Dallas BOD Meeting

The ICTA Board of Directors and invited guests held a meeting in Dallas on November 7th and 8th. It was a very productive gathering because the 37 participants expressed dedication to the success of our industry and assumed numerous responsibilities to set our association on a new and more assertive course.

Priorities

The Board carefully examined and adopted three priorities for our activities in the future. These priorities are the following:

• To influence public policy on the Federal and State levels to advance our industry's interests.
• To educate more MDUs and additional categories of multifamily housing (condos, HOAs, senior housing) about the benefits of working together.
• To pursue education and programs which will directly benefit service providers to become more financially stable and successful businesses to lead our industry for the mutual benefit of providers and MDUs.

Board Elections

Our association will elect a new BOD to take office on January 1, 2001. All recipients of ICTA Notes are invited to submit nominations for the BOD. Please submit your nominations not later than December 4, 2000. A slate will then be formulated and sent back to members for voting.

Our Board is comprised of not less than 10 nor more than 12 MDUs, the same for PCOs and not less than 5 nor more than 7 vendors/manufactures/ ISPs and others.

FCC - Update

1. The FCC Wireless Bureau, in a rulemaking entitled Promotion of Competitive Networks in Local Telecommunications Market (WT Docket No. 99-217; FCC 00-366), issued a NPRM on July 7, 1999. It contained numerous significant provisions which could have negatively impacted MDUs and the PCOs that serve them. These negative provisions revolved around the misperception that multiple dwelling buildings are the same as office/commercial buildings and that regulation of video services should be treated the same as the regulation of telephony services. The Wireless Bureau did not recognize that the business models and infrastructure in office buildings is significantly different than that for residential buildings, particularly for telephony versus video.

   An extensive association lobbying effort was led by Sue Ansel, Lyn Lansdale, Greg McDonald, Mark Armstrong and Scott Wiggins. These individuals had numerous conference calls with relevant Bureau staff and the Legal Advisors for each of the Commissioners. In addition, ICTA filed several Ex Parte communications carefully explaining and differentiating the issues mentioned above. After weeks of effort a document was adopted by the Commissioners which makes clear that its provisions apply to office/commercial buildings and not residential buildings. The rule also differentiates between its application to telephony and not video. The document also contains a Notice of Further Rulemaking which could address exclusive contracts, inside wiring rules and other matters of concern to us.

   All of these efforts contributed to another victory for our industry.

2. The FCC Cable Services Bureau continues to work on the "Big Rule" (CS 95 - 184, FCC 97 - 376) which addresses perpetual contracts, exclusive contracts, state mandatory access statutes and changes to the MDU Inside Wiring Rules. Due to several factors, the Cable Services Bureau is now far behind its schedule to submit the document to the Commissioners for final consideration.

   Regardless, it appears as if we are still on track to accomplish our objectives vis a vis perpetual contracts and a "fresh look" period, recognition that exclusive contracts of limited duration (probably 10 years) enhance video competition in the MDU market and that improvements to the Inside Wiring Rules are needed if they are ever to accomplish the original purposes stated by the FCC in 1997. Although state mandatory access statutes will not be preempted by this rulemaking, it will include language assisting us in our efforts to prevent additional states from adopting such statutes.

   The association board is communicating with several levels of the FCC urging prompt action.

3. The FCC rules recently adopted regarding 18 GHz microwave transmission protecting the contiguous 440 MHz of radio band width utilized by PCOs has been challenged by the satellite launching companies, primarily Hughes Electronics Corp. We have filed Opposition to their Petition for Partial Reconsideration arguing that unless the current spectrum allocation remains PCOs will not have the spectrum to continue, let alone expand, competition to franchised cable in MDUs. At this point, it looks favorable that we will prevail in these arguments.

MDU Education

When the FCC adopts a perpetual contract "fresh look" window of 18 months, we need to educate MDUs about it and how to capitalize on it - particularly the medium and smaller size MDUs. If you have ideas about how to do that, please contact Bill Burhop - bburhop@imcc-online.org

Board Decisions

At the Board meeting referenced above, a budget for 2001 was adopted which calls for virtually the same revenue and expenditure levels as in the current year. The association members should be proud of the fact that 3 years ago we had a deficit of some $75,000. Due to conservative expenditures and vigorous outreach for new revenue sources our association will end this year with a significant reserve available for rainy days. Our association must continue to grow and increase its revenue sources, but, as of now, we have never been in such solid financial condition.

New Identity

The Board spent a lengthy period of time (some would say irritatingly lengthy) discussing the need for adoption of a new association name and whether the term PCO should be changed. The reason for change is primarily that cable is no longer an accurate term to describe what services our industry members provide.

Many alternative names were discussed and a new name and alternative to PCO will be presented to the membership in the very near future. We hope that both terms will better reflect the composition of our association, the products/services provided and continue to help us differentiate ourselves from franchised cable.

Both the association name and the provider name will be based on our overriding philosophy that this association is unique because its membership is comprised of providers and users working together for the benefit of multifamily building residents.

Task Forces

The BOD adopted a new organizational system built on 7 Task Forces (TFs), each with Coordinators, members, goals, assignments and due dates. The TFs are as follows:

1. Mission Statement/Name/Logo - Don Johnson, Coordinator
2. Program of Excellence - Scott Wiggins, Coordinator
3. Membership/Finance - Sue Ansel and Trey Gaskins, Coordinators
4. External Relations - Anne Walker and Laurie Baker, Coordinators
5. New MDU Market Opportunities - Christopher Day and Dan Devlin, Coordinators
6. Member Benefits - Rich Muller, Coordinator
7. Public Policy - Lyn Lansdale and Mark Armstrong, Coordinators

TF Challenges

The Program of Excellence TF will pursue the next steps in the POE - design and implementation of a database. You will recall the POE was introduced at the Charleston conference, last Spring. The POE designed by Multifamily Owner/Manager members and PCO members contained 3 components: Standards of Excellence have been adopted and can be found on our web site, Provider Data and Dissemination and Training and Certification. The second component of the POE - Provider Data and Dissemination - consists of the creation of a database of ICTA member and non-member service providers. The database will provide a central location for potential clients to find service providers.

The TF will distribute a survey shortly, to begin acquisition of information for the database. You are encouraged to participate in the survey as completely as possible.

The Membership and Finance TF will be leading the association effort to reach out to more companies and educate them about how providers and users working together for the benefit of residents can benefit their company's bottom lines.

The TF priority will be medium and small sized MDUs. TF participants will prepare written material, an oral presentation that members can present at state real estate organization meeting, etc.

The Board TF addressing External Relations sees as a priority the examination of relations with other organizations and the participation by our association in conferences and other events. This examination will investigate the current situation and potential opportunities in working with and participating in events held by SBCA, Private & Wireless Broadband, NAA, and Communities Association Institute.

The Member Benefits TF is organizing an educational event for March 11 - 13, 2001 in Charleston, South Carolina. It will focus on one of our industry's largest problems, "How do PCOs and MDUs work together to learn more about financial issues and financing our companies' growth?" More in the near future from Rich Muller about experts that will be in attendance, goals and requirements to attend.