Minutes Cable TV Regulatory Commssion 1 10 07MINUTES OF CABLE TV REGULATORY COMMISSION MEETING
January 10, 2007
CITY HALL ANNEX CONFERENCE ROOM #2
MEMBERS PRESENT: Ron Tigges, Kevin Stevens, Walt Webster
MEMBERS ABSENT: Charles Ellis. One seat remains vacant on the Commission
OTHERS PRESENT: Craig Nowack, City of Dubuque Cable TV Coordinator
Kathy McMullen, Mediacom Area Manager
Mr. Webster called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m.
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Acceptance of the Agenda.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the agenda was approved
unanimously as distributed.
Approval of the Minutes of the November 8, 2006, Meeting.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the Minutes of the
November 8, 2006, meeting were approved unanimously as distributed.
Public Comment.
No one was present to address the Commission.
Status of Telecom Projects in Dubuque.
No one had anything to discuss on this topic.
Franchise.
Mr. Nowack had nothing new to report on this topic.
Legislation
Mr. Nowack informed the Commission of the FCC order on December 20, 2006,
relating to the FCC view that local municipalities are a barrier to entry for
competitors wishing to offer video service. The order itself has not yet been
released. The City opposes this order and has joined a coalition to try to overturn
the order. No legal action may be taken until the order is officially released. The
order among other things puts a time limit on franchise negotiations and removes
PEG and I-Net support. Many feel that the FCC has exceeded its authority in
issuing this order and that may well be the basis for appealing it.
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Mr. Nowack also reported that the effect of the change in Congress after the
November election is unclear.
7. Mediacom General Manager's Report
Ms. McMullen discussed the signal quality of Channel 2 on the cable system.
Since Mediacom can no longer carry KGAN there, they are duplicating the signal of
WISC-TV in Madison (Channel 18) there. The quality of that signal is intermittent
and "tiling" can occur. The last two days the picture quality was excellent, but late
this morning the tiling began again. Mediacom technicians are not sure what the
problem is, but there may be a problem in the fiber that imports the signal, or with
the equipment that's in that fiber line. They are considering re-routing the signal
path, from Lena to Moline back up to Dubuque.
Ms. McMullen also reported that Mediacom is having issues with PEG VOD,
Mediacom Connections VOD, and approximately 2,000 VOD movie titles. A "9011"
error is occurring, a communications error. She explained that the titles are not
downloading correctly. Everything with that error message was removed from the
system and is being downloaded again. This process takes time.
Mr. Nowack discussed a problem he'd noticed with the HD signal of the broadcast
stations. For a few weeks now every six to ten seconds the picture would the and
the audio would hiccup. Over the past weekend he called the regular Mediacom
number and set up an appointment for this Friday for them to come out.
Technicians actually came yesterday and fixed the problem.
Mediacom is also installing a new EAS (Emergency Alert System) system and
have been testing it last week and this week. When it triggers, it tunes all TV sets
to Channel 19, and they have received a few calls about that.
8. Staff Report
Mr. Nowack reported Sinclair situation and the previously discussed FCC order
have been at the forefront lately. At the end of December he received the bulk of
the I-Net testing documents. The City has been having some users meetings with
those users who will be using the I-Net the most. He expects the fiber to be lit
soon. He also reminded the Commissioners that the Cable TV budget
presentation is on February 26. He noted that he has been involved in a number
of meetings regarding the new Council chambers at the Federal Building.
9. Future Agenda Items
No new items were discussed.
10. Adjournment.
Upon a motion by Mr. Stevens, seconded by Mr. Tigges, the meeting was
adjourned at 5:59 p.m.
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