09-28-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL, MEETING Monday, September 28, 2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. 5. MEDIACOM UPDATE (continued) Sunde stated they are here tonight to discuss Mediacom's buildout under the franchise agreement with the City. Sunde indicated Mediacom has met their contractual requirements and the map they have submitted shows the areas that have been built out. Raskovich stated the last segment to be activated was Wakefield Road. Sunde stated the majority of the infrastructure was already in place but two new areas were added. Sunde stated people are now able to have cable if they so choose in the buildout area. Mayor McMillan stated she has a couple of issues regarding service. McMillan stated one of the complaints revolved around having to drive down to the Mound office and finding the office closed. Suede stated they are well aware of that situation and the person was mistakenly sent to the Mound office. Sunde stated Mediacom did receive a letter from that person, and as a result of the misdirection, someone lost their job over it. Mediacom has apologized to the person and will be reaching out to them. McMillan stated she would appreciate that. McMillan asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak regarding this item. Loren Schoenzeit, 4480 Forest Lake Landing, stated he has a couple of questions for Mediacom. Schoenzeit stated he would like to get straight answers from Mediacom's sales department on what year two products cost. Schoenzeit stated everything that Mediacom offers on their website has the first year special price but the second year cost is difficult to obtain. In addition, the sales department cannot provide an answer to that question. Schoenzeit commented the majority of promotions are geared toward new customers but not existing customers. Schoenzeit suggested Mediacom offer some special prices for customers who simply have Internet service with Mediacom. Schoenzeit stated his second question relates to Mediacom's plans forl080P and 4K retransmission in the Orono area. Schoenzeit stated he would also like to know Mediacom's plans to transmit Super Bowl V in 4K. CBS and Sony both say the data will be available. The third question relates to Mediacom's plan to upgrade to Doxis 3.1 and offering gigabyte service in this area. Schoenzeit stated it is nice the rest of the community is wired but a number of Mediacom's services lag behind the rest of the country technology - wise. Schoenzeit stated gigabytes in areas where there is competition runs approximately $70 a month and Orono residents are paying more than that for 100 gigabyte. Schoenzeit stated without competition, pricing is difficult for the customer. Schoenzeit noted there have also been six major multi -hour outages for Internet service in the Orono area in September and that he hopes Mediacom can offer an explanation for that. Schoenzeit asked what mitigation work Mediacom has done to ensure equipment, personnel and policies that does not continue. The final question is whether there is a way that Mediacom could host a website with system status. Schoenzeit stated currently, if someone calls the 800 number, most of the time it tells you all circuits are busy and sometimes there is a message saying we have a problem in your area and we will call you back, which usually does not occur. Page 2 of 27