06-11-2014 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 23, 2014 Page 12 Formal franchise renewal base a denial on this ground in its May 15 resolution. In any event, there would be no basis for it to do so. Like with the criterion above, the Cable Act requires proper notice and an opportunity to cure any material service -quality issues to justify denial. The NSCC has not provided any such notice, and in fact its consultant agreed: "Generally, cable subscribers in the NSCC service area indicate that they are satisfied with the Comcast cable TV service. In addition, very high percentages of them gave positive ratings to two of the quality and service measures tested, and solid majorities gave positive ratings to several others." The survey commissioned by Comcast also found high ratings in all aspects of customer satisfaction. Though the Staff Report points to complaints in 2013 resulting from the digital conversion and change in a customer -service center supporting the NSCC. area, the complaints are not quantified and the NSCC fails to mention that Comcast has addressed or resolved many of them. In short, the NSCC has failed to provide any basis on which the member cities could deny Comcast's formal renewal proposal based on Comcast's service quality. C. Financial, legal, and technical ability The third criterion is whether the "operator has the financial, legal, and technical ability to provide the services, facilities, and equipment as set forth in the operator's proposal." Again, the NSCC's resolution did not cite this criterion in recommending denial. 'Ibis is because there is no serious question that Comcast—thc nation's largest cable provider and leader in telecommuni- cations technology and services—does not have the financial, legal, and technical capability to provide rhe cable service set forth in its formal renewal proposal. D. Reasonable to meet community needs, in light of costs The fourth criterion is whether "the operator's proposal is reasonable to meet future cable -related community needs and interests, taking into account the cost of meeting such needs and interests." This is the criterion on which the NSCC appeared to base its decision. The resolution does not specify the "community need and interest" that was not met by Comcast's proposal, but the NSCC's Staff Report flags disagreements with Comcast that could never justify denial. The NSCC's main issue is funding for PEG programming. This issue is the heart of the dispute between the NSCC, and Comcast, so it is important for the cities to understand the law. In 2007, the FCC issued an important order—known within the industry as the "621 Order" (mined after the