Co-op to renew its FCC license
Socorro Electric Cooperative will spend about $18,000 to renew its license with the FCC to retain analog frequencies, even though they haven’t been utilized in years.
Considering the frequencies a corporate asset, the co-op’s board of trustees voted unanimously on Wednesday to renew the two-year license to beat a May 1 deadline.
Co-op General Manager Joseph Herrera broke the news that Trans World Network, a Florida-based telecommunications company that planned to bring high-speed wireless internet service to the area, had dissolved the Memorandum of Understanding the board agreed to last month. The plan was for the co-op to sublease the frequencies to TWN at a cost to be negotiated.
“After doing their due diligence, they decided to back out,” Herrera said, adding that TWN had determined that the technology and the costs associated with expanding its network to central New Mexico were too expensive.
With that new development, Herrera sought direction from the trustees on what to do about the license.
“Do we let it expire or do we renew (the frequencies)?” he asked, reminding them that time was of the essence with the deadline looming.
By allowing the license to expire, the co-op would lose its rights to the frequencies, he said. In order to keep them, Socorro Electric would have to pay an attorney up to $6,000 to process the paperwork and up to an additional $12,000 to maintain the frequencies.
Though the frequencies have been costing the co-op money for at least the last six years, several trustees said they saw value in owning the frequencies.
“I believe it would be worth keeping. I see it as an asset,” said Luis Aguilar.
Donald Wolberg agreed. He said the future is in communications, and with the development of things like the spaceport in a neighboring county and Socorro being situated in the middle of a growing Rio Grande Valley, some profitable use for the frequencies could arise.
“It’s a changing world,” he said.
Prescilla Mauldin wanted to know if the co-op had been utilizing the frequencies in any way.
Co-op President Paul Bustamante said they were at one time subleased to Socorro Satellite, but that had been a losing proposition, costing the co-op about $7,000. When technology changed and the co-op entered into an agreement with Dish Network, the frequencies were no longer utilized, he said.
Dave Wade said he recalled the matter coming up several years ago when Lupe Vega was general manager. The board decided then to renew the license, even though the frequencies weren’t being used.
“I’d hate to spend $18,000 on a maybe,” Wade said. “But the reason we still have it is they decided it was worth keeping.”
Wade and Charlie Wagner each said that years from now they’d hate to be remembered as the trustees who foolishly let the co-op’s rights to the frequencies go.
Wagner asked what options there might be for utilizing the frequencies, or if entities that the co-op might be able to sublease the frequencies to could be identified.
“That’s the million dollar question,” answered Herrera, who said he felt that there was potential for their use in the future. “At some point it’ll get here, but it won’t be here tomorrow.”
Herrera said selling the frequencies wasn’t an option; they could only be transferred to another entity with a sublease agreement.
In the end, Wagner made the motion to authorize Herrera to proceed with the license renewal. As part of his motion, he asked that the general manager research how the frequencies could be marketed and present a list to the board within 12 months.
Aguilar seconded the motion and it passed unanimously with District 5 trustee Jack Bruton absent.
A Closer Look at Optics
The board put on hold another MOU having to do with technology — this one with the city of Socorro.
Herrera said the city council had already approved an agreement that would pay the co-op $72,000 for installation of fiber optic lines.
In exchange, the co-op would own and have exclusive access to four of the 24 stands of the fiber optic, while the city would own the rest. The co-op, however, would be entirely responsible for maintenance of the line.
“The problem with the agreement is the cost sharing and ownership is not equal,” Herrera said. “Five-sixths of the repair costs would be on us.”
Herrera also had a problem with the timing. The co-op absorbed the expense of installing the lines last fall.
“My question is why did we do the installation before we had an agreement?” said Herrera, who stepped into the position of general manager three months ago.
Wagner wondered whether the contract made a distinction between maintenance and repair, and Herrera said he didn’t read it that way.
Wagner said the agreement ought to be considered carefully, because it’s a long-term proposition that calls for it to be in place for as long as the lines exist.
Co-op Attorney Dennis Francish pointed out there is no termination clause in the agreement.
Wolberg suggested that trustees get together with council members to clarify exactly what was being agreed upon.
In the form of a motion, Wagner recommended that Herrera get together with city officials and communicate the co-op’s concerns. He said it would be a good idea to involve attorneys before any action was taken.
“I don’t think we should jump into anything without knowing what we’re doing,” he said.
Mauldin seconded the motion and it, too, passed unanimously.
In Other Business
• The board accepted a bid from POD Inc. of Albuquerque to handle technical support for the co-op.
Herrera said requests for proposals went out to eight companies and three of them submitted bids. He recommended POD in part because it offered a termination clause and because the company offered a lower trip charge than the others. The one-year contract calls for the co-op to pay POD $44,200 for 20 hours of work per month. There is an additional hourly charge if the work exceeds 20 hours in a month.
• The board voted to demolish the Ramzel House, which is being used to store old documents.
Herrera said a water pipe break caused the building’s basement to flood and resulting in a lot of mold, which he said was potentially hazardous.
• Leroy Anaya, the co-op’s delegate to Tri-State Generation and Transmission, said nothing had been settled on the new rate design and it would likely be another three or four months before it was settled.
Tri-State is the company that sells power to the co-op, so the new rate design will affect how much customers are charged.
• Wolberg was elected as Socorro Electric’s representative on the New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association board of directors, and Aguilar was selected as the co-op’s voting delegate to the state organization.
Contact T.S. Last