A.
A cable system shall have the services and facilities prescribed
in this chapter and in a franchise agreement.
B.
Upon the execution of a franchise agreement, a grantee shall notify
the County of the number of channels and types of services it offers
and intends to offer on the cable system. A grantee's channel
lineup shall be an exhibit to the franchise agreement as an example
of the types of programming service the grantee provides. A grantee
shall notify the County in writing within 30 days of any change in
the number of channels or types of services offered, consistent with
the requirements of federal law.
C.
A grantee shall incorporate into its cable system sufficient capacity
to transmit an emergency alert signal consistent with FCC requirements
to all participating subscribers in the manner set forth under 47
CFR Part 11, FCC Rules and Regulations, Emergency Alert System (EAS),
as amended. A grantee shall cooperate with the County in the use and
operation of the EAS.
D.
A grantee may alter, adjust, modify, rebuild, upgrade, redesign or
otherwise reconfigure the cable system at any time during the term
of a franchise agreement; provided, however, that no such no alteration,
adjustment, modifications, rebuild, upgrade, redesign or other reconfiguration
of the cable system shall have the effect of reducing the technical
capabilities of the cable system from those prescribed herein or in
a franchise agreement.
A grantee shall make available leased access channels to assure
that the widest possible diversity of information sources are made
available to subscribers. The number of such channels shall be determined
by applicable law.
Unless otherwise provided in a franchise agreement:
A.
A grantee shall put, keep and maintain all parts of a cable system
in good condition throughout the term of a franchise.
B.
Upon the reasonable request for service by any person located within
a grantee's franchise area, the grantee shall, within 60 days,
furnish the requested service to such person pursuant to this chapter
and within the terms of any franchise agreement. A request for service
shall be unreasonable for the purpose of this subsection if no trunk
line installation capable of servicing the person's property
has as yet been installed.
C.
A grantee shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly and
interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible.
Such interruptions, to the maximum extent practicable, shall be preceded
by notice to subscribers and shall occur during periods of minimal
cable system use.
D.
A grantee shall not allow its cable system or other operations to
interfere with television reception of subscribers or persons not
served by the grantee.
E.
A grantee shall provide and maintain a toll-free telephone access
line available to subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or
a comparable customer service communication system. Trained representatives
shall be available to respond to customer inquiries during normal
business hours.
F.
Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time, including
wait time and the time required to transfer the call, shall not exceed
60 seconds. This standard shall be met no less than 90% of the time
as measured on a quarterly basis.
G.
At least 95% of standard installations will be performed within seven
business days after an order has been placed, unless otherwise specified
by the customer. A standard installation is one that is aerial and
within 125 feet of an existing cable system.
H.
Excluding those situations which are beyond its control, a grantee
will respond to any service interruption promptly and in no event
later than 24 hours from the time the interruption becomes known.
All other regular service requests will be responded to the next business
day after notification of the service problem.
I.
A customer service center(s) and bill payment facility(s) shall be
conveniently located for Cecil County subscribers and open for walk-in
customer transactions during normal business hours. A grantee may,
in its sole discretion, establish supplemental hours on weekdays and/or
weekends if it would fit the needs of the community served.
J.
In the event of an outage of subscriber cable service, the following
shall apply after proper notification to a grantee:
(1)
For outages of over six consecutive hours and up to seven days,
the grantee shall provide, at a subscriber's written request,
a credit of 1/30 of one month's fees for affected services for
each twenty-four-hour period service is interrupted for six consecutive
or more hours for any single subscriber, with the exception of subscribers
disconnected because of nonpayment; excessive signal leakage; or circumstances
beyond grantee's reasonable control.
(2)
For outages of seven days or more in one month which have been
properly reported in writing to grantee and which are within the reasonable
control of the grantee, the grantee shall provide, at a subscriber's
written request, a credit for service to affected subscribers in accordance
with the grantee's billing and refund policies.
K.
A grantee will provide written information in each of the following
areas at the time of installation and at any future time upon the
request of the customer:
L.
Bills will be clear, concise and understandable, with all services
itemized consistent with applicable law.
M.
Credits will be issued promptly, but no later than a customer's
next billing cycle following the resolution of the request and the
return of equipment to a grantee if service has been terminated.
N.
Unless otherwise specified by FCC regulations, customers and the
County will be notified a minimum of 30 days in advance of any rate
or programming channel change, provided that the change is within
the control of a grantee.
O.
In accordance with § A381-21B, a grantee shall keep a record of monthly service calls which will indicate the nature of each service complaint received in the past 12 months, the date it was received, the disposition of said complaint, and the date thereof. Upon reasonable notice, such records shall be made available to the County for inspection.
P.
All personnel of a grantee contacting subscribers or potential subscribers
outside the office of the grantee must be clearly identified as associated
with the grantee.
A grantee shall provide, for sale or lease, to subscribers,
upon request, a parental control locking device or digital code that
permits inhibiting the video and audio portions of any channels offered
by the grantee.
A.
Basic cable service will, upon request of the County, be made available
by a grantee to any County buildings and facilities identified in
a franchise agreement. Connection and access to the cable system shall
be provided to such public buildings and facilities within 90 days
of the County's written request. One drop per building or facility
shall be made without charge for installation of up to 125 feet from
a grantee's activated cable system. Unless otherwise provided
in a franchise agreement, the County shall be solely responsible for
any costs associated with the installation of any additional drop
or nonstandard drop costs, line extension costs or other construction
cost other than the one standard drop per building or facility.
B.
A grantee will not pass through, as an external cost to subscribers
of the cable system, the cost of providing cable service, including
Internet service, to County buildings and facilities.
Unless otherwise provided in a franchise agreement:
A.
Upon 180 days' prior written request from the County, a grantee
shall make available to each of its subscribers who receive some or
all of the cable services offered on the cable system reception of
one PEG channel, which shall be used for noncommercial public, educational
and government programming. The PEG channel shall be made available
by a grantee for use by the County and its citizens in accordance
with this chapter and applicable law. The grantee will provide the
PEG channel on the lowest available digital programming tier or as
otherwise provided in federal or state laws or regulations.
B.
A grantee shall dedicate one additional channel for PEG access upon
the County's 180 days prior written request if the existing PEG
channel is in continuous use.
(1)
For purposes of this section, "continuous use" shall be defined
as the use of the PEG channel with programming that is at least 80%
original, nonrepetitive programming broadcast from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00
p.m., seven days a week, for three consecutive months. Text or character-generated
programming shall not be considered "continuous use" for purposes
of this section.
(2)
To the extent that a PEG channel is not being used for the provision
of noncommercial, public, educational or governmental access purposes,
a grantee shall be permitted to use such channel for the provision
of other services, subject to any reasonable rules established by
the County regarding such use; provided, however, that such permitted
use shall cease within 90 days of the grantee's receipt of written
notice from the County that such channel will again be used for PEG
access on a County-wide or cable-system-wide basis.
C.
To enable distribution of the PEG channel, a grantee shall install
the appropriate wiring if necessary, for an Internet-based or other
type of capable technology-enabling cablecast and distribution via
the cable system to subscribers in the franchise area. No charge shall
be made for the installation of the wiring if necessary; however,
any equipment necessary to distribute PEG programming will be at the
County's expense. Any recurring monthly costs for the Internet-based
or other type of capable technology and/or the recurring costs of
a third-party program support provider shall be at the expense of
the County.
(1)
If the County wishes to cablecast live programming, and such
live programming cannot be accommodated through an Internet-based
or other type of capable technology, then the County shall select
a location within the franchise area and a grantee shall provide and
install, within 180 days' written notice from the County, the
cables, wires, lines and other signal distribution equipment for an
alternative technology such that live programming can originate from
the selected location and be distributed via the cable system to subscribers
in the franchise area. These cables, wires, lines and other signal
distribution equipment shall be collectively known as the "return
line."
(2)
Any expenditures made in connection with construction and maintenance
of return lines for live programming, not utilizing an Internet-based
or other type of capable technology, shall be at the expense of the
County.
(3)
A grantee shall be responsible for maintaining the wiring to
the video origination points, provided that the County provides the
grantee with access to the location and access to the PEG equipment
within the location. A grantee shall provide, install and maintain
in good working order the equipment and the fiber necessary for transmitting
the signal to the channel aggregation site for further processing
and distribution to subscribers. A grantee shall deliver the PEG channel
signal at a level of technical quality in accordance with FCC technical
specifications; provided, however, that the grantee shall have no
responsibility to improve upon or modify the signal quality of any
PEG channel content provided to grantee by any PEG access user.
(4)
The County or its designee shall be responsible for providing
any necessary production or playback equipment and shall be responsible
for securing and supervising all of the trained/qualified personnel
required for the operation of the PEG channel. The County and a grantee
shall work cooperatively in implementing the PEG channel through such
means and in such manner as shall be mutually satisfactory.
D.
PEG facilities and equipment.
(1)
In promotion and support of PEG channel utilization, a grantee
may pay the County a grant in such amount as may be set forth in the
franchise agreement and such grant, if any, shall be used by the County,
in its sole discretion, to purchase, operate and maintain PEG facilities
and equipment.
(2)
The County shall be responsible for the provision and operation
of the PEG facilities and equipment. The County may delegate from
time to time its responsibilities to others, who then shall assume
the responsibility of the County in accordance with the County's
delegation.
(3)
The County will develop reasonable rules regarding use of PEG
facilities and equipment.
(4)
A grantee is responsible for its head end equipment necessary
for the playback of programming, including operation and maintenance.
The County is responsible for all on-site equipment for telecasting
from any origination point.
E.
All capital costs incurred by a grantee for providing the use of
the PEG channels and supporting such channels, including any and all
access facilities and equipment and capital grants, may be designated
as "costs of franchise requirements" or "external costs" pursuant
to the Cable Act.
A.
At the expiration of the franchise term or if any renewal request
is denied, or upon the termination of a franchise as provided in this
chapter, the County may require a grantee to remove, at the grantee's
expense, all designated portions of its cable system from all public
rights-of-way within the County. If a grantee fails to do so within
a reasonable time prescribed by the County, then the County may perform
such removal at the grantee's expense.
B.
Notwithstanding the above and pursuant to the Cable Act, a grantee
shall not be required to remove its cable system, or to relocate or
sell the cable system or any portion thereof, as a result of revocation,
denial of renewal or any other lawful action to forbid or disallow
grantee from providing cable service, if the cable system is actively
being used to facilitate any other services not governed by the Cable
Act or any portion thereof.
