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3. CenturyLink appears to have the Financial, Technical and Legal Qualifications to Provide Cable Service. While the NMTC may review the financial, legal and technical qualifications of a franchise applicant, the FCC has indicated that in cases of the application by a LEC that already has a certificate for public convenience and necessity from the state, an LFA need not spend a significant amount of time considering the fitness of such applicants to access public rights-of- way. See 621 Order at ¶ 23. This is because the LEC has already demonstrated its legal, technical, and financial fitness to be a provider of telecommunications services. Id. a. Financial Evaluation. As shown above, under 47 U.S.C. § 541(a)(4) the NMTC may consider a franchise applicant's financial qualifications in determining whether to grant a franchise. The parent company of the proposed franchisee appears financially qualified. CenturyLink, Inc. is the third largest telecommunications company in the United States with $18.0 Billion in annual operating revenue and free cash flow of $2.7 Billion. See Exhibit 2 at page 5-6; and Exhibit 3 at ¶ 38. CenturyLink has further committed to making a $125 Million investment to bring cable television service to the Twin Cities. See Exhibit 2 at page 6. Provided that CenturyLink, Inc. can provide adequate assurances for the performance of the proposed franchisee, it appears that CenturyLink has the financial qualifications to operate a cable communications system in the NMTC. Recently, the NMTC member cities required certain parent guarantees of GreatLand Connections in connection with the recent conditional approval of the cable franchise transfer from Comcast to GreatLand Connections. See e.g. Blaine Res. No. 15-016. b. Technical Evaluation. As shown above, under 47 U.S.C. § 541(a)(4), the Commission may consider whether CenturyLink has the necessary technical qualifications to construct, operate and maintain a cable system. CenturyLink has a demonstrated history of operating cable systems in 13 markets in the United Sates. See Exhibit 2 at p. 4. CenturyLink has approximately 300,000 cable television subscribers and is capable of delivering it to approximately 2.3 Million homes. Id. CenturyLink's management team displays a wealth of experience in the cable and telecommunications industry. See Exhibit 3 at 1116, 11-16, and 35- 36. The application described a state-of-the-art cable system capable of reliably providing a panoply of cable services to subscribers. See Exhibit 2 at pp. 2-3. According to CenturyLink, it "offers more channels in HD than any other MVPD nationally." Id. at p. 1. Based on the information contained in CenturyLink's application and its response to the request for information, it appears that CenturyLink has the technical qualifications to operate a cable communications system in the NMTC. c. Legal Evaluation. Both federal law and the Competitive Franchising Policies and Procedures permit the Commission to consider a cable franchise applicant's legal qualifications in the process of determining whether to grant a cable television franchise.28 The applicant appears legally qualified to hold a cable franchise in the NMTC. The company is properly formed and authorized to do business in the state of Minnesota. See Exhibit 3 at ¶¶ 1-2. The company agrees to make all appropriate filings and preparations prior to offering cable 28 See 47 U.S.C. § 541(a)(4)(C) and Section 4, Subd. 2 of the Competitive Franchising Policies and Procedures. 15