The company shall interconnect its cable system with any or all other cable systems in nearby areas, upon the directive of the county. To accomplish this requirement, the company shall familiarize itself with the technical demands necessary to cause the interconnection.
(A) Interconnection of the systems may be done by direct cable connection, microwave link, satellite or other appropriate method.
(B) Upon receiving a directive from the county to interconnect, the company shall immediately initiate negotiations with the other affected system or systems in order that all costs may be shared equitably among cable companies for both construction and operation of the interconnection link. The interconnection shall be made within the time limit established by the county.
(C) The company may be granted reasonable extensions of the time to interconnect, or the county may rescind its order to interconnect upon petition by the company to the county shall grant the request, if it finds the company has negotiated in good faith and has failed to obtain approval from the other affected systems, or the cost of interconnection would cause an unreasonable or unacceptable increase in subscriber rates.
(D) The company shall cooperate with any interconnection corporation, regional interconnection authority or county, state and federal regulatory agency established for the purpose of regulating, financing or otherwise providing for the interconnection of cable systems beyond the boundaries of the county. Further, the company will cooperate with other cable telecommunications system operators in an attempt to standardize the number of channels likely to be interconnected, to standardize a suitable frequency plan that would be compatible with existing microwave coverage in the area that would permit the maximum number of systems to interconnect, and to standardize the actual channel assignments.
(E) The company shall design and operate the system so as to facilitate interconnection as stated above.
(Ord. passed 3-25-1996)