Mission Statement

The Cable Television Communication Plan is a special revenue fund. Revenue is provided by cable franchise agreements and fees from the Transmission Facility Coordinating Group. Funding is passed through for: the operation of the Office of Broadband Program's (OBP); FiberNet programs; Community Technology; Community Engagement; Digital Equity; Public, Educational, and Government (PEG) programming by the Office of Public Information (PIO); the County Council; the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC); Montgomery College; Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS); Montgomery Community Media; PEG equipment; and municipal franchises administered by the County. The mission of the Cable Television Communications Plan is to provide effective management of the Fund; the County's cable franchise agreement; quality PEG programming; broadband governance; planning, execution, and operation of FiberNet; the County's communications network; and effective management of the deployment of wireless facilities throughout Montgomery County. Additional funding for OBP is provided and described in the Department of Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions' (TEBS) budget. Digital Equity initiatives are supported by the TEBS and Cable Fund budgets.

Budget Overview

The total recommended FY24 Operating Budget for the Office of Broadband Programs is $14,062,013, a decrease of $1,165,422 or 7.65 percent from the FY23 Approved Budget of $15,227,435. Personnel Costs comprise 27.67 percent of the budget for 14 full-time position(s) and no part-time position(s), and a total of 24.34 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 72.33 percent of the FY24 budget.

The Cable Fund is facing continued pressures from the trend towards cutting the cord. Cable Fund revenue from Franchise Fees and PEG Operating and Capital Grants are projected to fall by over $2.64 million in FY24 relative to FY23 approved and to continue to decrease every year thereafter by 4% to 8% per year.

In addition, this department's Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requires Current Revenue funding.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following are emphasized:

• Thriving Youth and Families
• A Growing Economy
• A Greener County
• Easier Commutes
• Effective, Sustainable Government

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY23 estimates reflect funding based on the FY23 approved budget. The FY24 and FY25 figures are performance targets based on the FY24 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY25.

Initiatives

• Expand community partnerships to deploy an additional 32,000 free laptop computers to low-income seniors and families living in affordable housing developments, enroll 20,000 families in the Affordable Connectivity broadband subsidy program (ACP), and seek additional Maryland and Federal broadband grant funding to expand MoCoNet, the County's residential broadband network at affordable housing developments.
• Expand corporate digital equity partnerships to grow youth STEAM programs and internships, enhance digital media and cyber awareness skills, and expand intergenerational digital equity programs.
• Enhance proactive maintenance of FiberNet to improve system reliability and reduce system outages; implement process changes to improve cost recovery, reduce inefficiencies, and improve public transparency for the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure throughout the County.
• Promote and publicize the upgrade of FiberNet to a "Carrier Class" network, which supports and enables efforts to develop revenue streams from this critical asset. FiberNet's diverse connectivity to a world class data center in Ashburn, Virginia provides all FiberNet users with virtually unlimited access to premier service providers.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• Winner of three Alliance for Community Media awards for Black History, African Heritage, and Public Meeting programming, recognizing County Cable Montgomery's achievements to highlight the rich cultural heritage and diversity of Montgomery County.
• Implemented process efficiencies in equipment provisioning to simplify MoCoNet high speed broadband installations for consumers. As a result, staff productivity improved by 50 percent and enhanced digital equity access for seniors, immigrants, and low-income families was delivered.
• Offering livestream support to departments for hybrid and online public meetings to improve production quality, expand interactive capabilities for public participation, and simultaneously live stream to up to eight social media platforms.
• Built community partnerships and leveraged open-source tools to target distribution of 50,000 free laptop computers to low-income residents.

Program Descriptions

  Media - Montgomery College

Montgomery College Television creates videos for Montgomery College educational cable channels, website, and social media. Funds are used for staff, equipment, operating expenses, and training student interns using hands on, real life production techniques and facilities. Videos educate, inform, and support student success (i.e. closing the achievement gap, dual enrollment,...

  Media - Montgomery County Public Schools

Montgomery County Public Schools Television (MCPS-TV) is a full-service television and multimedia facility that produces TV programs for students, staff, parents, and the general community produced in multiple languages to reach the district's growing multicultural community. MCPS-TV regular programming includes live Board of Education meetings, live webstreaming events from schools,...

  OBP Community Technology

OBP Community Technology manages use of public rights-of-way in Montgomery County by cable television providers, negotiates and enforces obligations in cable franchise agreements, provides consumer assistance with cable issues and complaints, and supports County policies addressing compensation for use of public rights-of-way by communications providers. Community Technology manages the Transmission...

  Montgomery Community Media

Montgomery County supports community media and digital equity training through a contract with Montgomery Community Television, doing business as Montgomery Community Media (MCM). MCM operates two community media cable television channels, provides media technology training to County residents and community organizations, and produces independent, diverse, and informative cable programming for...

  OBP Community Engagement

OBP Community Engagement provides channel management for the County's cable television station (CCM) and its three cable channels, and a Technical Operations Center to support transmission of 13 local PEG channels over three cable systems. CCM program content is created by the County Council, Public Information Office (PIO), and Maryland-National...

  Municipal Support

Cable operator franchise fees and PEG support obligations to participating municipalities within Montgomery County are paid by cable operators to the County for administrative efficiency and auditing effectiveness and then redistributed by the County to the City of Rockville, the City of Takoma Park, and the Montgomery County Chapter of...

  Connect Montgomery Alliance

The Montgomery County Public, Education, and Government (PEG) Governance Board facilitates collaboration among the local PEG stations to promote meaningful and relevant PEG programming and media services to the Montgomery County community using current and emerging technologies. The PEG Governance Board (PGB) collaboratively works to expand community engagement, Spanish language...

  OBP Digital Equity (Cable Fund)

Digital Equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services. OBP Digital Equity works to ensure individuals and communities have the information technology knowledge and confidence needed for full participation in our society, democracy, and economy. It supports providing technology training for older...

  Media - PIO, Council, M-NCPPC

This program provides funding for the Office of Public Information, the County Council, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to create content for the County's cable channel CCM, social media, and live Internet streaming, including County Council and Planning Board meetings, press conferences, town hall meetings, special events,...

  OBP Fibernet (CF)

Funding from the Cable Special Revenue Fund is used to support Montgomery County's private communications network - FiberNet. FiberNet is a critical infrastructure asset that provides carrier-class voice, video, Internet access, and data network services for Montgomery County Government, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Montgomery College, Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC),...