(a) Programming. The franchisee shall provide all services to subscribers as described herein.
(1) Inform subscribers. The franchisee shall inform subscribers, via written notice of proposed programming changes at least thirty (30) days in advance of said change.
(2) Subscriber electronic equipment. To the extent economically feasible and technologically available, the franchisee shall ensure that its system shall be compatible with television sets that are equipped with premium function (picture in picture and cable tuning), VCR's, etc. The franchisee shall notify subscribers that they may purchase commercially available remote control device from any source that sells such device rather than renting it from the franchisee. The franchisee shall periodically notify subscribers that a partial list of the types of remote control units that are compatible with the converter box supplied by the franchisee, is maintained at the franchisee's business offices and available for subscriber inspection. The franchisee shall not take any action that prevents commercially available remote control units to be utilized with the franchisee converter box.
(3) Emergency Override. The Franchisee shall, without charge, provide, service and maintain emergency override equipment which shall be shared and coordinated with the other local governmental entities in the county.
(4) Televising Town Commission meetings. As part of its basic tier of programming service, from time to time as requested by the Town and within the franchise area as much as possible, the franchisee shall televise a tape of all Town Commission meetings. The tape shall be telecasted in its entirety without significant interruption during evening hours commencing between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. within not more than seven (7) days after the Town supplies a videotape of the Commission meeting. The Town shall be responsible for the cost and expense of taping of the Town Commission meetings, and the tape shall meet the technical requirements of the franchisee. The franchisee shall be responsible for the cost of telecasting said meetings. Upon request by the Town, the franchisee shall give technical expertise to the Town in taking its Town Commission meeting, and the franchisee may, but shall not be obligated to, charge a reasonable fee for the purpose of defraying the cost of said expertise.
(b) Consumer services.
(1) Business office. The franchisee shall establish, operate and maintain an office/repair facility within twelve (12) miles of the town. The purpose of the facility will be to: provide maintenance and repair to the cable system; receive inquiries, requests and complaints concerning all aspects of the of the cable system; and to receive payment of subscribers' service charges. Office hours will be at a minimum: Monday -Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
The franchisee shall provide all subscribers with at least thirty (30) days prior written notice of a change in business office hours. Under normal operating conditions, the business office shall maintain a staff adequate to process complaints, requests for installation, service or repairs, and other business in a timely and efficient manner.
(2) Telephone service. The franchisee shall have a listed toll-free telephone number for service calls available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week and for consumer information, complaints, and installation/disconnection of service available during regular business office hours. Said telephone number(s) shall be made available to the general public by the telephone information operator and published in the local telephone directory. The franchisee shall provide a telephone number to the town and utility companies to enable the town or utility companies to reach the franchisee in case of emergency on a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week basis. The number shall be a telephone number that Town or utility company officials will be able to reach an appropriate Franchisee official as quickly as possible. The number may be an unlisted number or a number that Town/utility officials will be able to reach an appropriate Franchisee official without delay. All subscriber related calls will be handled by a customer service representative ("CSR"). The CSR will attempt to resolve the subscriber's concern over the phone. Telephones will be answered within thirty (30) seconds and transitioning of calls shall be made within thirty (30) seconds ninety percent (90%) of the time. The caller shall receive a busy signal less than five percent (5%) of the time. The Franchisee shall monitor compliance with this section, and at the request of the Town shall verify to the Town's reasonable satisfaction such compliance. The franchisee shall add additional telephone lines and service representatives when existing lines are substantially utilized or when a pattern of subscriber complaints reflect a need for additional service employees.
In the event the CSR is unable to resolve the call, it will be assigned to a service technician. Under normal operating conditions, the call will then be scheduled for service before the end of the next business day. The following level of service is a minimum level of service: For single subscribers service technicians are available Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. and are "on-call" during the weekends. Efforts to schedule specific morning (8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.) or afternoon (1:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.) appointments are made when it is reasonably necessary to accommodate a subscriber's schedule. In addition, service technicians are "on-call" 6:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. weekdays for minor outage problems. A "minor outage" is defined as a disruption of service reasonably identifiable as unique to 3 to 10 subscribers, or to a specific geographic area. Appointments are scheduled to be date-specific.
A technician may cancel an appointment with a subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment, but only if the franchisee's technician first contacts the subscriber to notify them of the cancelled appointment. The appointment will be re-scheduled at the convenience of the subscriber on a weekday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or on a weekend between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. If the installer is running late and will not be able to keep the service appointment as scheduled, the subscriber will be contacted, and the appointment will be rescheduled at the subscriber's convenience on a weekday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. or on a weekend between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
(3) "Normal operating conditions," as that term is used in this sub-section 19-17(b), includes all conditions except times of natural disasters, power outages, civil disturbances, telephone network outages, severe or unusual weather conditions, and includes but is not limited to other similar types of circumstances beyond the control of the franchisee.
(c) Service outage. The franchisee will begin working on a "major outage" promptly and complete repairs no later than twenty-four (24) hours after the interruption becomes known. The cable operator must begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. System outages are handled from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days per week. These hours take into consideration the safety and security precautions for all cable system personnel. A "major outage" is defined as total disruption of service to a majority of subscribers within a specific geographic area.
(d) Complaint Records. The franchisee shall keep full records in connection with all inquiries, complaints and requests in connection with the system. Such records shall identify the person contacting the franchisee, and the person responding on behalf of the franchisee, the subject matter of the contact, the date and time it was received, the resolution of the matter in question or the action taken by the franchisee in connection with the contact, and the date and time thereof, and such other information as may be deemed pertinent by the franchisee. Written complaints shall be made available for periodic inspection by the Town.
(e) Subscriber solicitation. The franchisee shall provide the town with a list of names and addresses of all representatives who will be soliciting within the town and the area in and the dates within such solicitations shall take place. Each such representative and all other employees entering upon private property shall be required to wear an employee identification card issued by the franchisee and bearing a picture of said representative.
(f) Installation and connection.
(1) Service obligations. The franchisee shall make service available throughout the entire franchise area to any residential subscribers; provided any back debts due to the franchisee from the prospective subscriber have been made current. Within seven (7) days of a request for service by any person or entity, the franchisee shall furnish the requested service to such person or entity if a standard installation is within one hundred fifty (150) feet from the prospective subscriber's residence. If not within one hundred fifty (150) feet service shall be provided within thirty (30) days of a request for service, except where permitting takes a longer periods of time. Any non-standard installation is an installation over one-hundred fifty (150) feet from the prospective subscriber's residence, and in such cases the provision of service will be handled under a share cost program.
(2) Standard installations. The standard installation shall consist of a service not exceeding one hundred fifty (150) feet from a single point or pedestal attachment to the subscriber's residence. The desire of the subscriber as to the point of entry into the residence or commercial establishment and location of pedestal, if on the subscriber's property, shall be observed whenever possible. Runs in building interiors shall be as unobtrusive as possible. The franchisee shall use due care in the process of installation and shall repair any damage to the subscriber's property caused by said installation. Such restoration shall be undertaken within no more than ten (10) days after the damage is incurred and shall be completed as soon as possible thereafter.
(3) At the request of the Town Manager, the franchisee shall provide one basic service outlet to Town hall, the police department, the fire department, and the public works department and public schools within the Town's franchise area at no cost to the Town or school involved; provided, however, that the structure to be served is within 150 feet of the franchisee's distribution system.
(Ord. 94-05, passed 12-14-94)