One of the major inaccuracies in Mr. Patin's letter is that the project would be $125 million, but only serve 14,893 homes. Wrong! The project will cost about $50 million to run lines along each street and will cost $110.5 million if the system is actually providing services to over 24,000 residential customers and some 2,000 business customers.
Another inaccuracy is that LUS will charge $60 for a "triple play" of cable TV, telephone and Internet services. The only price LUS has used to illustrate its prices is an $85 triple play. While we expect a number of customers may purchase this option, we also expect many customers to choose enhanced (but still competitively-priced) options, so that the average bill per residential customer may be well above $85 per residential customer. Business customers will also be able to take advantage of advanced services that will generate greater revenue than the typical residential customer. In all cases, LUS telecommunications customers will be able to experience an approximate 20 percent reduction in their cable TV, telephone and Internet service bills.
The funds used for this project will be revenue bonds (not funds through a local bank), so Mr. Patin's predictions of local favoritism will not take place. The international financial institutions involved in these transactions are very thorough in their examination of such a project's feasibility study and will not lend LUS money unless they strongly feel the bonds can be paid.
Also, Mr. Patin's assertion of a higher utility bill due to this project is a blatant inaccuracy. Based on the financing structure contemplated, utility bills will not increase because of this project. In fact, it is very possible that utility bills would decrease due to this successfully deployed project.
It is unfortunate that misinformation such as that provided by Mr. Patin continues to be released by opponents to the LUS FTTH Project. We would do an injustice to our citizens in Lafayette if we did not respond to these inaccuracies.
MAY 24 Blogger Robert Mann posts this entry about the Baton Rouge Chamber's recent report on Louisiana's higher education system. It's critical to economic development, and yet our system is facing a "funding crisis" with no way to resolve it, the report says. The Chamber says control of tuition and fees must be returned to the higher ed governing boards.
MAY 24 Here's a NBC33 story about Tyrann Mathieu. He has signed with the Arizona Cardinals, inking a $3 million, four-year deal. He gets a signing bonus of $265K, but gets another, larger bonus if he doesn't get cut from the team for doing drugs. The deal reportedly includes mandatory tests and meetings for the player.
MAY 24 Jarvis DeBerry posts here about the redonkulus rhetoric that would have us believe NOLA is a safe city with a murder problem. Maybe the city's crime stats don't compare with its murder stats because you can't manipulate a murder, he says: a dead body's a dead body. It just doesn't make sense, he says, and his readers agree: a poll asks if they believe the city is safe, and more than 90 percent say no.
MAY 24 Jindal administration officials announced Thursday that the privatization of public health care is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted for, the Advocate reports here. "I'm so surprised," said no one. Anywhere. The cost they're projecting now is more than $1 billion - a lot more than the $626 million budgeted for it. And, it's more than it cost the state to operate those hospitals. So why are we doing this again?
MAY 24 Blogger CB Forgotston ridicules the recent PR campaign by the state GOP in the wake of a legislative auditor's request to both major parties. The GOP (apparently unaware that the Dems got the same request) started yammering about being targeted because it had "killed" a tax increase. CB finds that laughable, but it's also pretty funny that the GOP was comparing this episode to the IRS scandal (Because the President has so much to do with our state auditor. Right?).
MAY 24 Politico details some recent fund-raising efforts by Sen. David Vitter, which have raised the question of his future political plans. This time, it is a $5,000 per head "bayou weekend" that includes "Cajun cooking" and an all-caps "alligator hunt," the story reports. Funds raised go to a super PAC that can spend money to support Vitter in federal or state races, the story points out.
MAY 24 The pink building on Royal in the quarter was sold at a sheriff's sale Thursday, this Picayune story reports. An injunction that would have halted the sale wasn't enforced because the family failed to post a $150,000 bond, the story reports. So the owner of the mortgages on the building bought it, for nearly $7 million. Now the feuding family will have to negotiate with that company to get a lease on the building that has housed their business for close to 60 years.
MAY 23 This post in Louisiana Voice tells us about a bill by a Winnsboro lege that would require all public high school students to take at least one Course Choice online class in order to graduate. (What?) Blogger Tom Aswell says it's a monument to "waste and corruption," especially in light of the problems he's exposed with the program in recent weeks. Idaho had a similar program, but voters removed it by a 2-1 margin, Aswell says.
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