What Local Franchising has meant to the City of Des Moines □ Mandatory UNIFORM build out of cable infrastructure throughout the City □ Free cable channel capacity for the City's channel* for Des Moines Public (K-12) Schools* for colleges* for public access operated by Mediacom and used by citizens and churches* Connection and technical support to ensure the programming can be seen on the cable system and problems corrected * Free additional channels for each that becomes fully utilized □ Dark fiber Institutional Network (I-Net) interconnecting municipal buildings and schools -Free use of this I-Net offsets what would be prohibitive costs of installing or renting such connectivity □ Free wiring for cable services to all municipal buildings, including public libraries for cable services to all schools □ Free basic cable service for all municipal buildings, including public libraries for all schools □ Emergency override capability over the all cable channels and right to have City announcements run as "advertisements" on other cable channels and as bill inserts □ Monetary support in addition to 5% franchise fees □ ACCOUNTABILITY - Revocation of franchise or fines customer service, system maintenance, fair dealing, input from citizens on issues regarding cable meeting local needs and interests Under Proposed Statewide Franchising Legislation, Public Benefits Are Lost ◙ Providers can "cherry pick" the most lucrative parts of the community to provide service. - Cannot require uniform upgrade "broadband infrastructure" - Less profitable areas already served would find their infrastructure deteriorating without maintenance - Video service would be provided by "low end" infrastructure to less profitable areas whereas "higher end" areas would get "higher end" quality infrastructure (some telephone companies have announced plans for lower end, good, better, best speed services to be built in different areas). ◙ Destructive competition: predatory pricing in profitable areas paid for by subscribers in more costly to serve areas ◙ No authority to require an I-Net; adding millions of dollars to government costs statewide ◙ No authority to require government buildings, libraries and schools be wired for free ◙ No authority to require free basic service to government buildings, libraries and schools ◙ Reduced franchise fee revenue - the definitions of "gross revenues" are substantially lower than current franchises and the applicable "revenue" can be manipulated with no accountability ◙ No emergency override capability ◙ No mechanism to ensure government, educational and local programming school ◙ NO ACCOUNTABILITY - - Franchise "shall" be issued without termination date and freely transferable - No responsibilities and no authority to revoke, bonding, indemnification, etc. - No requirements re service to subscribers or public; no minimum technical competence; maintenance; responsiveness to subscribers or local government

Local Franchising and Its Importance to Des Moines' Schools, Libraries and Religious Community Schools (K-12) I-Net provides Wide Area Network As part of the City's negotiated dark fiber institutional network (I-Net) the wide-area network for the Des Moines including the high and middle schools was constructed. This allows the schools to interconnect their computers, telephony, data, Internet with each other and the school administration - everything digital or dependent on connectivity. It also provides for fire/security. If the current connectivity provided by the I-Net were shut down, the schools literally would have to close barring use of a system of roaming human hall monitors with cell phones as a legal substitute. The avoided expense by having the high and middle schools connected through the I-Net is substantial and could not be replaced from school funding. The I-Net negotiated in the 1998 cable franchise was insufficient to extend interconnectivity for a wide-area network to the elementary schools. As a result, the school system must lease connectivity for the elementary schools at substantial expense. Proposed legislation would bar the requirement for I-Nets Channel 12 The negotiated cable franchise requires installation of cable-casting infrastructure for the schools. It requires responsive technical assistance from the cable company to ensure the system works and the programming actually is delivered to subscribers. Proposed legislation places no requirements upon the video provider to provide cable-casting infrastructure or to provide responsive technical assistance Free Wiring of and Free Basic Cable Service to the Schools All schools are currently wired at the expense of the cable company and receive free basic service Proposed legislation has no requirements to wire or serve schools Schools - Higher Education - College Channel Free channel(s) Cable-casting origination to feed back through cable head-end required. Responsive technical assistance from cable company to ensure the programming actually viewable by subscribers. Channel used to provide classes and programming of educational significance. Proposed legislation places no requirements upon the video provider to provide infrastructure or to provide needed responsive/technical assistance. Libraries Connectivity between libraries and to the Internet City's dark fiber I-Net negotiated as part of the cable franchise provides data, telephony, and Internet services by all public libraries. Its system is unusually robust because of the I-Net and the avoided costs of leasing comparable connectivity has allowed more funds to devote to other library services. Proposed legislation would prohibit requirement of I-Nets Churches Public Access Required Providing Free Cable for Programming Many churches and religious communities take advantage of the cable franchise requirement that the cable company provides AND MANAGE the public access channel. Proposed legislation would effectively terminate public access because there would be no requirement for management or technical support