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TO:HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM:ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER DATE:FEBRUARY 4, 2003 SUBJECT:ADOPTION OF FINDINGS FOR THE FIRST SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF 2000 CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH COX COMMUNICATIONS RECOMMENDATION Adopt Resolution No. 2003- ; making findings regarding the first scheduled system performance audit of the 2000 Cable Television Franchise Agreement. DISCUSSION On January 7, 2003, the City Council conducted the first system performance audit of 2000 Cable Television Franchise Renewal Agreement with Cox Communications. Pursuant to Section 8.1(c) of the Agreement, within 30 days after the conclusion of the performance audit (which ended on January 15, 2003), the City may issue findings with respect to system compliance (February 14, 2003). As part of the findings, the City Council may direct Cox Communications to correct any noncompliance that was identified as part of the audit within a reasonable period of time. Therefore, based on the feedback and direction the Council provided at the January 7th meeting, staff has prepared a draft Resolution (see attached), which contains the findings, identifies the areas of non-compliance and specifies the actions and timeline allotted to correct these items. Council may recall that in the January 7th staff report, staff noted that the cable operator had not been in compliance with minimum federal standards to customer service response times during the first half of 2002. The problem was attributed to the transition from the original high-speed Internet service to a service owned and operated by Cox Communications. Because the data for the second half of 2002 was unavailable at the time January 7th report was prepared, staff was unable to draw any conclusions about whether the problem had been corrected. Unfortunately, staff has still not received this data. Therefore, staff has identified this as an additional area of non-compliance in the attached Resolution. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONIn the January 7th staff report, staff indicated that the number of customer complaints the City staff receives each year regarding the cable service is very low compared to the number of subscribers in the City. Following the broadcast of the Council meeting, the City received two complaints emails from Cox customers who were watching the broadcast of the meeting. Lois & Jack Karp related their bad experience with the installation of high speed Internet service, while Jorg & Anke Raue made more general complaints about poor broadcast quality and rate increases. In keeping with City practice, Staff forwarded both complaints to Cox Communications for response. Cox responded to both parties within seven calendar days of receiving the complaints from the City. The original complaints and the cable operator’s responses are attached for the Council’s information. Respectfully submitted: Carolynn Petru Assistant City Manager Attachments: Draft Resolution No. 2003- ;
RESOLUTION NO. 2003- A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES MAKING FINDINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE FIRST SCHEDULED SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF 2000 CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH COX COMMUNICATIONSWHEREAS, On October 17, 2000, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 2000-71, thereby entering into a non-exclusive, ten year Cable Television Franchise Renewal Agreement with Cox Communications; and, WHEREAS, the 2000 Franchise Renewal Agreement includes a requirement that three system performance audits be conducted following the second, fourth and sixth anniversary dates of the Agreement. October 17, 2002 marked the second anniversary of the Franchise Renewal Agreement. Pursuant to Section 8.1(b) of the Agreement, the City and Cox Communications were required to meet within 90 days following the second anniversary date of the Agreement to review the performance of the cable television system; and, WHEREAS, on January 7, 2003, within 90 days following the second anniversary date of the Agreement, the City Council reviewed the performance of the cable television system; and, WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 8.1(c) of the Agreement, within 30 days after the conclusion of the performance audit, the City may issue findings with respect to system compliance. If any noncompliance is identified, the City may direct Cox Communications to correct the noncompliance within a reasonable period of time; and, NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: Section 1: The Cable Television Franchise Renewal Agreement (Exhibit C - Technology Implementation Plan) required Cox Communications to upgrade its cable network from a hybrid coaxial cable system to fiber optic technology with a total bandwidth of 750 Megahertz (MHz) by December 31, 2000. The City Council finds that the cable operator complied with this requirement of the Agreement. In addition, Exhibit C required the new fiber optic cable network to include greater system reliability, enhanced picture quality, the ability to support new services and future technologies, and an expanded channel capacity. The City Council finds as follows:
Section 2: Section 76.309(c) of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which is incorporated as an attachment to the Franchise Renewal Agreement, contains standards regarding the cable operator’s customer service obligations. The standards require that customer calls be answered with thirty (30) seconds of the connection being made and that the cable operator achieve this standard ninety (90) percent of the time, under normal operating conditions. Although the cable operator was in compliance with the federal standards during 2001, it did not meet the standards during the first half of 2002. The deficiency was attributed to an unusually high volume of calls generated by a sudden change in its high-speed Internet service provider. However, the cable operator did not provide the City with data for the second half of the year to determine if the deficiency has been subsequently corrected. Therefore, the City Council finds that the cable operator is not in compliance with its the federal customer service obligations. In addition, the City Council expressed concern about the fact that the cable operator closed its local customer service call center in December 2002 and now all local customer service calls are transferred to a centralized call center located in San Diego. Therefore, the City Council directs the cable operator to address these two issues within a reasonable period of time, as specified in the attached Exhibit A. Section 3: In addition to the state and federal customer service requirements that are incorporated as attachments to the Franchise Renewal Agreement, the City has required the cable operator to comply with some additional customer service requirements, which are included in Exhibit D (Customer Protection Standards) of the Agreement. The City Council finds that the cable operator was in compliance with the following customer service standards during the first scheduled system performance audit:
The City Council finds that the cable operator was only in partial compliance with the following customer service standard during the first scheduled system performance audit:
Therefore, the City Council directs the cable operator to address this issue within a reasonable period of time, as specified in the attached Exhibit A. The City Council finds that the cable operator was not in compliance with the following customer service standards during the first scheduled system performance audit:
Therefore, the City Council directs the cable operator to address these two issues within a reasonable period of time, as summarized in the attached Exhibit A. Section 4: As required in Exhibit E (Support of Local Government Access) of the Franchise Renewal Agreement, the City Council finds that the cable operator has installed new audio and video equipment in the Council Chambers at City Hall and broadcasts Planning Commission meetings on Government Access Channel 3. However, the City Council is dissatisfied with the placement of the three robotic cameras in the Council Chambers, which have created "security camera" angles that resulted from the high placement of this equipment. In addition, the City Council finds that the cable operator has not provided reliable playback of City programming on Government Access Channel 3 in that the City has written to the cable operator on three occasions in 2001 and 2002 regarding multiple missed broadcasts. Therefore, the City Council directs the cable operator to address this issue within a reasonable period of time, as specified in the attached Exhibit A. Section 5: Pursuant to Section 8.1(c) of the Franchise Renewal Agreement, the City Council hereby issues the findings contained in this Resolution with respect to the first system performance audit. Regarding the areas of non-compliance identified in Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this Resolution, the City Council hereby directs the cable operator to correct these items within reasonable time frames, as specified in Exhibit A, which is attached hereto and made a part thereof. PASSED, APPROVED, and ADOPTED this 4th day of February 2003.
__________________________ MAYOR ATTEST:
______________________ CITY CLERK
State of California) County of Los Angeles)ss City of Rancho Palos Verdes)
I, Jo Purcell, City Clerk of The City of Rancho Palos Verdes, hereby certify that the above Resolution No. 2003- was duly and regularly passed and adopted by the said City Council at regular meeting thereof held on February 4, 2003.
__________________________ CITY CLERK
Exhibit A Cable Television Franchise Renewal Agreement Non-Compliance Issues to be Resolved
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