HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0445.002 2010-2012County of Hawai `i
Office of the County Clerk
JAMAE K. K. KA WA UCHI
County Clerk
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720
(808) 961 -8255 • Fax (808) 961 -8912
MEMORANDUM
TO: Dominic Yagong, Chairperson, Hawai'i County Council
And Members of the Hawaii County Council
FROM: Jamae K. K. Kawauchi, County Clerk
DATE: November 1, 2011
SUBJECT: Hawai'i County Council Committee on Governmental Relations
November 1, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.
Memorandum Of The Office Of The County Clerk Regarding Comm. 445
Informational Talk Regarding Franchise Cable Television In Hawai'i By State
Of Hawaii Department Of Commerce And Consumer Affairs Cable Television
Division Administrator Donn Yabusaki
INTRODUCTION
This memorandum concerns Comm. 445, Informational Talk Regarding Franchise Cable
Television in Hawai' i by State of Hawai' i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
(DCCA) Cable Television Division Administrator Donn Yabusaki.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide comment and specific requests for the inclusion
of public benefits to support community access to government programming in the upcoming
cable access franchise agreement for Hawai' i Island. This memorandum was drafted by the
Office of the County Clerk by request of Hawaii County Council Chairperson Dominic
Yagong. It is based upon a review of documents related to the negotiation of the cable access
franchise agreement for Oahu and Hawai' i Island and upon discussions with Cable Television
Division Administrator Donn Yabusaki and staff of Na Leo '0 Hawai' i.
COMMENT AND SPECIFIC REQUESTS
The Office of the County Clerk notes with great interest the discussion concerning cable access
programming and the DCCA's negotiations for the cable access franchise for Hawaii Island.
The current cable franchise agreements for West Hawaii and East Hawai' i provide Hawai' i
Comm. No. V91".. 2
Serving the Interests of the People of Our Island Ref. To: p/ G ! p tC_
Hawaii County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Ref. DateNOV 1 20n
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Island with an incredible opportunity for Hawaii County to provide timely information and
education concerning government operations and services to island residents and businesses.
Forty -six thousand (46,000) homes on Hawai'i Island have access to cable television.' Cable
television represents a valuable resource for island residents and businesses to receive news and
information, and to participate in Hawai'i County government. Airing the County council
meetings provides a highly visible public benefit and improves the quality of local government.
In recognition of the importance of cable access television, the Hawaii County Legislative
Branch has demonstrated its commitment to serve the public through cable television. The
Legislative Branch has installed state -of -the -art production equipment in the council chambers
in Hilo and in Kona, and high quality production equipment in satellite offices in Waimea and
Pahoa. The Legislative Branch produces County Council meetings for broadcast to the public,
said programming is aired on a regular basis on public access television.
It is extremely important for Hawai'i County government to ensure the continuing availability,
and to plan for the future production, of government programming. To this end, the Office of
the County Clerk asks that the upcoming cable access franchise agreement provide for the
following public benefits to Hawai' i Island, in addition to other agreement terms negotiated by
the DCCA:
1. The cable operator to provide 1% of its annual gross revenues to Hawaii County.
These funds would be used to cover operating expenses, including equipment and
production costs, for the production of government programming intended to be televised
on all islands.
For fiscal year 2010 (July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011), the Legislative Branch spent
$42,315.33 to produce council and committee meetings for public television.2 Recently,
funding for this programming has been provided in large part by grants from Na Leo '0
Hawai `i.3
Currently, funding for public access television, including broadcasting county council meetings,
is provided through a portion of the franchise fees collected from cable subscribers. This
funding is also used to support teaching and cable casting services on Hawai' i Island through
cable access non - profit, Na Leo '0 Hawai'i.
Government programming is a critical component of public, education, and government cable
television. Therefore a predictable portion of this funding should be allocated to produce
Based on telephone call with staff of Na Leo '0 Hawai'i on October 28, 2011.
2 This figure only includes the production cost covered by contract for videotaping, a/v and captioning purchases
and does not include equipment, maintenance and repair costs, and other operation costs associated with the
production of the County committee and council meetings.
Na Leo '0 Hawai' i provided grants to the County of Hawai' i, Legislative Branch, in the amount of $75,000.00
for each fiscal year, 2010-2011 and 2011 -2012. These monies are used for production cost, and a portion of
equipment, maintenance and repair costs and other operational costs associated with the production of the County
committee and council meetings.
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Hawai'i County government programming so that multi -year commitments can be made to
resident and business viewers. This should be imbedded in the franchise agreement.
An annual appropriation of committed funds directly to Hawai' i County for operating expenses
for the production of government programming would result in continued televised access of
council and committee meetings and increase local government production of programming to
include public hearings, special meetings, educational programming, and other meetings of
Hawai`i County government that cannot currently be produced due to lack of funding.
To pay for current operating expenses associated with the production of council and committee
meetings, and to pay for the increased public television programming described in part above,
the Office of the County Clerk requests that the cable operator pay Hawai' i County I% of gross
revenues per year, and that said funds be appropriated for programming expenditures for
Hawai'i County government. Based on 2009 figures, this represents an estimated $336,834.33
of total annual revenue to Hawai'i County government for local government programming.4
Note that the Hawai'i Educational Networking Consortium (HENC) receives 25% of public,
education, and government (PEG) funds (0.75% of cable TV gross revenue) through an
agreement with PEG organization). HENC distributes these funds to constituent partners.
Educational programming is provided to Hawai'i Island without Na Leo '0 Hawai'i directly
providing funding to HENC. Higher education receives about 25% (estimated) of its video
budget from HENC. The DOE receives about 33% (estimated) of its video budget from
HENC.5
2. Direct assignment of one dedicated channel for local government programming and
one dedicated PEG channel for State of Hawaii government programming.
Hawai'i County Council meetings are currently aired on Public, Education and Government
(PEG) channel 52. This is a shared channel, which Na Leo '0 Hawaii dedicates to local
government programming. The increase in Hawai'i County government programming
described in paragraph 1 above will generate a need for a dedicated cable channel to broadcast
the programming. In addition, over the course of the next several years, Hawai' i County may
see an increase in the number of requests for channel capacity by other groups and individuals,
and the Legislative Branch would like to ensure continuing access. The Office of the County
Clerk therefore requests that the television cable operator dedicate a PEG channel, reserved
solely for Hawai'i County produced programming. A channel dedicated to Hawai'i County
programming would likely be utilized by both the Legislative and Executive Branches of
County government.
This figure is based upon the information in the Community Ascertainment and Related Activities Summary for
Oceanic Time Warner Cable Franchise Renewal prepared by Merina & Company, LLP dated October 20, 2010.
Na Leo '0 Hawai'i receives 3% of the gross subscriber revenue of the Big Island cable TV system. This amounted
to approximately $1,012,503 in 2009. Na Leo '0 Hawai'i also currently receives an annual contribution from
Oceanic for capital ($125,000 in 2009).
5 This information is based upon the information in the Community Ascertainment and Related Activities Summary
for Oceanic Time Warner Cable Franchise Renewal prepared by Merina & Company, LLP dated October 20, 2010.
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The cable franchise agreement for Hawai'i Island should be leveraged for a state -wide
perspective. The government programming produced on Hawai'i Island that is of general
interest and applicability state -wide, should be made available on every island in the State.
Hawai' i County legislative hearings should be made available to cable viewers throughout the
State, including on a live- basis. Broadcasts of State of Hawaii legislative sessions in real time
should be made available on a dedicated PEG channel, reserved for State of Hawai'i produced
programming, to Hawai'i Island subscribers.
3. Legislative proceedings for all counties in the State and the State of Hawai' i
government programming, including live -basis legislative session meetings, should be
made available to Hawai'i County viewers.
It is in the best interest of current and new residents and businesses that Hawai`i Island have
access to government programming that will deliver news of meetings, events, and other
government activities directly to their homes and businesses.
County legislative hearings for all counties in the State, and State of Hawai' i government
programming, including live -basis legislative session meetings, should be made available to
Hawai'i County viewers. Hawai'i Island now has the critical mass to provide government
access programming statewide. Programming should be broadcast statewide via the use of a
dedicated channel.
4. Extend Hawai'i County's computer network to satellite Legislative Branch offices and
install high - quality connections for broadcasting statewide at no cost to Hawai'i County.
To aid in the ability of the Legislative Branch to include its satellite offices in the production of
government programming, the Office of the County Clerk requests that the cable operator
establish high - quality connections to extend Hawai'i County's network to existing satellite
Legislative Branch offices in Pahoa and Waimea, and perform said service for any future
satellite office of the Legislative Branch. An expanded computer network will eliminate
monthly charges currently being accrued for ISDN video connections, and more importantly,
allow for the capturing of clean audio and video of Hawai'i County government proceedings
that may then be telecasted over a dedicated PEG channel.
The Legislative Branch also contemplates a time in the near future where Hawai' i County
Council proceedings will be telecast live. To do so, the Legislative Branch would require, and
hereby requests, that a connection providing broadcast quality transmission of Hawaii County
government programming be established between the Hawaii County Building in Hilo and the
Hilo offices of Na Leo '0 Hawai`i, and the West Hawai`i Civic Center in Kona and the Kona
offices of Na Leo '0 Hawai`i. Both connections would be required as the Council alternates its
meeting locations between Hilo and Kona. A high quality connection will increase the
technical quality of the video signal on the PEG channel. The same request would be asked
specifically for Civil Defense headquarters to Na Leo '0 Hawai'i and for direct broadcast by
Hawai'i County.
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5. Expand cable television access opportunities to Hawai' i County residents and
businesses island -wide.
The 2010 U.S. Census data indicates that Hawaii Island's rapid population expansion has
largely rooted itself in areas that currently lack access to cable television. Due to factors
including affordability, existing subdivision of land, and attractive rural settings, future growth
will likely follow this pattern.
It is in the best interest of current and new residents and businesses that Hawaii Island have
access to cable television. It is in the best interest of Hawaii County and Hawai'i government
that those residents have access to programming that will deliver meetings, events, and Hawai
County news directly to their homes and businesses. An informed and aware populace is
paramount to achieving a strong community.
It is also important to provide access to public access television by establishing community
media facilities in each of the nine (9) council districts on the island. At these facilities
members of the public or community organizations can receive training and assistance in
producing and editing video programming and can use public television equipment to be aired
on public television. Currently the existing two facilities on this island are not connected by
wire; and this should also be part of the set up for each of the public access facilities on Hawai i
Island.
6. Continue the Availability of the Institutional Network (I -Net) for Hawaii Island and
Inter - Island and Provide an Expansion of I -Net at No Cost to Hawaii County
Government
One of the most important aspects of the cable franchise agreements for government is the I-
Net. The I -Net provides cable on each island, and cable connections to each island, for shared
use, statewide. It is valued at several hundred millions of dollars, and this value grows as new
connections are completed.
The I -Net is intended to provide two -way broadband telecommunications capabilities among
State and local government across all islands.
Right now, the Department of Education uses the I -Net to share use with the University of
Hawai' i and the State of Hawai'i through the Department of Accounting and General Services
Information and Communication Services Division (ICSD). Using the I -Net, Hawai' i became
the first state with high -speed Internet access to every public school in the State.6
The cable operator currently provides I -Net for the County on each island. Continued and
expanded availability of the I -Net, with increased capabilities to higher bandwidth for intra -and
inter - island transmission for all users, is of great current and future benefit to the County of
Hawai'i.
6 This information is based on Memorandum dated September 3, 2003 from Patricia Hamamoto, State of Hawai'
Department of Education, Superintendent concerning PEG Access in Hawai' i.
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Although most of the I -Net connections are done at a cost for time of labor and materials, and
there are a limited number of high priority connections that are designated to be completed at no
cost to the public or the State, Hawai'i County has not been able to pay for the installation of the
I -Net to all local government locations. To increase its use of the I -Net, the cable television
operator should expand the infrastructure of the I -Net at no cost to local government. This will
enable local government to expand network connections and also to connect to the State through
ICSD at no cost to local government.
The cable operator should provide, during the first five years of the franchise term, (at the
request of Hawai'i County) fiber optic lines, materials, and electronics for two -way broadband
video, voice, and data capabilities, interconnecting network sites between the I -Net system and
additional sites /interconnections to connect local government, to be determined by Hawaii
County, at no cost or charge to Hawai'i County during the term of the franchise. The service
class should be high speed broadband, sufficient to connect across 2 -way video and data
telecommunication simultaneously. Connections for Hawaii County should be prioritized.
A key term to include in the franchise agreement is better connections and increased access to
the I -Net. Inclusion of this key term will support the Governor's Broadband Initiative,
mandating State agencies to leverage and utilize broadband connectivity available to all
residents of Hawai'i by 2018, and to better utilize the internet in their interactions with the
general public.
Hawai'i Island has a large geographic base and increasing broadband services via the I -Net will
assist government with connections to our local community and to the world.
JKK/na
cc: Donn Yabusaki, Division Administrator, Cable Television Division,
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
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