APPENDIX A: FCC CUSTOMER RULES AS MODIFIED BY FRANCHISE

47 C.F.R. § 76.309 Customer service obligations.

   (a)   A cable franchise authority may enforce the customer service standards set forth in paragraph (c) of this section against cable operators. The franchise authority must provide affected cable operators 90 days’ written notice of its intent to enforce the standards.

   (b)   Nothing in this rule should be construed to prevent or prohibit:

      (1)   A franchising authority and a cable operator from agreeing to customer service requirements that exceed the standards set forth in division (c) of this appendix;

      (2)   A franchising authority from enforcing, through the end of the franchise term, pre-existing customer service requirements that exceed the standards set forth in division (c) of this appendix and are contained in current franchise agreements ;

      (3)   Any state or any franchising authority from enacting or enforcing any consumer protection law, to the extent not specifically preempted herein; or

      (4)   The establishment or enforcement of any state or municipal law or regulation concerning customer service that imposes customer service requirements that exceed, or address matters not addressed by the standards set forth in division (c) of this appendix.

   (c)   Effective July 1, 1993, a cable operator shall be subject to the following customer service standards:

      (1)   Cable system office hours and telephone availability.

         A.   The cable operator will maintain a local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to its subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

            1.   Trained company representatives will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours .

            2.   After normal business hours , the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next business day.

         B.   Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer representative, including wait time, shall not exceed 30 seconds when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. These standards shall be met no less than 90% of the time under normal operating conditions, measured on a quarterly basis.

         C.   The operator will not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards above unless an historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply.

         D.   Under normal operating conditions, the customer will receive a busy signal less than 3% of the time.

         E.   Customer service center and bill payment locations will be open at least during normal business hours and will be conveniently located.

      (2)   Installations, outages and service calls. Under normal operating conditions, each of the following four standards will be met no less than 95% of the time measured on a quarterly basis:

         A.   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 the existing distribution system.

         B.   Excluding conditions beyond the control of the operator, the cable operator will begin working on “service interruptions” the same day service is requested (for requests made prior to 3:00 p.m.) and in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known. The cable operator must begin actions to correct other service problems the same day service is requested (for requests made prior to 3:00 p.m.) and the next business day after notification of the service problem (for requests made after 3:00 p.m. on the prior business day).

         C.   The “appointment window” alternatives for installations, service calls, and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business hours . (The operator may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the customer.)

47 C.F.R. § 76.1602 Customer service--general information.

   (a)   A cable franchise authority may enforce the customer service standards set forth in division (b) of this appendix against cable operators. The franchise authority must provide affected cable operators 90 days written notice of its intent to enforce standards.

   (b)   Effective July 1, 1993, the cable operator shall provide written information on each of the following areas at the time of installation of service, at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time upon request:

      (1)   Products and services offered;

      (2)   Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription. to programming and other services;

      (3)   Installation and service maintenance policies;

      (4)   Instructions on how to use the cable service;

      (5)   Channel positions of programming carried on the system; and

      (6)   Billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the local franchise authority’s cable office.

   (c)   Subscribers shall be advised of the procedures for resolution of complaints about the quality of the television signal delivered by the cable system operator, including the address of the responsible officer of the local franchising authority.

47 C.F.R. § 76.1603 Customer service--rate and service changes.

   (a)   A cable franchise authority may enforce the customer service standards set forth in division (b) of this appendix against cable operators. The franchise authority must provide affected cable operators 90 days’ written notice of its intent to enforce standards.

   (b)   Customers will be notified of any changes in rates; programming services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of 30 days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator. In addition, the cable operator shall notify subscribers 30 days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by § 76.1602.

   [Information collection requirements for division (c) are not yet effective; OMB approval pending.]

   (c)   In addition to the requirement of division (b) of this appendix regarding advance notification to customers of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions, cable systems shall give 30 days’ written notice to both subscribers and local franchising authorities before implementing any rate or service change. Such notice shall state the precise amount of any rate change and briefly explain in readily understandable fashion the cause of the rate change (e.g., change in external costs or the addition/deletion of channels). When the change involves addition or deletion of channels, each channel added or deleted must be separately identified. For purposes of the carriage of digital broadcast signals, the operator need only identify for subscribers, the television signal added and not whether that signal may be multiplexed during certain dayparts.

   [Last sentence added by FCC 01-22, 66 FR 16554, March 26, 2001]

   (d)   A cable operator shall provide written notice to a subscriber of any increase in the price to be charged for the basic service tier or associated equipment at least 30 days before any proposed increase is effective. The notice should include the name and address of the local franchising authority.

   (e)   To the extent the operator is required to provide notice of service and rate changes to subscribers, the operator may provide such notice using any reasonable written means at its sole discretion.

   (f)   Notwithstanding any other provision of part 76 of this chapter, a cable operator shall not be required to provide prior notice of any rate change that is the result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee , or any other fee, tax, assessment, or charge of any kind imposed by any Federal agency, state, or franchising authority on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber.

Note 1 to § 76.1603: § 624(h) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 544(h), contains additional notification requirements which a franchising authority may enforce. [The statutory section states “A franchising authority may require a cable operator to do one or more of the following: (1) Provide thirty (30) day’s advance written notice of any change in channel assignment or in the video programming service provided over any such channel. (2) Inform subscribers, via written notice, that comments on programming and channel position changes are being recorded by a designated office of the franchising authority.”]

Note 2 to § 76.1603: § 624(d)(3) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 544(d)(3), contains additional notification provisions pertaining to cable operators who offer a premium channel without charge to cable subscribers who do not subscribe to such premium channel.

Note 3 to § 76.1603: § 631 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 551, contains additional notification requirements pertaining to the protection of subscriber privacy.

47 C.F.R. § 76.1619 Information on subscriber bills.

   (a)   Effective July 1, 1993, bills must be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.

   (b)   In case of a billing dispute, the cable operator must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within 30 days.

   (c)   A cable franchise authority may enforce the customer service standards set forth in this section against cable operators. The franchise authority must provide affected cable operators 90 days written notice of its intent to enforce standards.

(Ord. passed 9-5-2001)