The Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (MHCRC) recognizes that in order for our community to maintain its livability in the face of enormous technological changes, we must come together to define our communications technology needs and interests, imagine our future, prioritize our goals and coordinate our actions.

The MHCRC has embarked on a broad scale (not just cable franchise related) ascertainment process – the Your Voice – Our Communciations Technology initiative - to identify our local community communications technology needs and interests. The MHCRC will use the information gathered to inform the MHCRC and local decision makers as they develop long range plans that incorporate the community vision of communications technology in public policies, program initiatives and capital investments. In addition, the ascertainment results will be utilized to identify potential cable-related public benefits for consideration in an upcoming Comcast cable franchise renewal.

The target “communities” for the YourVoice initiative are geographically located within the Cities of Gresham, Fairview, Portland, Troutdale and Wood Village, and Multnomah County, Oregon.

MORE ABOUT THE MHCRC

The Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission was created by Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) among the cities of Fairview, Gresham, Portland, Troutdale, and Wood Village and Multnomah County (“Jurisdictions”) in an effort to provide enhanced public benefits from cable communications franchising and regulation, and economies of scale in its operation.

Mission: The MHCRC advocates for and protects the public interest in the regulation and development of cable communications systems in Multnomah County and the Cities of Fairview, Gresham, Portland, Troutdale and Wood Village (the “Jurisdictions”), Oregon; serves as an advisory body to the Jurisdictions on matters relating to cable communications; participates in the planning and implementation of community use of communications technologies which make use of the public right-of-way; and functions as the Jurisdictions' representative for regional, state or national cable communications policy matters.

Summary of MHCRC Responsibilities:
* Provide consumer protection for citizens and subscribers in cable television matters, including complaint resolution
* Determine grant recipients for the Community Access Capital Grant, a competitive grant program which allocates about $1.5 million annually to libraries, schools, local governments and non-profit community organizations
* Direct the Institutional Network (I-Net) and the related $1 million annually to ensure reliable and affordable fiber connectivity and network resources are available to local public institutions such as schools, libraries and public safety sites
* Enforce cable company compliance with franchise agreements
* Conduct franchise negotiations, renewals and transfers of ownership
* Oversee and monitors two community media organizations
* Promote community and institutional uses of cable-based technologies
* Participate in advocacy efforts for legislative activities and FCC proceedings

ABOUT THE COMCAST FRANCHISE RENEWAL PROCESS

The MHCRC is charged with overseeing the cable franchise agreements with the cable companies (in Multnomah County the cable companies are Comcast, Verizon and Reliance Connects) on behalf of its member Jurisdictions. The cable franchise agreements allow the cable companies all the necessary rights and privileges to use the public right-of-way to construct cable communications systems and to deliver services to subscribers. As trustee of the public’s interest in the use of the public right-of-way, the MHCRC, on behalf of member Jurisdictions, has a compelling interest in ensuring that the cable companies use this public property in a way that benefits the entire community, that the Jurisdictions will have modern communications systems capable of meeting community needs and interests and that the public receives fair compensation in the form of franchise fees and other conditions for the use of its’ public property to provide cable services.

The cable services franchise agreements between the Jurisdicitons and Comcast expire in December 2010. Renewal of the cable franchises affords the Jurisdictions the opportunity to review Comcast’s performance under existing franchise agreement provisions, and through negotiation of a renewed franchise, ensure that Comcast will meet the cable-related needs and interests of the community into the future. Under federal law, any public benefit obligation contained in a renewed franchise agreement must be based on a demonstrated community need. Although franchise negotiations and the Jurisdictions’ approval processes will take place in 2010, the MHCRC must conduct a community needs ascertainment in advance of these negotiations.

The process of identifying the community’s cable-related needs and interests relies on a variety of information-gathering techniques. By utilizing multiple techniques, the MHCRC is able to ensure that future franchise provisions reflect input from a broad cross-section of the community and that the Jurisdictions obtain informed opinions that can be encapsulated into a vision of local communications technology that serves public needs. With an ascertainment report demonstrating real communication technology needs and interests in hand the MHCRC can legally establish requirements for system upgrades to ensure the community has adequate infrastructure to meet the community’s needs and interests related to cable services, such as ensuring public access to real opportunities to create as well as receive programming and ensuring that service will be reliable and that the cable provider will be in a position to bring the benefits of advances in cable technology into the homes and schools of our communities. In other words, by identifying cable-related needs and interests accurately and completely, the Jurisdictions place themselves in a position to demand that Comcast negotiate an agreement satisfactory to the community -- or face nonrenewal.

 

 

 

 

1120 SW 5th Ave., Rm 1305, Portland, OR 97204 • tel: 503.823.5385 • YourVoice@mhcrc.org

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