RE:AN INFORMATIONAL REPORT OUTLINING THE PURPOSE AND PROJECTED TIME-LINE FOR THE COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT AS A MAJOR COMPONENT OF THE CABLE FRANCHISE RENEWAL PROCESS

Pursuant to Resolution No. 75143 C.M.S. approved by the City Council on July 20, 1999, the City Manager entered into a professional services agreement with Municom, with H&H Ecoprises for an amount not to exceed $75,000 to perform a comprehensive Community Needs Assessment of Oakland’s cable television franchise over a six-month period necessary for the purpose of cable franchise renewal.

On July 20, 1999, the City Council approved an extension of the Franchise Ordinance No. 10399 until April 21, 2000, with all terms and conditions of the franchise to remain in effect.

The extension of the term of the franchise would allow time to complete and analyze the results of the Cable Franchise Financial Audit; the Technical Analysis and I-Net Study; Cable Franchise Compliance Review Audit; and the Community Needs Assessment to assist in the development of a comprehensive cable franchise renewal negotiation strategy with AT&T Cable Services, formerly TCI.

The Community Needs Assessment, a major component of the cable franchise renewal process, serves to assist the City of Oakland in identifying, assessing and reporting community needs in support of the City’s position in cable franchise renewal negotiations.

Listed below are the four (4) main components or tasks of the Community Needs Assessment, along with their respective projected completion dates.

1. Development and Implementation of a Subscriber Survey, by November 15, 1999
2. Review of Current Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) facilities, equipment and services, by November 15, 1999
3. Focus Groups and Community Forums, by November 24, 1999 (contingent upon the ability to schedule and conduct community forums)
4. Needs Assessment Report, by January 14, 2000

Task (1) – Subscriber Survey: Develop and conduct a subscriber survey (telephone survey) evaluating public satisfaction with the cable operator’s past performance and identifying future telecommunications needs, as they specifically relate to cable.

Task (2) – Review of current PEG facilities, equipment, and services: Municom will conduct a comprehensive review of existing PEG Access equipment and facilities that will be needed for the term of the future franchise.

Task (3) – Community Forums and Focus Groups: Address specific interests of community leaders, critical cable user groups and Oakland cable subscribers within Oakland, to be held in locations which encourage maximum, diverse population.

• Steve Jolin, the City’s cable/telecommunications consultant, will conduct approximately seven (7) community forums, one in each council district, although everyone is welcome to all meetings, irrespective of location. Each community forum will include the following:

1. Brief overview of the cable franchise renewal process
2. Public comments/Q&A
3. Completion and submittal of Community Needs Assessment questionnaire

• A list of dates and locations for the community forums will be provided in the Supplemental Agenda packet.

Task (4): Needs Assessment Report: Municom will prepare and submit a comprehensive report setting forth the future telecommunications needs and interests of the City of Oakland, as they specifically relate to cable, as determined by the needs assessment process.

The Community Needs Assessment began on August 1999 and is scheduled for completion by February 2000. The Community Needs Assessment is a major component of the Franchise Renewal Process in that it will serve to support the City’s negotiation position in the informal process with AT&T Broadband and Internet Services, ultimately to achieve the goal of a franchise agreement which would place the City of Oakland in the forefront of telecommunications technology.

This report is provided for information only.

Respectfully submitted,

Ceda Floyd
City Clerk Project Manager,
Cable Franchise Transfer/Renewal Negotiations

_______________________________

Office of the City Manager