(A) Number of channels. The grantee shall make available to all subscribers the option to receive a specific number of channels as shall be stated in a franchise agreement.
(B) Public access. The grantee shall maintain at least one specially designated channel for the exclusive use of the Municipality and other public authorities in the Municipality, one specially designated channel for the use of educational institutions serving the community, and one public access channel available to the community. Unless otherwise stated in a franchise agreement, the grantee shall not make use of any channel reserved for use pursuant to this division (B).
(C) Site and equipment. Studios and associated production equipment will be located in a mutually agreed upon site to meet the public's need for public access, and to accommodate the specially designated channels described herein. Financial and technical support and replacement and maintenance of equipment for such facilities shall be separately incorporated into the franchise by agreement.
(D) Override capacity. The grantee shall incorporate into its cable system the capacity to permit the Municipality, in times of emergency, to override by remote control the audio, video and/or text of all channels, simultaneously, which the grantee may lawfully override. Emergency override capacity shall be activated by touch- tone telephone, including cellular telephones or Personal Communications System (PCS) telephones. The grantee shall provide emergency broadcast capacity pursuant to FCC rules. The grantee shall cooperate with the Municipality in the use and operation of the emergency alert system.
(E) Interconnection.
(1) The grantee shall, on request by the Municipality, connect its cable system within the Municipality to any cable system that is owned or operated by the grantee or any affiliate or subsidiary of the grantee in any contiguous Municipality.
(2) The Municipality also may request that the grantee interconnect its system with other communication facilities within or contiguous to the Municipality. Such interconnection shall be negotiated by the Municipality and the grantee. Upon receiving a request from the Municipality to so interconnect, the grantee shall immediately initiate negotiations with the other affected system or systems in order that all costs may be shared equally among cable companies for both construction and operation of the interconnection link. The grantee may be granted reasonable extensions of time to interconnect, or the Municipality shall rescind its request to interconnect, upon petition by the grantee to the Municipality, if the grantee has negotiated in good faith and has arrived at impasse with the operator or franchising authority of the system to be interconnected, or that the cost of the interconnection would cause an unreasonable or unacceptable increase in subscriber rates, or that the interconnection is technically infeasible.
(3) The grantee shall cooperate with any interconnection corporation, regional interconnection authority, Municipality, state or federal regulatory agency that may be hereafter established for the purpose of regulating, financing, or otherwise providing for the interconnection of cable systems beyond the boundaries of the Municipality.
(F) Additional services. The grantee shall provide such additional services and facilities as are agreed upon within a franchise agreement.
(Ord. 767, passed 4-25-00)