2002-08-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Session 1850 August 26, 2002 and Charter's has respectfully worked towards a very beneficial and unique franchise for both Charter and the City. The unique commitments came with CALOP, the City being the first to experience an upgrade, as well as an increase in customer service reps. Originally, only fifteen customer service reps were dedicated to University City, now they have 135 virtual customer reps. Mr. Bordeaux further commented that the system that Charter took over in University City was antiquated and no longer used in the cable industry. New technology has since been installed. Ms. VVelsch noticed that the City could review the franchise every three years. She wondered if a more frequent review time could be instituted just in case poor customer service became an issue. Mr. Bordeaux responded that the City would have recourse as provided by the FCC if Charter became grossly uncompliant with service issues. The City does have rights as provided by the FCC. Ms. Welsch felt that the length of the franchise is rather long, and wondered if it wouldn't be better to have a shorter term. She asked what the standards were in other communities. Mr. Bordeaux said that the length of the contract is comparable to other communities. Responding to Mr. Sharpe's request for service in the schools, Mr. Bordeaux said that the cable in the classroom would be installed around September 9'h. After the installation is complete, the schools will be contacted to find out which are interested; then he can give him an exact schedule. Mr. Munkel stated that he understands that they have spent millions of dollars upgrading in University City, which in itself is a good reason for wanting such a long franchise. Charter, however, has been the fourth owner of the cable franchise and he wonders how long Charter plans to be around. Mr. Bordeaux said that Charter has long range initiatives and he does not have any other information about their plans to move on or not. Responding further to Mr. Munkel, Mr. Bordeaux said that Charter was financially capable of meeting their franchise expectations. He also mentioned that there is a provision in the franchise that states, that under the unlikely event that Charter should default on their obligation to the community, the community can confront their guarantor, Charter Communications Holding. University City's upgrade is completed and all that is needed to do at this juncture is launch the services. Mr. Lieberman said that Charter changed the service line up recently and did not inform the subscribers. He wondered why. Mr. Bordeaux said that the subscribers were notified several times. The other members of Council mentioned that they did receive notification. Jay Bordeaux is a subscriber to Charter. Mr. Bordeaux said that this negotiation took a little over one year to get to this point. Charter supports CALOP which has been evident with the funding structure. They are working on their parity initiatives. Rates, products and services will be the same across the region. In terms of their new services, such as cable on demand, high speed internet services, these will be offered soon. Mayor Adams closed the public hearing at 8:30 p.m.