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SUPPLEMENTAL STAFF REPORT ON <br />THE COMCAST FORMAL PROPOSAL FOR RENEWED FRANCHISES <br />WITH THE NSCC MEMBER CITIES <br />Introduction and Overview: <br />Thepurpose of this supplemental staff report is to provide the staff's analysis of the <br />formal franchise renewal proposal and exhibits submitted by Comcast on December 20, 2013, <br />and the extent to which the proposal meets the needs identified in the Staff Report and <br />Request for Renewal Proposal (RFRP), which was issued by the North Suburban <br />Communications Commission (NSCC) on July 29, 2013. Specifically, the supplemental staff <br />report will address the top four issues for renewed franchises with the ten member cities: 1.) <br />the continued offering of the fiber -based Institutional Network (I -Net) which connects local <br />government institutions within the ten member cities, including municipal facilities, Ramsey <br />County facilities, and several schools (both K-12 and post -secondary) at no charge to the users; <br />2) funding for Public, Educational and Government (PEG) communications in the ten member <br />cities, and channel capacity for transmission of the eight PEG channels in both SD and H®; 3) <br />Comcast'spast customer service performance and 4) two of the issues from the report <br />prepared by Mr. Andrew Elson of E -Consulting Group (Exhibit 2 of the Comcast proposal). This <br />Supplemental Staff Report should be considered with the other consultant's reports (CG13 <br />Communications, Front Range Consulting and The Buske Group). Attached as Exhibit I to this <br />report is an initial comparison of the franchise agreement terms included in the RFRP to <br />Comcast's Proposal. <br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br />I -Net Issues <br />Since Comcast notified the NSCC member cities in October and November 2010 of its <br />desire to renew the cable television franchises, the NSCC and its staff have been engaging in the <br />renewal processes set out in federal law. The NSCC undertook an extensive assessment of our <br />community's cable -related communications needs and interests (both from a subscriber and <br />community user standpoint) and evaluated the company's performance under the current <br />franchise. The Staff Report summarized these needs and identified key issues to be addressed <br />in the renewed franchises. Those key issues ® retention of the fiber and HFC based Institutional <br />Network (I -Net) linking local government facilities and the community media center, CTV North <br />Suburbs; retention of both operational and capital funding for community media; and retention <br />0 <br />