4.0.b. SWCSR 09-08-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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State law does not allow the City to grant an additional franchise "on terms and conditions more favorable or less burdensome than those in the existing franchise pertaining to three (3) key areas: "(1)the area served; (2) public, educational, or governmental access requirements; or(3) franchise fees."8 For telephone companies like Frontier, state law specifically requires that"[amn area for an additional cable franchise is not more favorable or less burdensome if. . . the area of the franchise is no less than the area within the municipality in which the telephone company offers local exchange telephone service."9 Similarly, Section 2.1 (c) of Charter's Franchise states that the City"will not grant an additional Franchise on terms and conditions more favorable or less burdensome than those in this Franchise. The City may impose additional terms and conditions in any additional Franchise." Any franchise granted by the City to a competitive provider must abide by this mandate. The Frontier Application, however, is bereft of important commitments on substantive terms and conditions that must parallel those in the Charter Franchise. For example: • Service Availability& Build Out. The Charter Franchise requires service throughout the City to all areas with at least nine (9)homes per quarter cable mile, as the City chose to assure service availability to as many residents as possible. The Frontier Application includes no such commitments. • PEG. The Charter Franchise: i)requires two (2) PEG channels, one of which must be narrowcast to only Delano residents; ii) includes a PEG Fee of up to eighty-five cents ($.85)per subscriber per month for PEG capital support; iii)requires Charter and the City to jointly fund a subscriber survey during the 5th and 10th year of the franchise to assess subscriber satisfaction with PEG programming and appropriate support levels; and iv) requires Charter to pay the cost of the first one-hundred and fifty(150) feet of any new system construction necessary to permit live origination at up to five(5) locations. The Frontier Application makes no such commitments to fund or support PEG. • Free Service. The Charter Franchise requires complimentary service to numerous public buildings. The Frontier Application proposes only that it will provide service to those public buildings that are within its (yet undefined) service area and only if the building isn't currently served by Charter. • Performance and Construction Bonds. The Charter Franchise requires a$50,000 performance bond throughout the term of the franchise and when construction costs are expected to exceed $50,000, Charter must obtain a construction bond in"an amount mutually agreed upon". Frontier's Application contains no such commitments. 8 Minn. Stat. 238.08, Subd. 1(b). 9 Id. Subd. 1(c). 4