mr. Dunlap said he’d talked to CenturyLink engineers and had several on-site visits, and it will be 180 days before the local programming equipment is installed. B. Customer service update from Comcast Ms. Werner said that Mr. Dunlap prepared the annual compilation of complaints. Comcast has a multi-year commitment to transform the customer service experience. They are investing $300 million into customer service call center improvements based on customer feedback which will create 5,500 new jobs in U.S. with 400 in the St. Paul office. Hiring will begin in January. Chair Browning asked if there are specialists for customer service? Mr. Werner responded that was the intent a couple years ago where they went from generalists to more “specialists” and they are still building on that. Ms. Werner noted that bills will be simplified in the next quarter and they are also simplifying the credit approval processes. They will no longer be charging for self install kits for customers. They can send a truck or tech if a customer needs assistance at no charge. They will continue to keep the Commission updated. Chair Browning commented that the co-pilot was interesting and a really great idea. The cable box is a computer, and to be able to walk a customer through a problem is a good use of technology. Will there be another speed increase coming next year for the new DOCSIS standard, and will new modems be required? Ms. Werner replied that they doubled most of the speeds in the fall at no additional price. In November they increased speeds in the most popular bundles. Customers need to reset their modems to take advantage of the new speeds. They will be rolling out the new DOCSIS 3.1 services by the end of 2016, and every customer will have access to 1 gig service with the new modem. Chair Browning asked if there was any idea on the price for the new services, and Ms. Werner said that information isn’t available yet. Mr. Dunlap put up a table with tabulated Comcast complaints for the last five years. The total complaint calls so far this year were 73, which so far is down 25% from last year. Total cable service complaints so far are 115 this year, compared with 130 last year, so far down 11%. A trend in the right direction. The commission was asking about the complaints and what they could do about it. They can consider as a work plan item doing this report each quarter to track the trends. If calls went up, they could consider action. Commissioner Peterson asked if previous years could be broken down into quarters? Mr. Dunlap said that he wasn’t thinking of tabulating the past quarters, but tabulating the 2016 first quarter. Commissioner Keeler noted that the number of complaints was ½ of a percent of the 13,000 subscribers. Mr. McHugh said Comcast currently had some service areas in certain states that have data tiers. Is there anything like that planned for Minnesota? Ms. Werner replied they are piloting that in a number of markets, but there were no plans at the moment to institute that in the Twin Cities. C. Comcast update on new rates or changes in the channel lineup Chair Browning said that there are no changes at this time. D. Complaint logs Chair Browning said that the numbers look better. Most complaints are typically billing questions. Having a new bill was a good step. Are bills the same on-line versus paper? Ms. Werner replied yes. Mr. Dunlap noted that there would be CenturyLink complaints now as well. E. Proposed Annual Meeting with Council 2/22/16, Draft Annual Report for 2015 and Work Plan for 2016 Mr. Dunlap presented the annual report and work plan, and described the Council’s plans for these reports. All Commissions will meet with the City Council on the same night and have a ten-minute presentation and ten minutes for question and answer. This Commission’s time slot is 6:40 to 7 p.m., and all commissioners are invited. The report and work plan have been started, but Commissioners need to brainstorm topics they’d like to pursue for the work plan. The Cable TV technology presentation was not completed in 2015 because it was an extremely busy year for the Commission. For 2016 he suggested that they consider touring the Golden Valley CenturyLink facility. It would be great to see how the technology differs from Comcast. Chair Browning liked the idea of touring CenturyLink, said that fiber was the ultimate broadband and suggested having a speaker discuss fiber technology. He would like to know how the fiber installations in other cities could impact St. Louis Park. The city has some “dark” fiber now and he’d like to see if the city could utilize existing infrastructure with partners like Park Nicollet’s eating disorder institute or with Southwest Light Rail. He said he didn’t know if the city should lease it out or wanted to take that responsibility on. Fiber is the future of broadband, and it would be good to find out how much data can move across it, since that’s changed over the years. Mr. Middleton said that CenturyLink could arrange a fiber splicing demonstration, and Chair Browning liked that idea. Commissioner Keeler stated that the City Council has a vision for communications and technology engagement. It would be a good exercise to see what elements of that vision that this Commission could take on to provide recommendations or support. Chair Browning indicated they could attend a City Council study session and hear Council’s vision and get suggestions. They had articulated that generally, but maybe they need to get more specific about it, and what they would like to see. Mr. McHugh identified second Wednesday’s of the month were a conflict for him. Mr. Dunlap said that he started with the fourth Wednesday of each month but some of those weren’t available. Mr. Dunlap suggested that Park TV marketing be part of the work plan and get suggestions on February 24th. He might have some ideas at that point from the graphic artist staff working on the marketing. Chair Browning stated it would be nice to change City Hall signage to reflect Park TV and perhaps have logos on the trucks. Let’s toot our own horn a bit. Mr. Dunlap noted that the production van does have significant logos for the local channels. They will be adding a different channel on CenturyLink and that will be part of the marketing update, to educate customers how to find ParkTV there. Chair Browning suggested displaying messages on local electronic signs, like at the church on Minnetonka Boulevard. Mr. Dunlap would update the reports and send to commissioners. F. Set meetings for 2016 Commissioners set the 2016 meetings as follows: February 24, May 11, July 27, October 26 and December 14. G. Elect Chair & Vice Chair, effective next meeting Chair Browning opened the nominations for Chair. Commissioner Keeler made a motion to nominate Commissioner Peterson as Chair, Commissioner Anderson seconded. Chair Browning called twice more for nominations. The motion to approve Commissioner Peterson as Chair passed 5-0. Commissioner Browning made a motion to nominate Commissioner Anderson as Vice Chair, Commissioner Keeler seconded. Chair Browning called twice more for nominations. The motion to approve Commissioner Anderson as Vice Chair passed 5-0. 7. Communication from the Chair, Communications from City Staff Chair Bruce said it was an interesting and fun year, and he was glad to have CenturyLink in the mix now. Commissioner Keeler wanted to recognize the St. Louis Park staff for an excellent job in the negotiations with CenturyLink, and commended the CenturyLink staff as a pleasure to work with. Mr. McHugh distributed programming to date for TV15. He said it was the first year he and Scott Smith had broken 100 programs, and it was a great feeling to be able to go out and find and produce all that programming. Chair Browning felt it was phenomenal that it’s primarily two people were doing that programming. Commissioner Keeler wanted to recognize Mr. Dunlap for volunteering to serve on the MACTA Board beginning in 2016 and be the membership committee chair. 8. Adjournment Commissioner Peterson made a motion, Commission Keeler seconded to adjourn at 7:45. The motion passed 5-0. Respectfully submitted by: Amy L. Stegora-Peterson Recording Secretary