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Page 25 PUBLIC DOCUMENT-TRADE SECRET DATA HAS BEEN EXCISED Proposal for Formal Franchise Renewal December 20, 2013 In implementing the statute, the FCC concluded that Section 624(e) trumps any other provisions of the Cable Act that let LFAs require certain facilities and equipment in initial franchises and renewals.s� The FCC also "preclude[d] [LFAs] from specifying the technical means by which a cable operator delivers its signal to subscribers."58 The FCC found "that it is reasonably clear that local authorities may not control whether a cable operator uses digital or analog transmission nor determine whether its transmission plant is composed of coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, or microwave radio facilities."59 The Staff Report and the RFRP repeatedly dictate various technical standards, transmission technologies, and equipment that Comcast must use for its subscriber network, PEG facilities, and an I-Net.60 In this response to the RFRP, Comcast provides information about its construction, design, and transmission to accommodate the NSCC staff's demands. But in doing so, Comcast does not waive its objection to these demands as violating the Cable Act provisions cited above. D. The Buske merno — adopted as the ascertainment— is unreliable and does not show real community needs. The NSCC Staff Report adopts the Needs Assessment Report developed by the consultant Buske Group as its "cable-related needs and interests of the Member Cities." A properly conducted needs-and-interests analysis must give the operator specific, clear, and documented information so that the operator can understand a community's real and actual needs, their relative value to the community, and the benefits and costs likely to result to the community. As the 57. In re Implementation of Cable Act Reform Provisions of the Telecomms. Act of 1996, Report and Order, 14 FCC Rcd. 5296, 5356-57 ¶ 141-42 (1999) ("Cable Act Reform Report £� Order"), aff d, Order on Reconsideration, 17 FCC Rcd. 7609, 7614 ¶ 13 (2002). 58. Cable Act Reform Report £� Order, 14 FCC Rcd. at ¶ 127 ("Section 624(e) now precludes [a franchising authority] from enacting and enforcing technical standards that differ from those established by the Commission."), ¶ 182. 59. Cable Act Reform Report £� Order,l4 FCC Rcd. at 5373 ¶ 189, aff'd, Order on Reconsideration, 17 FCC Rcd. at ¶ 13. 60. E.g., Report at 3, 19-20, 22-24, 42, 44, 46-48, 59-61, 94-98; RFRP at 3, 4, 14- 18, 20-24, 27-29, 30-31, 70-80.