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proposal would significantly increase the non-PEG I-Net costs which will significantly burden the <br />non-PEG users unfairly and would serve to enrich Comcast's profits on a fully paid for network. <br />However, despite the fact that Comcast has already been compensated for the I-Net and <br />the fact that its maintenance costs are minimal, Comcast now wants to charge for its use. For <br />the use of the I-Net to transmit video programming, Comcast proposes to charge subscribers <br />another $645,000 over the 10-year franchise by passing through $0.18 per month per <br />subscriber. For the non-video uses, Comcast would charge $1,675.80 per month per location <br />for network interconnectivity and $750 per month per rack/cabinet for collocation. For this <br />charge, "...Comcast will agree to continue to provide institutional-network services comparable <br />to that provided today" to recover what the company believes is the "fair-market value" of that <br />portion of the I-Net. Based on the language in the proposal, it is frankly unclear whether <br />Comcast is proposing to provide managed services for the I-Net or whether the company is <br />intending for the local governmental users and NSCC/NSAC to pay more while they continue to <br />buy and maintain their own equipment as they do now. Comcast's proposal on the I-Net does <br />not meet the needs and interests identified in the Staff Report and RFRP. <br />PEG Fundin� <br />The current level of operational and capital funding for the community media facility <br />operated by the North Suburban Access Corporation, dba CTV North Suburbs, in 2014 amounts <br />to a little over $1.5 million. In addition, the NSCC receives a Scholarship Grant that provides <br />educational scholarships to post-secondary students pursuing degrees in communications and <br />paid internships at CTV North Suburbs. These student interns work with the cities, as well as <br />with public and educational access producers and volunteers. <br />In order to assess our future needs and interests, the NSCC commissioned The Buske <br />Group to determine the future needs and interests. As summarized in the Staff Report and <br />RFRP, the capital needs were approximately $14,000,000 over the ten-year proposed franchise <br />term. Additionally, the NSCC proposed that Comcast essentially continue to voluntarily support <br />the operational needs of the NSCC/NSAC. <br />Incorrectly asserting that federal law prohibits the payment of operational funding, <br />Comcast's formal proposal would provide only $0.44 per subscriber per month for PEG capital <br />needs only. Depending on the number of subscribers, that would range from approximately <br />$153,000 per year to approximately $158,000 per year, compared to the nearly $100,000 in <br />annual capital grants in years 1 through 15 of the current franchise. This proposed level of <br />capital funding is drastically below the identified needs and interest from the Buske Report and <br />should serve as a basis for a preliminary denial of the Comcast proposal. Comcast has provided <br />limited explanation in its proposal as to how the dramatically reduced capital funding could <br />meet the capital needs of the NSCC/NSAC over the next ten years. Although this is an increase <br />