07-08-1998 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Cable Company Franchise Renewal Proposal At its August 1997 meeting, the North Suburban Cable Commission voted to recommend approval of the franchise renewal proposal from Meredith Cable to its member cities. Once the final franchise ordinance embodying the proposal is drafted, k will be taken to the cities for their approval. The current franchises expire in November 1997. Responding to the needs assessment conducted last year by the Cable Commission, the company has proposed to upgrade the current 450 MHz, 65- channel system to 750 MHz using hybrid fiber -coaxial cable architecture. The company plans to offer 81 channels of analog video programming and reserve 200 MHz for additional video channels and digital services. to addition to enabling the company to offer more programming services, the new system will provide cable subscribers with higher signal quality and more reliability. Assuming approval of the franchise by the cities, construction of the new system is expected to begin next spring. Proposal Summary Subscriber System Upgrade •The subscriber system will be upgraded from the current 450 MHz, 65 Channel system to a 750 MHz system. Initially, the company will activate 550 MHz for 81 channels of analog video channels. The remaining 200 MHz will be reserved for additional video channels and digital services. This will mean that the Cable Commission will be able to reclaim loaned community channels from the company. •The system will be rebuilt using a hybrid fiber - coaxial cable architecture. The fiber will initially be taken down to nodes of approximately 2,000 homes with a minimum 16 fiber count, but the nodes will be designed to be capable of migrating to 500 homes with a minimum four fiber count as digital services are provided. The increased use of fiber, along with improve- ments in the electronics in the system, will give subscribers more reliability and higher signal quality. •The system will no longer use "channel mapping" for the Basic programming services, so that all of the local VHF broadcast signals will be located "on channel" for all customers, regardless of whether they use a con- verter box or not. For example, if you have a cable -ready television and do not use a converter, WCCO-Channel 4 is located on channel 28 of the cable system. The purpose for channel mapping is to avoid problems caused when the over - the -air broadcast signal leaks into the cable system. The use of fiber optics and the need for fewer signal amplifiers makes channel mapping unnecessary. The company will interconnect this cable system with ocher commonly owned, adjacent systems in the metro area. This will enable pro- gratn sharing and other kinds of communication with other access facilities, such as the Ramsey/Washington Cable Commission (Suburban Community Channels). The company plans to begin design and "walkout" and to pull permits withing 90 days of the approval of the new franchise. The intent is to complete the project by November 30, 2000, although they will aggressively work to substantially complete construction by November 30, 1999. Commitment to Community Television The company will continue to comply with existing agreements regarding support for community television, including: •Agreeing to maintain the current number (12) of community access channels. Further the Cable Commission will retain control over the entire 6 Mhz of spectrum that currently equals one video channel. This will become very important when digital compression technology is introduced because it will give the Cable Commission/CTV control over whether to com- press the signal and by how much. • Maintaining its financial support of community television, which includes the operating grant for CV North Suburbs, the annual $50,000 Equipment Replacement Grant, and the Scholarship Grant, which may now be used for student internships. The company also agreed to provide an additional $667,286 for equipment replacements over the 15-year life of the franchise, beginning with $40,000 in the first year and increasing by 1.5% each year thereafter. This additional equipment funding will help defray the cost of replacing Van 1 and the DiTech switcher in Master Control and of making the transition to digital editing and playback equipment. Institutional Network •The company will add to and improve electronic equipment on rite existing coaxial institutional network to increase its performance and reliability. • In addition, four fibers on the subscriber network will be reserved for use by public institutions, including cities, schools, and libraries. •The company has also agreed to meet mutually acceptable tech- nical and performance standards for the Institutional Network High Speed Data Transmission • In addition to traditional video services, the system will be capa- ble of providing high speed data services to business users. — Coralie Wilson Page 19