Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 4
returnNEXT Submitted Position Statements:
Quadras Corporation - Business Tenant ViewAppendix 4: Submitted Position Statements
City of Scottsdale, Arizona
Local Government Perspective on Multitenant Building Access
The City of Scottsdale supports competitive access to multitenant buildings. As a licensor of cable TV, telecommunications, and fiber optics providers, we are involved in the location, placement, timing, and provision of these services in the best interest of our citizens and businesses.
The City of Scottsdale is committed to becoming a Smart Community by embracing and encouraging new technologies and digital services. The way to achieve that goal is to ensure that all of our citizens and businesses have equal access to the latest technologies available, thus enabling them to benefit from the choices available in a deregulated, competitive cable and telecommunications environment.
The licensed cable TV companies in Scottsdale (currently Cox Communications and US WEST) are mandated, through their cable TV licenses, to broadcast two public channels for education and government purposes. Satellite and satellite master antenna television (SMATV) providers that often serve multitenant buildings don't have the same local licensing obligations to carry local public channels, and therefore, many of our citizens and businesses don't have the capability to tune into local, community programming. In many cases, residents and tenants in multitenant facilities in Scottsdale don't have the option to watch city council and school board meetings, or to take advantage of distance learning offered over public television channels because they don't have the ability to choose their own cable or telecommunications provider.
Both Cox Communications and US WEST are currently in the process of upgrading their infrastructure to provide digital voice, video and data services to the residents and businesses of Scottsdale. Although these new digitally enhanced services will be available throughout the entire city geographically, they won't be equally available to the citizens and businesses in multitenant buildings that don't allow or provide for open access. Competition, open, and universal access is what's best for the citizens and businesses of Scottsdale.
Submitted by
Jamie Oman-Saltmarsh, Telecommunications Policy Coordinator
City of Scottsdale, Arizona (480) 312-7964, E-mail: joman-saltmarsh@ci.scottsdale.az.us, URL: http://www.ci.scottsdale.az.us/
Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 4
returnNEXT Submitted Position Statements:
Quadras Corporation - Business Tenant View