A. Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed to prevent or prohibit:
1. The County from altering or amending this Ordinance, including the adoption of consumer service standards which are more strict;
2. The establishment or enforcement of any federal, state or municipal law or regulation concerning Subscriber service or consumer protection that imposes Subscriber service or consumer protection requirements that exceed the standards set forth herein or address matters not addressed herein.
B. The County may evaluate the quality of service at any time based upon the number of Subscribers’ complaints regarding consumer service performance by a Grantee received by the Grantee and/or the County and the Grantee’s response to those complaints. The County’s evaluation that service quality is inadequate may lead to direction to Grantee to cure the inadequacies. The Grantee shall respond to any inadequacy claim within 10 days after receipt of written notice. Failure to do so shall be deemed a breach of the Franchise and subject the Grantee to the remedies prescribed in this Ordinance and the Franchise Agreement, if any. The County may draw upon the letter of credit provided for in this Ordinance or the Franchise Agreement, if any, to remedy any such Franchise breach.
C. Service to All Residents.
1. A Grantee shall construct, operate and maintain the Cable System in such a manner as to have the capability to service every Dwelling Unit, Multiple Dwelling Unit, business, School or public agency and building within the Service Area. A Grantee shall not delay or defer Cable Service to any section of the Service Area on the grounds of Grantee’s economic preference.
2. A Cable System shall provide a minimum of 60 analog video channels or 80 digital video channels. A Grantee shall have the capability to provide Cable Service to all Residents and shall provide at least the following services; community bulletin board, basic cable channels, Commercial Use Channel(s), Local Origination channels, 1 (one) EG Access Facilities channel and Service Tier channels, such as, by way of example, HBO, The Movie Channel, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. Within 60 days of accepting a Franchise or executing a Franchise Agreement, if any, whichever is earlier, a Grantee shall extend and complete the installation of Cable Service to any and all areas within the Service Area that are not receiving Cable Service.
D. Service Standards. The Grantee shall render efficient service, make repairs promptly and interrupt service only for good cause and for the shortest time possible. Scheduled Service Interruptions, insofar as possible, shall be preceded by notice on the community bulletin board and shall occur during periods of minimum use of the System. A written log or an equivalent record stored in computer memory and capable of access and reproduction, shall record all Service Interruptions and requests for Cable Service.
E. Telephone Lines. Local (County of McHenry) toll-free telephone line capacity shall be made available by a Grantee to Subscribers 24 hours per day, seven days a week, including holidays, which shall be answered within the County telephone calling area. The Grantee shall, under Normal Operating Conditions and during Normal Business Hours, ensure that a minimum average of 90 percent of all callers for service will not be required to wait more than 30 seconds before being connected to a trained Subscriber service representative and shall receive a busy signal less than three percent of the time. If the call needs to be transferred, the transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. Inquiries received after Normal Business Hours may be answered by a service or an automated response system and such calls must be responded to by a trained Grantee service representative on the next business day.
F. Installation Staff. An installation staff shall perform Installations to any potential Subscriber within seven days after receipt of a request. This standard shall be met no less than 95 percent of the time.
G. Installation, Outages and Service Call Scheduling. A Grantee shall provide Cable Service to any Dwelling Unit and Multiple Dwelling Unit located within the Service Area within seven days of a request for Cable Service. A Grantee shall schedule, either at a specific time, or, at maximum, within a specified four-hour time period, all appointments with a potential Subscriber for Installation or service. A Grantee may not cancel an appointment with a potential Subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. If a Grantee representative is running late for an appointment with a potential Subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the potential Subscriber shall be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the Subscriber, during Normal Business Hours. These standards shall be met no less than 95 percent of the time.
H. Repair Standards.
1. The Grantee shall maintain a repair force of technicians who, under Normal Operating Conditions, are capable of responding to Subscriber requests for service within the following time frames not less than 95 percent of the time:
a. County Service Interruption: Under Normal Operating Conditions, within three hours, including weekends and holidays, of receiving Subscriber calls which by number identify a Service Area Service Interruption on one or more channels affecting two or more percent of the Subscribers in the Service Area.
b. Isolated Service Interruption: Within 12 hours, including weekends and holidays, of receiving requests for service identifying an isolated Service Interruption (less than two percent of Subscribers) for one or more channels.
c. Inferior Reception Quality: Within 12 hours, including weekends and holidays, of receiving a request for service identifying a problem concerning picture or sound quality.
2. A Grantee shall be deemed to have responded to a request for service under the provisions of this § 5.28.110 when a technician arrives at the service location and initiates work on the problem. The Grantee shall maintain accurate reports of all Service Interruptions under this subsection H. along with records of all corrective actions taken. The Grantee shall forward these reports and records to the County at least once quarterly. Further, a Grantee shall forward said reports and records monthly upon request by the County.
I. Subscriber Credit for Service Interruption. Upon request of a Subscriber who experiences a Service Interruption, the following shall apply:
1. For Service Interruptions of over four hours and up to seven days at the request of the affected Subscriber, the Grantee shall provide a credit of one-tenth (1/10) of one month’s fees for affected Cable Service for each 24-hour period in which the Cable Service is interrupted for four or more hours for any single Subscriber, with the exception of Subscribers disconnected because of non-payment or excessive signal leakage.
2. For Service Interruptions of seven days or more (whether consecutive or not) in one month, at the request of the affected Subscriber, the Grantee shall provide a full month’s credit for affected Cable Service.
3. For Service Interruptions of seven days or more (whether consecutive or not) which are the result of a natural disaster, weather or act of war, a Grantee shall automatically provide a full month’s credit for all affected Subscribers
4. Any Subscriber desiring to request a Subscriber credit pursuant to subparagraph 1. or 2. above, or any other provision in this Ordinance, may request said credit utilizing the form set forth in § 5.28.140 of this Ordinance.
J. Notification of Service Interruption to County Administrator. A Grantee shall promptly notify the County Administrator, or his or her designee, in writing, or, if appropriate, by oral communication, of any significant interruption in the operation of its Cable System. For the purposes of this § 5.28.110, a “significant interruption in the operation of the Cable System” shall mean any interruption of sound or picture or inferior reception with respect to the sound or picture, on one or more channels for a duration of at least one hour to at least 4 percent of Subscribers in the Service Area.
K. Notification in Emergency Cases. A Grantee shall provide to the County a 24-hour telephone number (not a recording) at which the County can notify the Grantee of emergencies.
L. Channels Not Subscribed to by a Subscriber. At the request of a Subscriber, any channels not subscribed to by the Subscriber must be “scrambled” in such a way as to render both the sound and the picture unintelligible.
M. Subscriber Privacy. The Grantee shall comply with state and federal laws with respect to Subscriber privacy.
N. General Subscriber Credit. If a Grantee fails to adhere to any requirement in this § 5.28.110, the affected Subscriber(s) shall receive one free month of Cable Service at whatever Service Tier the Subscriber was receiving at the time of the violation. This provision is in addition to any other remedies the Subscriber or the County may have under this Ordinance or relevant local, state or federal law.
O. Service Disconnection. A Subscriber shall have the right to have its service disconnected without charge. Any equipment excluding inside wiring owned by the Grantee may be removed by the Grantee at the request of the Subscriber.
P. Elimination of Converter Boxes. Within six (6) months from the initial acceptance or renewal of a Franchise, a Grantee shall upgrade its Cable System, if necessary, in such a manner that no Subscriber will be required to utilize a Converter to receive Cable Service at the Grantee’s cost. By accepting the Franchise or renewal thereof, a Grantee acknowledges that time is of the essence with respect to this obligation. In the event such obligation is not completed within such six-month interval, such failure shall constitute a violation of this Ordinance rendering the Grantee liable to a penalty of $250.00 per day for each day such violation continues. Such penalty maybe deducted from the Grantee’s letter of credit by the County.
(Ord. O-200203-12-002, passed 3-5-2002)