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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-02-03 City Council (4)TO: FROM: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DATE: SUBJECT: FEBRUARY 3, 2003 CMR: 138:03 STATUS OF AT&T CABLE SYSTEM UPGRADE PROJECT This is an informational report and no Council action is required. BACKGROUND In 1983, a Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement (JPA) was entered into by Palo Alto, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Atherton, and portions of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties for the purpose of obtaining cable television services for residents, businesses, and institutions within these jurisdictions. The JPA gives Palo Alto the sole authority to grant and administer a cable television franchise on behalf of all of the JPA members. In 1986, a cable television franchise agreement was executed with Cable Co-op. In 2000, the City Council approved a transfer of the cable system from Cable Co-op to TCI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T, and a new franchise agreement with TCI. In July 2002, the Council approved the transfer of the franchise agreement to Comcast Corporation after Comcast Corporation acquired AT&T Broadband. Comcast Corporation will continue to operate the cable system under the name AT&T Broadband (AT&T) until a later date. The franchise agreement requires that AT&T complete an upgrade of the cable system by July 23, 2003. AT&T initiated the construction phase of the upgrade in mid 2002. This report provides background on the upgrade project and a status report on current construction. DISCUSSION The existing cable system was constructed in 1983, and serves Palo Alto and the JPA communities. It is comprised entirely of a coaxial cable infrastructure. The upgrade project involves replacing sections of the cable system infrastructure with new coaxial cable, installing new fiber-optic cable and replacing power supplies and comaection equipment. The large majority of the project involves replacing existing equipment with CMR: 138;03 Page 1 of 6 new equipment. The new additions to the cable system are primarily the new fiber-optic cable segments that will be installed for the most part at locations where existing coaxial cable exists. New equipment or new fiber-optic cable will be installed in only a few new locations. In addition, the cable system is primarily aerial and is installed in existing conduit when underground. Therefore there is little new underground trenching or excavation associated with this project. Design Review The franchise agreement requires that AT&T provide the City with a cable system design and construction plan 60 days prior to the start of construction. This information must include certain technical elements of the cable system upgrade project such as the design of the fiber-optic and coaxial cabling, number and location of hubs and nodes, standby power capabilities, and len~h of amplifier cascades. This information was submitted to the City on April 5, 2002. The City had 30 days to review the design and construction plan for compliance with the requirements of the franchise agreement. The City used the services of the Buske Group and Columbia Telecommunication Corporation (CTC) to conduct a technical review of the AT&T design and construction plan. The review focused on the technical requirements outlined in the franchise agreement, including the maximum number of residential subscribers per node and backup power supply requirements. In May 2002, the City concluded that the construction plan and timeline submitted by AT&T was in compliance with the requirements of the fi’anchise agreement. For example, a key requirement of the franchise agreement is that a maximum of 760 residential subscribers shall be served per node. The number of subscribers per node is an important number because it defines the quality of the signal transmission to homes; with greater than 760 subscribers lber node signal quality would be compromised. The City review of the plan confirmed that AT&T would satisfy this requirement, and allow approximately 500 subscribers per node. Permittin~ and Construction Once the design review requirement was satisfied, AT&T was able to begin construction on the cable system. Construction work is governed by the franchise agreement and by the City’s permit process. The franchise agreement allows for certain types of work to be performed on the cable system without a permit when it is maintenance-related. Maintenance-related work is performed on a re~o~ular basis to keep the cable system functioning. In preparation for upgrading the cable system, AT&T stepped-up the volume of maintenance work. Such work does not require a separate City construction permit since no new facilities are constructed. However, where work creates new facilities, a permit is required. AT&T’s initial maintenance-related construction work was initiated in late July 2002. This work primarily consisted of replacing existing coaxial cabling with new coaxial cabling. CMR: 138:03 Page 2 of 6 Concurrent with upgrading the coaxial cabling, in July 2002, AT&T also began submitting to the City applications for permits to construct new facilities. The new facilities that AT&T is constructing fall into three primary categories: fiber-optic cabling, power supplies, and vaults. The new fiber-optic cabling is the central component of the project, since fiber-optic cable transforms the cable system from a coaxial-based system to a fiber-optic-based system. Fiber-optic cable will give the system improved signal quality, greater reliability and enhanced services. Individual homes will continue to be served by coaxial cable. AT&T will also install new power supplies and vaults, but the number of these new installations will be few since the system already has existing power supplies and vaults. The permit review process not only looked at the construction aspects of the project, but also the architectural aspects. Architectural review was performed by the Planning Department through the Architectural Review Board (ARB) process. The ARB review focused on the size, color and location of the proposed new facilities. The ARB review required changes to the color and placement of the cable equipment before approval was granted. Permits for the fiber construction were issued in October 2002 and fiber construction began at that time. ARB approval was granted in December 2002 and the installation of new equipment started towards the end of 2002. With facilitation from City staff, AT&T has also met with representatives of Menlo Park, Atherton and East Palo Alto. As a result, AT&T initiated the permit review process in each of these cities and construction permits were issued in late 2002 by Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. Work in these cities began in January. AT&T is scheduled to begin construction in Atherton in April. AT&T will initiate construction in the portions of San Mateo County and Santa Clara County that are also served by the franchise agreement in April. Service Interruptions and Noticing During the construction phase of the cable system upgrade, interruption in service is expected. Since AT&T is replacing components along the transmission path that sends the cable signal to individual homes, service will be interrupted when equipment is replaced. AT&T attempts to minimize the duration and number of outages that any one customer experiences. In most cases this means that customers will experience a few short interruptions in service. Depending on where a customer is located on the cable system, they may experience more outages or longer duration outages. Planned interruptions in se~wice associated with construction are allowed by the franchise agreement and the Municipal Code. The Municipal Code requires that AT&T provide a notice to the City and customers 48 hours preceding a planned outage. AT&T notifies the City of planned outages through daily notifications and customers are notified through notices placed on the doors of affected customers. These door hanger notices CMR: 138:03 Page 3 of 6 indicate a date that outages will occur and provide the telephone number for AT&T customer service as well as the telephone number for the City’s cable franchise manager. AT&T is also notifying customers of the upgrade project through special letters and notifications on customer bills. If a service interruption exceeds four hours, a cable subscriber may contact AT&T and is entitled to receive a credit on their account. If an interruption in service exceeds 24 hours, subscribers are entitled to receive an automatic credit from AT&T. Typically, a planned interruption in service resulting from construction activity is considerably less than four hours. Institutional Network The franchise agreement requires that, in conjunction with the upgrade of the cable system, AT&T also construct an Institutional Network (I-Net). The I-Net is a fiber-optic network linking public and school facilities within the JPA communities. The I-Net portion of the project has proceeded cor~currently with the upgrade. At this time AT&T is in the process of completing equipment installation at I-Net sites within the Palo Alto Unified School District. AT&T is preparing for installation of I-Net equipment at sites in the other JPA communities. I-Net construction will continue to proceed concurrent with upgade construction and is schedule to be completed, along with the upgade, at the end of July 2003. Members of the JPA meet on a regular basis to plan for the activation and use .of the I- Net. With completion of the I-Net scheduled for July 2003, it is anticipated that JPA members will start connecting to the I-Net in late summer. Construction Inspection The franchise ageement permits the City to inspect and test the cable system at any time during construction. In December 2002, the City utilized the services of Columbia Technology Corporation to perform an inspection of the cable upgrade project to ensure that the project is conforming to construction standards and the requirements of the franchise ageement. The preliminary finding of the inspection is that the upgrade project is in conformance with construction standards and the franchise agreement. The report identified a small number of locations where the placement of cabling may not be in conformance with construction standards. The report also said that these issues are not uncommon to see in a cable system that is being up~aded and that cabling will be corrected as the upgrade nears completion. These locations will be reviewed again during a final inspection of the project. Subsequent inspections and tests will follow in the coming months and at the conclusion of the project. The inspections and tests will be performed to ensure that the upgaded cable system meets federal, state and City requirements for construction standards and system performance. CMR: 138:03 Page 4 of 6 Construction Schedule During the AT&T/Comcast franchise transfer process in July 2002, AT&T reaffirmed its commitment to the upgrade schedule defined in the franchise agreement. The franchise requires that the upgrade be completed by July 23, 2003. AT&T must increase the current rate of construction in order for the company to meet this deadline. AT&T’s construction schedule calls for an increase in the rate of construction during February and March and a sustained rate of construction that will meet the deadline. The City will continue to monitor the rate of construction over the next five months to identify any changes in the rate of progress. The rate of construction is indicated in the construction reports that AT&T provides the City as required by the franchise agreement. These reports are reviewed at re~o~ular bi-weekly construction meetings between City staff and AT&T. Staff will continue to keep the Council informed as the deadline approaches. Current indications are that AT&T remains committed to meeting the rebuild timeline. Enhanced Services Once the upgrade of the cable system is completed, the new system will offer customers enhanced quality and services. The system will have greater reliability and improved picture quality and customers will experience fewer outages and a better audio and video performance. Data services will again be offered to customers enabling high-speed cable modem connections to the Intemet. RESOURCE IMPACT Costs associated with monitoring the cable system rebuild are reimbursed through cable franchise fee revenue. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This report does not represent any change to existing City policy. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act. PREPARED BY: DAVID RAMBERG IT Manager, External Services Cable Franchise Manager CMR: 138:03 Page 5 of 6 DEPARTMENTAL HEAD APPROVAL: CARL YE~S Director, ~lministrative Services CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: EMILY HARRISON Assistant City Manager cc:JPA Members CMR: 138:03 Page 6 of 6