HomeMy WebLinkAboutCebridge Connections Letter Jan-18-05 03:37pm From-CEQOEL III T-727 PA02/002 F-644
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Sum ITrED VIA FAX TO 530-587-5056
January 18, 2005
Mr. Peter Holzmeister
General Manager
Truckee Donner Public Utility District
Dear Peter:
I regret that we were unable to meet last week, when Mr, Dave Rozzelle (our new Chief Operating Officer)was in
Truckee. This correspondence summarizes the key points we had hoped to review with you in person. As always,
we would like to maintain a productive dialogue and relationship with the TDPUD, regardless of the outcomes of the
fiber-to-the-home project.
Since August last year, we have expanded the local expertise and contacts available to customers and community
leaders, adding several jobs to the economy and opening a regional headquarters in Truckee, from which we
support all of our various operations in California, Nevada, Oregon,Washington, and Idaho.
To enhance our Truckee office, we have hired a local architect and will use his plans to completely overhaul and
refurbish the space. We have also commissioned a comprehensive mapping of our local cable plant and are in the
process of rebuilding key sections of it. As part of this work, we will improve the quality of the receive site (for Reno
TV stations) on Ward Peak, and construct an alternative receive site in Auburn (for Sacramento and San Francisco
stations), fiber-tying that site to our Truckee headend facility. As a result, our service will become more reliable and
provide better quality pictures. Those improvements should be most dramatic for the major network affiliates we
pick up from Sacramento.
We also plan to completely rebuild our headend facility, installing new equipment and wiring, and finally, we plan to
fiber-tie the Truckee system with the systems currently serving Squaw Valley and the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
This combined system will increase operating efficiencies and allow us to more economically and effectively roll out
advanced services across an aggregated footprint of more than 16,000 homes, making this system the second
largest of the 700-plus systems we operate, nationwide. Together, the various investments noted here will total
well over$1 million.
We expect to complete our near-term improvements (the cable plant rebuild and receive-site enhancements) by
mid-to late-February, and hope (weather permitting)to complete the remodeled office and re-constructed headend
this Spring-
With these various improvements,we will also be updating our rates and our channel line up, including the addition
(to our Basic line up) of ESPN Classic, The History Channel, and National Geographic, as well as the UPN affiliate
out of Sacramento. We are also adding some popular new channels to our Digital line up, such as the Biography
Channel, Fox Movie Channel, and Lifetime Movie Network, among others.
Thank you for reviewing this information. I would be pleased to personally address any questions you might have.
You can reach me through the local Truckee office at 530-587-6100.y,
Si
Peter M. Abel
Vice President, Community Relations
Copy: Dave Rozzelle, Dave Gilles, David Farren, Joe Aguera, Ron Hemig, Pat Sutton, Tim Taylor, Bill Thomason