Every cable franchise renewed and/or granted after the effective date of this Cable Ordinance shall require every franchised cable operator, subject to § 131-8.4, Universal buildout, below, to extend its cable system to areas of the franchise area that have a population density of at least 15 households per linear strand mile of aerial cable, which the City deems reasonable to meet the City's needs in light of the costs to the franchised cable operator, and in the City's best interests.
Standard installations will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations are those that are located up to 125 feet from a cable operator's existing cable system.
Areas subsequently annexed shall be provided with cable availability and the City's PEG channels, if applicable, within 12 months of the annexation election certification or within six months of the effective date of the annexation, whichever occurs first. Franchise fees and PEG support, if any, derived from the annexed area commencing on the effective date of the annexation shall be paid to the City within 90 days of the effective date of the annexation.
Every franchised cable operator, including its predecessors in interest, shall be allowed a period of 50 years from its initial grant of a cable franchise by the City to construct its cable system to become capable of providing cable service to all households in the franchise area, which the City deems a reasonable period of time.
A cable operator shall carry access channels on the cable operator's basic cable or video service offerings or tiers. A cable operator may not separate access channels numerically from other local broadcast channels carried on the cable operator's basic cable or video service offerings or tiers and, in the event of a franchise transfer, shall use the same channel numbers for the access channels as used for those channels by the incumbent cable system operator, unless prohibited by federal law. After the initial designation of access channel numbers, a cable operator may not change the channel numbers without the agreement of the originator, unless the change is required by federal law.
A. 
Channel restoration.
(1) 
Consistent with 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3010(5-A), a cable operator shall restore a public, educational or governmental access channel that was moved without the consent of the City or its access channel designee.
(2) 
An access channel may not be relocated without the City's prior written consent, which may not be unreasonably withheld. If an access channel is relocated, the cable operator shall reimburse the City or its access channel designee for costs associated with changing logos, letterhead, business card, etc. to reflect a new channel number.
B. 
Access channel transmission. A cable operator shall retransmit public, educational and governmental access channel signals in the format in which they are received from the City or its access channel designee and at the same signal quality as that provided to all subscribers of the cable service for local broadcast channels. A cable operator may not diminish, down convert or otherwise tamper with the signal quality or format provided by the City or its access channel designee. A cable operator shall deliver a public, educational or governmental access channel signal to the subscriber in a quality and format equivalent to the quality and format of local broadcast channel signals carried on the cable service if provided as such by the City or its access channel designee. A cable operator shall carry each public, educational or governmental access channel in both a high-definition format and a standard digital format in the same manner as that in which local broadcast channels are provided, unless prohibited by federal law.
C. 
Electronic programming guide integration. A cable operator, when requested, shall assist in providing the City or its access channel designee with access to the entity that controls the cable service's electronic program guide so that subscribers may view, select and record public, educational and governmental access channels in the same manner as that in which they view, select and record local broadcast channels. In addition, a cable operator shall identify public, educational and governmental access channels on the electronic program guide in the same manner as that in which local broadcast channels are identified. This subsection does not obligate a cable operator to list public, educational and governmental access channel content on channel cards and channel listings. If channels are selected by a viewer through a menu system, the cable operator shall display the access channel designations in a similar manner to that in which local broadcast channel designations are displayed.
D. 
Access channel phone support. A cable operator shall make available to the City or its access channel designee a toll-free telephone number with a direct line to a service technician who is familiar with the signal path and equipment associated with public, educational and governmental access channels on the cable system for resolution of a signal quality problem.
E. 
PEG facilities and equipment support.
(1) 
Pursuant to applicable law, a cable operator shall provide to the City or its access channel designee adequate access channel facilities and equipment and equivalent financial support to meet the cable-related needs and interests of the City and its communities (the "PEG support").
(2) 
To meet the cable-related needs and interests of the City, the City may require all cable operators to provide financial support as permitted by the Cable Act, as a capital grant payable by each cable operator to the City for PEG capital requirements in the amount up to 3% of a cable operator's gross revenue, as determined by the City no more frequently than once every two years. The capital grant shall be payable by each cable operator with the franchise fee payment as required by this chapter and may be itemized and passed through to subscribers in the same manner. The City shall require the same percentage fee of all cable operators or shall not impose the fee on any cable operator. The City shall provide all cable operators with 90 days' prior written notice for the implementation or modification of the capital grant.
F. 
Access channel signal transport. With respect to any access channel subject to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3010(5), any and all equipment associated with the interconnection of access channel transmission facilities between City Hall or other designated location and a cable operator's head end within the cable operator's cable system, as well as the formatting of PEG programming for transmission to a subscriber, are considered capital costs, and the costs and maintenance thereof shall be borne by the cable operator.
(1) 
Access channel return feeds. Each cable operator shall install, maintain and, as necessary to comply with Subsection B above, upgrade an activated direct fiber optic return feed, and supply and maintain all necessary transmission equipment, from City Hall (located at 2 York Street, Westbrook, Maine), or another location designated by the City, to the cable operator's head end. This fiber optic feed shall be adequate to permit the simultaneous transport of all access channels provided by the cable operator to the City at least at a broadcast quality standard. The City may not designate a different location for a fiber optic return feed more than once every three years.
(a) 
To the extent necessary to make access channel programming available to all subscribers, all cable operators shall cooperate with one another, including, without limitation, making available a cable operator's fiber optic return feed for interconnection with another cable operator's cable system.
(b) 
Upgrades to or the initial installation of a fiber optic return feed shall be completed within 60 days of commencement. In the event of a cable system rebuild, upgrade or installation, such fiber optic return feeds shall be completed at the same time as the system rebuild.
(2) 
Access channel live remote return feeds. A cable operator shall also provide and maintain equipment and facilities, including, without limitation, DOCSIS modems and cable drops, to permit live programming from remote sites, through an MPEG2 or MPEG4 transport system, or in some other manner that provides broadcast quality carriage of an access channel's signal from a remote site to the location designated under Subsection F(1) above. New equipment and facilities will be made available within an agreed-upon time frame.
Consistent with federal law, a cable operator shall provide or enable the provision of at least the following broad categories of programming to the extent the categories are reasonably available on commercially reasonable terms:
A. 
Local news, weather and information;
B. 
Educational programming;
C. 
Sports;
D. 
General entertainment (including movies);
E. 
Children/Family-oriented;
F. 
Arts, culture and performing arts;
G. 
Food;
H. 
Foreign language based on population;
I. 
Science/Documentary;
J. 
National, state and local government affairs;
K. 
Access programming, as provided by a franchise;
L. 
Program channel guide; and
M. 
National news, weather and information
Cable operators shall at all times comply with all applicable customer service standards, including, without limitation, 47 CFR 76.309 (Customer Service Obligations), 76.1602 (Customer Service - General Information), 76.1603 (Customer Service - Rate and Service Changes) and 76.1619 (Information on subscriber Bills); 30-A M.R.S.A. §§ 3008 (Ordinances Relating to Cable Television Systems) and 3010 (Consumer Rights and Protection Relating to Cable Television Service); and those customer service standards identified in this Cable Ordinance.
A cable operator may not deny cable service, deny access or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, channel users or general citizens on the basis of age, race, religion, sex, physical handicap or country of natural origin.
A cable operator may not charge a late fee or other penalty or charge for late payment of any bill that exceeds 1.50% per month of the amount due in the bill. If the bill includes separate charges for different levels of service, a late fee or other penalty or charge must be calculated on the total amount overdue for all levels of service and may not be calculated separately for each level of service. A payment is not late under this subsection until at least 30 days after those services to which the late fee applies have been received by a subscriber.
Recording subscriber complaints must be as follows:
A. 
Every cable operator shall keep a record or log of all written complaints received regarding quality of service, equipment malfunctions, billing procedure, employee attitude and similar matters. These records must be maintained for a period of two years.
B. 
The record must contain the following information for each complaint received:
(1) 
Date, time and nature of the complaint;
(2) 
Name, address and telephone number of the person complaining;
(3) 
Investigation of the complaint;
(4) 
Manner and time of resolution of the complaint; and
(5) 
If the complaint regards equipment malfunction or the quality of reception, a report indicating corrective steps taken, with the nature of the problem stated.
C. 
Consistent with subscriber privacy provision in the Cable Act, every cable operator shall make the logs or records of complaints available to any authorized agent of the City upon request during normal business hours for on-site review.
Credits and refunds for interruption of cable service shall be as follows:
A. 
In the event cable service to any subscriber is interrupted for six or more consecutive hours in a thirty-day period, the cable operator will, upon request, grant that subscriber a pro rata credit or rebate;
B. 
An office of a cable operator must be open during usual business hours, have a listed toll-free telephone and be capable of receiving complaints, requests for adjustments and service calls; and
C. 
Cable operators shall provide subscribers with 30 days' advance written notice of any increase in rates, changes in billing practices or the deletion of a channel.
Cable operators must discontinue billing a subscriber for a service within 10 working days after the subscriber requests that service disconnection unless the subscriber unreasonably hinders access by a cable operator to equipment of the cable operator on the premises of the subscriber to which the cable operator must have access to complete the requested disconnection.
A. 
Notices to subscribers regarding quality of service. Notice to subscribers regarding quality of service must be as follows:
(1) 
For each new subscriber, and annually thereafter, every cable operator shall cause to be mailed to each of its subscribers a notice that:
(a) 
Informs subscribers of how to communicate their views and complaints to the cable operator, the proper City official and the Attorney General;
(b) 
States the responsibility of the Department of the Attorney General to receive consumer complaints concerning matters other than channel selection and rates;
(c) 
States the policy regarding and method by which subscribers may request rebates or pro rata credits as described above in § 131-8.11; and
(d) 
Informs subscribers of their right to request basic-tier, nonpremium programming service and the cost of that service.
(2) 
The notice must be in nontechnical language, understandable by the general public, and in a convenient format. On or before January 30 of each year, each cable operator shall certify to the City and to the Department of the Attorney General that the cable operator has distributed the notice during the previous calendar year as required by this section.
B. 
Notice on subscriber bills; credits and refunds. All cable operators shall include on each subscriber bill for service a notice regarding the subscriber's right to a pro rata credit or rebate for interruption of service upon request in accordance with § 131-8.11 above. The notice must include a toll-free telephone number and a telephone number accessible by a teletypewriter device or TTY for contacting the cable operator to request the pro rata credit or rebate for service interruption. The notice must be in nontechnical language, understandable by the general public, and printed in a prominent location on the bill in boldface type.
A. 
A cable operator may not intrude upon the privacy of a subscriber by installing or using any equipment that allows the cable operator to observe or to listen to what is occurring in an individual subscriber's household or to monitor the viewing habits of the subscriber without express, prior written consent of the subscriber.
B. 
A cable operator may not sell, disclose or otherwise make available, or permit the use of, lists of the names or addresses of its subscribers, or any list or other information that identifies by name or address subscribers or subscriber viewing habits, to any person or agency for any purpose whatsoever without the prior written consent of the subscriber, except that the cable operator may make such lists available to persons performing services for the cable operator in connection with its business or operations, such as a billing service, when the availability of such lists is necessary to the performance of such services if, in either case, the persons or entity receiving such lists agree in writing that they will not permit them to be made available to any other party.
All of a cable operator's employees and subcontractors, including, without limitation, repair and sales personnel, entering private property shall be required to display an identification card issued or approved by the cable operator indicating that the employee or subcontractor is working on behalf of the cable operator.
A cable operator shall maintain a conveniently located local office within the City which shall be open during normal business hours. This office shall accept payments, handle adjustments to subscriber bills, respond to installation, repair and/or maintenance requests and other service calls.