§ 15-25 SYSTEM OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE GENERALLY.

   A franchisee shall:

   (a)   Render efficient service, make repairs promptly and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. Such interruptions, insofar as is possible, shall be preceded by notice and shall occur during periods of minimum use of the system.

   (b)   Maintain an office in the City which shall be open during all usual business hours, have a listed telephone and be so operated that complaints and requests for repairs or adjustments may be received at any time, 24 hours each day.

   (c)   Limit failures to a minimum by locating and correcting malfunctions promptly, but in no event longer than 24 hours after receiving notice of same. Should it be impossible or impractical to correct any such malfunctions in 24 hours or less, then, unless the franchisee can show that the disruption in service was

entirely beyond its control, the franchisee shall give a rebate in the amount of $1.00 for every additional 12-hour period or the greater portion thereof that television reception is so disrupted to every affected subscriber who notifies the franchisee of the disruption and to any other subscribers whom the franchisee otherwise reasonably should have been aware were affected by the reception disruption. The rebate to any subscriber under this section in any month shall not exceed the subscriber’s normal monthly fee paid to the franchisee. In the event a disruption of service for any reason extends beyond three days from the time the franchisee is notified or otherwise reasonably becomes aware of the disruption, the affected subscribers shall receive a rebate proportionate to the time of the disruption.

   (d)   Should any failure or malfunction in the operation of the cable communications system take more than eight hours to correct or repair, then the franchisee shall, within 15 days from the occurrence of the failure or malfunction, file a report with the City Administrator, providing the following information:

      (1)   The cause of the failure or malfunction;

      (2)   The length of time the service was disrupted;

      (3)   The geographical area affected by the failure or malfunction;

      (4)   The number of subscribers affected by the failure or malfunction; and

      (5)   What, if anything, is being done or can be done to prevent such failure or malfunctions from occurring in the future.

   (e)   Comply with the cable system customer service obligations set forth in 47 C.F.R. § 76.309 as in effect on January 1, 1999, and in addition, as those regulations may hereafter be amended.

(Ord. 2428, passed 2-18-1974; Ord. 2899, passed 3-21-1984; Ord. 3486, passed 1-28-2002)

Statutory reference:

   Cable system customer service obligations, see 47 U.S.C. § 76.309

§ 15-26 EMERGENCY PROGRAMMING.

   In the case of any emergency or disaster, a franchisee shall, upon request of the City Council, the Mayor or the City Administrator, make available its facilities to the City for emergency use during emergency or disaster period. To this end, the cable system shall have an “automatic override” capability built into it so that emergency messages may be broadcast over all cable channels simultaneously from the cable system’s distribution source.

(Ord. 2428, passed 2-18-1974; Ord. 2899, passed 3-21-1984; Ord. 3486, passed 1-28-2002)

§§ 15-27 – 15-32 RESERVED.

§ 15-33 ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE.

   (a)   The franchisee shall not permit any of its systems to be used by any person or governmental agency for an electronic eavesdropping or surveillance or for any monitory purpose which constitutes an invasion of the right to privacy of any subscriber or user of the system, unless such eavesdropping, surveillance or monitoring is performed pursuant to existing State or Federal laws by a governmental law enforcement agency.

   (b)   Franchisee shall not permit the transmission for any signal, oral, visual or digital, including “polling” the channel selection, from any subscriber’s premises without first obtaining the written permission of the subscriber. This provision is not intended to prohibit the use or transmission of signals useful only for the control or measurement of system performance or used only for billing subscribers. Franchisee shall not permit the installation of any special terminal equipment in any subscriber’s premises that will permit transmission from subscriber’s premises of two-way services utilizing oral, visual or digital signals without first obtaining the written permission of the subscriber. The franchisee, or any of its agents or employees, shall not, without the specific written authorization for the subscriber involved, sell or otherwise make available to any party any list which identifies the names, addresses, telephone numbers, identities or the viewing habits of individual subscribers, except as required for billing purposes and in accordance with applicable law.

(Ord. 2428, passed 2-18-1974; Ord. 2899, passed 3-21-1984; Ord. 3486, passed 1-28-2002)

§ 15-34 ACCESS.

   No owner of any dwelling or mobile home park or his agent may forbid or prevent any tenant or occupant of the dwelling or mobile home park from receiving cable television service from the franchisee, nor discriminate in rental charges or otherwise against any such tenant or occupant receiving cable television service from the franchisee. Such owner or his agent may require that the installation of cable television facilities conform to all reasonable conditions necessary to protect the safety, functioning, appearance and value of the premises and the convenience, safety and well-being of other tenants or occupants. A franchisee installing any such facilities for the benefit of a tenant or occupant in any dwelling or mobile home park shall agree to indemnify the owner thereof for any damage or compensate the owner thereof for any taking of the owner’s property caused by the installation, operation or removal of such facilities and for any liability which may arise out of such installation, operation or removal. The franchisee shall also indemnify the City for any damages arising from the application of this section. Any dispute hereunder shall be referred to the Telecommunications Advisory Commission.

(Ord. 2899, passed 3-21-1984; Ord. 3486, passed 1-28-2002)

§ 15-35 UNIFORMITY OF RATES AND SERVICE.

   The franchisee shall not make or grant any undue preference or advantage to any person as to rates, charges, services, services facilities, rules, regulations or in any other respect nor subject any person to prejudice or disadvantage.

(Ord. 2428, passed 2-18-1974)

ARTICLE V. TELECOMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMISSION