ARTICLE VI. SYSTEM OPERATIONS (4-280-200 et seq.)

4-280-200 Franchise areas.

   A.   The areas of the city for which applications for franchise will be accepted shall be specified by the council.

(Prior code § 113.1-23; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-200 as § 4-280-170, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-230, as § 4-280-200.

4-280-210 Primary service area.

   A.   A grantee shall furnish to the city a map of suitable scale showing all roads and public buildings, which indicates the primary service area (PSA) to be served.

   B.   The primary service area shall be subject to approval by the city and shall be incorporated into a franchise granted pursuant to this chapter. If no PSA is specifically delineated in a franchise, the PSA shall be considered to be coterminous with the franchise area.

(Prior code § 113.1-24; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-210 as § 4-280-180, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-240, as § 4-280-210.

4-280-220 Extension of service.

   A.   Each grantee shall extend its cable system and make service available beyond the primary service area in accordance with a line extension policy as shall be specified in a franchise granted hereunder.

(Prior code § 113.1-25; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-220 as § 4-280-190, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-250, as § 4-280-220.

4-280-230 System description and service.

   A.   The cable television system to be installed by grantee shall comply in all respects with the technical performance requirements set forth by the FCC's Rules, including applicable amendments thereto; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall be construed to prohibit a grantee from proposing to comply with more rigid technical performance requirements, in which case the grantee's application shall be incorporated by reference in the franchise and shall be binding on the grantee. If the FCC should delete said requirements, the city hereby reserves the right to amend this chapter to incorporate similar standards and every franchise granted pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to such reserved power whether or not expressly so conditioned.

   B.   Applications for franchise shall include proposals for the provision of public, education/cultural, local government and leased access channels. Such proposals by grantee shall be incorporated into the franchise granted and shall be subject to the following minimum requirements or to such greater requirements as shall be specified in the franchise:

      1.   All proposals for public and education access channels shall be subject to the control of the Chicago Access Corporation consistent with Section 4-280-320.

      2.   A minimum of two local government access channels shall be made available for the use of local government authorities free of charge.

      3.   A minimum of two leased access channels shall be made available to leased access users.

   C.   Grantee shall provide complimentary service for eligible buildings as required by 220 ILCS 5/22-501(f). In the event the state should eliminate said requirements, the grantee shall provide, without charge within the primary service area, one service outlet activated for basic service to all current and future schools and public buildings within grantee's franchise area, including, but not limited to, all city buildings, public libraries, whether owned or leased by the city and such other used for governmental purposes as may be designated by the city. Furthermore, grantee shall be permitted to recover, from any public building owner entitled to free service, the direct cost of installing, when requested to do so, more than one outlet, or concealed inside wiring; provided, however, that the grantee shall not charge for the provision of basic service to the additional service outlets once installed. Such service shall be used in a manner consistent with the purpose for the eligible building and shall not be resold. This obligation only applies to grantees whose cable service passes eligible buildings and cable service is generally available to residential subscribers in the city. The burden of providing such cable service at each eligible building shall be shared by all grantees whose systems pass the eligible buildings in an equitable and competitively neutral manner, and nothing herein shall require duplicative installations by more than one grantee at each eligible building. Grantees operating in the city shall meet as necessary and determine who will provide cable service to eligible buildings. If the grantees are unable to reach agreement, the city shall meet with the grantees and shall determine which grantee will serve which eligible building. The city or eligible buildings shall bear the costs of any inside wiring or video equipment costs not ordinarily provided as part of the grantee's basic service offering.

   D.   Any programming offered or transmitted over any cable system that has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be obscene or otherwise unprotected by the Constitution of the United States is prohibited. Violation of this subsection by a grantee shall be deemed a material breach of any agreement awarding a franchise in accordance herewith and shall subject the grantee to all penalties and remedies provided therein as well as all other remedies, both legal and equitable, available to the city.

   E.   The grantee shall make available parental control devices to all subscribers. These devices shall enable the subscriber to block the video and audio portion of any channel or channels.

(Prior code § 113.1-26; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-230 as § 4-280-200, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-260, as § 4-280-230.

4-280-240 Operational requirements and records.

   A.   A grantee shall construct, operate and maintain the cable system in full compliance with the rules and regulations, including applicable amendments, of the FCC and all other applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulations, including the latest editions of the National Electrical Safety Code. The cable system and all its parts and the installation thereof, shall be subject to inspection by the city and the city hereby reserves the right to review a grantee's construction plans prior to the commencement of construction. A grantee shall perform all tests necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this chapter and its franchise and other lawful technical standards. Unless a franchise or applicable law provides otherwise, all tests shall be conducted in accordance with federal rules and in accordance with the most recent edition of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) Recommended Practices, specifically, its Recommended Practices for Fiber Optic Cable Construction and Testing and its Recommended Practices for Coaxial Cable Construction and Testing, or such other manual as may be directed under FCC regulations. A written report of any test results shall be filed with the city within seven days of a request by the city. If a location fails to meet technical or performance specifications, the grantee, without requirement of additional notice or request from city, shall promptly take corrective action, and retest the locations.

   B.   A grantee shall provide an emergency alert system ("EAS") and comply with all applicable federal, state, city and regional emergency alert and notification statutes, regulations, and plans, and any other requirements that may be contained within a franchise. The City may use the EAS, under procedures established between the city and the grantee, which are consistent with city, state and federal EAS requirements, to transmit an emergency alert signal, including the ability to override the audio and video on all channels throughout the city from the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communication's 9-1-1 Center or other location as may be designated by the city. A grantee shall test the EAS, as required by the FCC. The city shall be permitted to participate in and/or witness the EAS testing, up to twice a year. If the test indicates that the EAS is not performing properly, a grantee shall make any necessary adjustment to the EAS, and the EAS shall be retested. The city shall permit only appropriately trained and authorized persons to operate the EAS equipment provided pursuant to this chapter.

   C.   A grantee shall maintain an office within the city which shall be open and accessible to the public with adequate telephone service during normal business hours. Grantee shall employ an operator or maintain a telephone answering service, 24 hours per day, each day of the year, to receive subscriber complaints.

   D.   A grantee shall exercise its best effort to design, construct, operate and maintain the cable system at all times so that signals carried are delivered to subscribers without material degradation in quality (within the limitations imposed by the technical state-of- the-art).

   E.   Upon request by the Cable Administrator, copies of all correspondence, petitions, reports, applications and other documents sent or received by grantee from federal or state agencies having appropriate jurisdiction in matters affecting the cable system or cable service operations shall be furnished by a grantee to the cable administrator.

   F.   The cable administrator shall have the authority to specify the manner in which all reports, records, and related information required under this chapter shall be delivered to the City by a grantee. The delivery methods may include hard copy, digital, access via a secure web site, or other reasonable and cost- effective alternative.

   G.   In the case of any emergency or disaster, the grantee shall, upon request of the city, make available its facilities to the city, without costs, for emergency use during the emergency or disaster period.

(Prior code § 113.1-27; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-240 as § 4-280-210, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-270, as § 4-280-240.

4-280-250 Tests and performance monitoring.

   A.   Not later than 90 days after any new or substantially rebuilt portion of the system is made available for service to subscribers, technical performance tests shall be conducted by a grantee to demonstrate full compliance with the Technical Standards of the Federal Communications Commission and Section 4-280-240 of this chapter. Such tests shall be performed by, or under the supervision of, a qualified registered professional engineer or an engineer with proper training and experience. A copy of the report shall be submitted to the cable administrator, describing test results, instrumentation, calibration and test procedures and the qualifications of the engineer responsible for the tests.

   B.   System monitor test points shall be established at or near the output of the last amplifier in the longest feeder line, at or near trunk line extremities, or at the locations to be specified by the cable administrator. Such periodic tests shall be made at the test points as shall be described by the cable administrator.

   C.   At any time after commencement of service to subscribers, the cable administrator may require additional reasonable tests, including full or partial repeat tests, different test procedures, or tests involving a specific subscriber's terminal, at a grantee's expense to the extent such tests may be performed by a grantee's employees utilizing its existing facilities and equipment; provided, however, that the city reserves the right to conduct its own tests upon reasonable notice to a grantee and if noncompliance is found, the expense thereof shall be borne by a grantee. The city will endeavor to arrange its request for such special tests so as to minimize hardship or inconvenience to grantee or to the subscriber.

   D.   A copy of the annual performance tests report required by the Federal Communications Commission shall be submitted to the city within 30 days of its completion.

   E.   The city shall have the right to employ qualified consultants if necessary or desirable to assist in the administration of this, or any other, section of this chapter.

(Prior code § 113.1-28; Amend Coun. J. 12-9-92, p. 25465; Amend Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1)

Editor's note – Coun. J. 4-24-12, p. 23998, § 1, renumbered former § 4-280-250 as § 4-280-220, and renumbered this section, which was formerly § 4-280-280, as § 4-280-250.