For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms, phrases, words, abbreviations, and their derivations shall have the meaning given herein. When not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number. The word “shall” is always mandatory, not merely directory. All references to days shall mean calendar days, unless otherwise specified. References to “this code” are to this cable communications chapter. The terms “will be available”, “will be equipped”, “will use”, “will be designed”, “will perform”, “will be utilized”, “will permit”, “will allow”, “will be activated”, “will be initially connected”, “will be capable”, “will provide”, “will include”, “will employ”, “will be established”, “will be able”, “will be implemented”, “will be delivered”, “will utilize”, and other similar uses of terms in a licensee’s proposal denoting the activation of cable service. Delivery or accomplishment at a date no later than the initial activation of cable service (as defined in this section), unless otherwise expressly and clearly stated or qualified in the licensee’s proposal to mean a more specific or different time.
ACCESS CHANNEL. One or more channels dedicated in whole or in part for local non-commercial programming that are not originated by a cable company; provided that such access programming shall not include:
(1) The retransmission of local television broadcast signals; or
(2) Programming produced by persons unaffiliated with the cable company under the provisions of § 612 of the Cable Act.
AFFILIATE. Any person who owns or controls, is owned by or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with a licensee.
APPLICANT. A person who applies for a license to provide cable service in the town.
APPLICATION. Refers to the offer by a qualified applicant to furnish and provide a cable system and cable services to residents, businesses, industries, and institutions within the town in accordance with the town’s specifications.
BASIC SERVICE. Any service tier that includes the retransmission of local television broadcast signals. Each such tier shall include all access channels, as defined in § 611 of the Cable Act.
CABLE ACT. The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, as amended, including the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
CABLE SERVICES or CABLE SERVICE.
(1) The one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming and other programming services; and
(2) Subscriber interaction, if any, that is required for the selection or use of such programming and programming services.
CABLE SYSTEM.
(1) A facility consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide cable services, that includes video programming, and that is provided to multiple subscribers within the town, but such term does not include:
(a) A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;
(b) A facility that serves subscribers without using any public right-of-way;
(c) A facility of a common carrier that is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II of the Communications Act of 1934, except that such facility shall be considered a CABLE SYSTEM to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers, unless the extent of such use is solely to provide interactive on-demand services;
(d) An open video system that complies with 47 U.S.C. § 653; or
(e) Any facility of an electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.
(2) Any reference to licensee’s cable system refers to the CABLE SYSTEM as a whole or any part thereof.
COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION or COMPLETE SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION. Satisfactorily complete and fully activated. In each instance, these terms shall mean that, for aerial construction, strand has been put up and all necessary cable has been lashed, for underground construction, all cable has been laid and trenches refilled, all road surfaces restored to the town’s satisfaction, and, except as prevented by weather conditions or delayed because of seasons, landscaping restored; that all amplifier housings and modules have been installed, that power supplies have been installed, that construction of the headends or hubs has been completed, and that all necessary processing equipment has been installed; and that any and all other construction necessary for the cable system to be ready to deliver cable service to subscribers has been completed with no unresolved violations of this chapter or the license. Final balancing shall have been conducted on each otherwise completed segment of the cable system before direct marketing of that segment begins. It is expected that segments of less than the entire cable system will be activated and final balanced when completed. Construction of any segment or of the entire cable system will not be considered complete until final balance has been conducted on such segment (or in the case of the entire cable system, until final balancing and proof of performance tests have been conducted on all segments of the cable system.) The term COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION does not include marketing and installation of subscriber service.
EDUCATION ACCESS CHANNEL. Any channel or bandwidth on a cable system set aside by a licensee for educational use.
FCC. The Federal Communications Commission, or a designated representative.
GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL. Any channel or bandwidth on a cable system set aside by a licensee for governmental use.
GROSS REVENUES.
(1) All cash, credits, property of any kind or nature, or other consideration, less related bad debts up to a maximum of 1.5% annually of such cash, credits, and property, received directly or indirectly by a licensee, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent, and any person, firm, or corporation in which a licensee has a financial interest or that has a financial interest in a licensee, arising from or attributable to the licensee’s operation of its cable system to provide cable services (as defined from time to time by applicable federal law) within the town, including, but not limited to:
(a) Revenue from all charges for services provided to subscribers;
(b) Revenue from all charges for the insertion of commercial advertising upon the cable system;
(c) Revenue from all charges for the leased use of studios;
(d) Revenue from all charges for the use of or lease of leased access channels or band width;
(e) Revenue from the production or transmission over the cable system of video programming by licensee including programming produced by its mobile facilities;
(f) Revenue from all charges for the installation, removal, connection, and reinstatement of equipment necessary for a subscriber to receive cable services;
(g) Revenue from the sale, exchange, use, or cablecast of any programming developed for community use or institutional users; and
(h) Any other income derived from the cable system.
(2) GROSS REVENUES does not include taxes or fees (except the license fee) collected by licensee on behalf of any governmental authority; any increase in the value of stock, security, or asset; any surcharges for underground conversion of cable plant costs; any increase in the value of any stock, security, or asset; the value of complimentary service provided to licensee’s employees and as required by this chapter or any license; and dividends or other distributions made in respect of any stock or securities; or value received by a licensee or any of its affiliates through cooperative advertising.
(3) GROSS REVENUES shall not include cash, credit, property of any kind or nature, or other consideration received by a licensee’s affiliates or any person, firm, or corporation (“related person”) in which a licensee has a financial interest or that has financial interest in a licensee for any sales of advertising on the cable system, services to provide programming on the cable system, production services, and/or telecommunication services that are cable services when such services are provided by a related person that has all the following characteristics: the related person is a separate legal entity, with separate employees, with separate financial records (that may be part of consolidated financial reporting records), and a separate mission; it makes payments to licensee that meet market standards for the services and industries involved, even if it does not offer and provide its services to persons other than licensee in the same industry as licensee; and it was established for valid business purposes and not with the intent and purpose of circumventing payment of license fees on gross revenues. Nothing contained in this exclusion from gross revenues shall be interpreted to exclude from gross revenues such cash, credit, property of any kind or nature, or other consideration that would be considered the licensee’s GROSS REVENUES derived from the operation of the cable system to provide cable services under the Cable Act. Except for GROSS REVENUE from such sales of advertising on the cable system, services to provide programming on the cable system, production services, or telecommunication services that are cable services received by such related person, this division (3) shall not exclude from GROSS REVENUES any source of gross revenues that an existing licensee itself is receiving at the time it is granted a license under this chapter.
(4) When a licensee (or an affiliate) holds one or more other cable television licenses in the county, and receives and allocates GROSS REVENUES from divisions (1)(b), (1)(d), and (1)(e) above, then GROSS REVENUES derived from divisions (1)(b), (1)(d), and (1)(e) above, shall be allocated pro rata to the town based on the ratio of the number of subscribers of licensee (or an affiliate), in the town to the number of subscribers of licensee (or an affiliate) in all the jurisdictions in the county, in that licensee (or an affiliate) holds a cable license. If a licensee does not allocate its gross revenues derived from divisions (1)(b), (1)(d), and (1)(e) from such other jurisdiction(s), then the number of subscribers in such jurisdiction(s) shall not be included in the total number of subscribers in all other jurisdictions.
INITIAL ACTIVATION OF CABLE SERVICE. With respect to a particular segment (as defined in any license issued hereunder), or with respect to a group of segments or the entire cable system, as the case may be, that all proposed cable services and cable system capabilities as stated in the license are available and/or in place, construction has been completed, and the completed segment or segments in question or the entire cable system, as the case may be, have been activated.
INITIAL LICENSE. A license sought by, or granted to, a person who does not hold a license.
INTERACTIVE ON-DEMAND SERVICES. A service providing video programming to subscribers over switched networks on an on-demand, point-to-point basis, but does not include services providing video programming prescheduled by the programming provider.
LICENSE. Any authorization granted under this chapter in terms of a privilege, permit, license, or otherwise to construct, operate, and maintain a cable system in the town, and to provide non-cable communication services including initial licenses and renewal licenses. Any such authorization, in whatever term granted, shall not mean and include any license or permit required for the privilege of transacting and carrying on a business within the town in accordance with the town’s tax code or Chapter 111 of the town code.
LICENSE AREA. The current incorporated boundaries of the town and any future annexed area, unless the term of a license provides otherwise.
LICENSEE. The person or entity to which a license hereafter is granted for continuation, operation, maintenance, or reconstruction of a cable system.
LICENSOR. The town as represented by the Town Council or Town Manager, or their designee.
MULTIPLE DWELLING UNITS (MDU). Any adjacent building(s) such as apartments under common ownership containing more than four dwelling units used as living quarters.
NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS. Those hours during which most similar businesses in the community are open to serve customers. In all cases, NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS must include some evening hours at least one night per week and/or some weekend hours.
NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS.
(1) Those service conditions that are within the control of the licensee. Those conditions that are not within the control of the licensee include, but are not limited to, natural disasters, civil disturbances, utility company power outages, telephone network outages, and severe or unusual weather conditions.
(2) Those conditions that are ordinarily within the control of the licensee include, but are not limited to, special promotions, pay-per-view events, rate increases, regular peak or seasonal demand periods, and maintenance or upgrade of the cable system.
OUTAGE. Exist whenever licensee’s cable system experiences three subscriber complaints within any 60-minute period of “no picture” within the same quarter section.
PROPOSAL. A response by a qualified cable company in accordance with town specifications to provide cable services to residents, businesses, industries, and institutions within the town.
RENEWAL LICENSE. A license sought by, or granted to, a person currently holding a valid license to provide cable services in the town.
SCHOOL. Public educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities, and charter schools that have 150 or more students between the ages of five and 18.
SERVICE CALL. Result when service problems occur relating to:
(1) Any “no picture” complaint;
(2) A degraded signal or picture on one or more channels;
(3) Property damage by licensee’s employees or authorized contractors; or
(4) In-house cable equipment problems.
SERVICE INTERRUPTION. Exist when a subscriber loses the signal on all channels.
STANDARD DROP.
(1) A cable connection that requires no more than a 225-foot drop measured from the nearest point of a subscriber’s home or place of business to the nearest existing technically feasible point from that an individual subscriber can be connected to the cable system; involves only one outlet and standard materials; and does not involve a wall fish.
(2) In addition, a STANDARD DROP shall exclude custom installation work, including specific subscriber requested work that requires non-standard inventory or cable routing requiring construction methods exceeding reasonable underground or aerial work.
STREET or PUBLIC STREET. Only a street, road, highway, freeway, lane, path, alley, court, sidewalk, parkway, right-of-way, or drive that is owned by a public entity in fee or as to which a public easement has been dedicated for street purposes, and with respect to which, and to the extent that, town has a right to grant the use of the surface of, and space above and below in connection with a license for a cable system, or other compatible uses.
SUBSCRIBER. Any person, firm, corporation, or entity receiving for any purpose the cable service of a licensee’s cable system.
TOWN. The Town of Guadalupe, a municipal corporation of the State of Arizona, in its present incorporated form or in any later reorganized, consolidated, enlarged, or reincorporated form.
TOWN COUNCIL. The present governing body of the town or any future council constituting the legislative body of the town.
TOWN MANAGER. The Town Manager or the Town Manager’s designee.
USER. A party utilizing a cable system channel for purposes of production or transmission of material to subscribers, as contrasted with receipt in a subscriber capacity.
(Ord. 2003-07, passed 9-25-2003; Ord. O2020.18, passed 4-23-2020)