For Immediate Release

ALAMEDA PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
APPROVES CABLE TELEVISION RATE SCHEDULE

ALAMEDA, CA, March 6, 2001 - At its regular meeting yesterday afternoon, the Alameda Public Utilities Board approved - by a unanimous vote - the schedule of rates that will be charged for the new cable-television service to be offered later this year by Alameda Power & Telecom.

The board approved a charge of $9.99 per month for Basic Cable service. As currently planned -- though not finalized -- the basic service would include 33 channels, including local-access programming.

Under the pricing plan, Expanded Basic service will cost an additional $21.99 per month in addition to the Basic Service cost, for a monthly total of $31.98. The Expanded Basic provides a total of 77 channels.

A third category of service is called the Digital Package which includes Basic, Expanded Basic and Digital Basic services, for a total of 110 channels. Fifteen pay-per-view channels are also available. This service has been priced at $42.97.

Pay-per-view movies will cost $3.99 per film.

The board also approved a schedule of charges for installation, equipment and premium programming.

Commenting on the rate schedule, Alameda Power & Telecom Marketing Manager Bill Garvine said, "The rates we'll be charging our customers will generally be five to ten percent less than those charged by AT&T Broadband, currently the only provider of cable television service in Alameda." He noted, "For example, our rate for Basic Cable Service will be $9.99, compared to AT&T's rate of $11.06."

Garvine added, "In addition to very competitive rates, we'll be providing the same high level of service that Alamedans receive in conjunction with our electric-power service. As with our power business, customer service will get high-priority as we roll out cable service."

Alameda Power & Telecom has contracted with Vectren Communications, headquartered in Evansville, Indiana, to install the cable-television infrastructure and initially handle day-to-day technical operation of the system. Service will become available on a neighborhood-by neighborhood basis.

It is expected that Alameda Power & Telecom will serve its first customer in May of this year.

Alameda Power & Telecom's entry into cable television was made possible when the voters of Alameda approved a 1998 ballot measure that authorized the local electric-power provider to enter into new businesses. The establishment of the fiber-optic infrastructure for cable television will also allow Alameda Power & Telecom to provide a broad range of high-speed telecommunications services.