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1.
Underground Installation Required. Except as hereinafter provided, in all areas of the City where the cables, wires and other like facilities of a public utility are placed underground, each Grantee shall construct and install its cables, wires and other facilities underground. Amplifier boxes and pedestal mounted terminal boxes may be placed aboveground if existing technology reasonably requires, but shall be of such size and design and shall be so located as not to be unsightly or unsafe. In any area of the City where there are certain cables, wires and other like facilities of a public utility underground and at least one (1) operable cable, wire or like facility of a public utility is suspended above the ground from poles, a Grantee may construct and install its cables, wires and other facilities from the same pole with permission of the utility company which owns the poles.
2.
Relocation Underground. With respect to any cables, wires and other like facilities constructed and installed by a Grantee aboveground, the Grantee shall, at its sole expense reconstruct and reinstall such cables, wires, or other facilities underground pursuant to any project under which the cables, wires or other like facilities of all like utilities are placed underground within an area.
If, during the term of a franchise, the Grantor, a public utility, a sanitary district or any other similar special district elects to alter, repair, realign, abandon, improve, vacate, reroute or change the grade of any street or to replace, repair, install, maintain, or otherwise alter any aboveground or underground cable, wire, conduit, pipe, line pole, wire-holding structure, or other facility utilized for the provisions of utility or other services or transportation or drainage, sewage or other liquids, the Grantee shall, except as otherwise hereinafter provided, at its sole expense, remove or relocate as necessary its poles, wires, cables, underground conduits, maintenance holes and any other facilities which it has installed. If such removal or relocation is required within the subdivision in which all utility lines, including those for the system, were installed at the same time, the entities may decide among themselves who is to bear the cost of relocating, provided that the Grantor shall not be liable to a Grantee for such costs. Regardless of who bears the costs, a Grantee shall take action to remove or relocate at such time or times as are directed by the agency undertaking the work. Reasonable advance written notice shall be mailed to the Grantee advising the Grantee of the date or dates that the removal or relocation is to be undertaken.
Each Grantee shall, upon request by any person holding a building moving permit or other approval issued by the Grantor, temporarily remove, raise or lower its wires to permit the movement of buildings. The expense of such removal, raising or lowering shall be paid by the persons requesting same, and a Grantee shall be authorized to require such payment in advance. A Grantee shall be given not less than thirty (30) days’ written notice to arrange for such temporary wire changes.
1.
System Design. A cable system shall be a minimum of 300 MHz bandwidth or its functional equivalent.
2.
Service. Service shall be provided to subscribers in accordance with the schedules and line extension policies specified in Section 113.03. Cable system construction and provision of service shall be nondiscriminatory, and Grantee shall not delay or deter service to any section of the franchise area on the grounds of economic preference.
3.
PEG Facilities and Access Channel. Grantee shall provide a channel for use by the Grantor for public, educational, and government (PEG) cablecasting. Grantee will also provide to Grantor, at no charge, technical and engineering assistance in the development by Grantor of PEG access facilities. Grantee will also order for Grantor equipment for PEG access facilities at Grantee’s discounts. Any equipment ordered by Grantee for Grantor will be at the expense of the Grantor and said equipment shall be owned by Grantor.
4.
System Construction Schedule.
A.
Grantee shall comply with the requirements of the system construction or upgrade schedule contained in the franchise agreement.
B.
Grantee shall provide a detailed construction or upgrade plan indicating progress schedules, area construction maps, test plan, and projected dates for adding service. In addition, Grantee shall update this information on a monthly basis, by submitting a copy of its normal internal progress reports, showing specifically whether schedules are being met and the reason for any delays.
5.
Provision of Service. After service has been established by activating trunk and distribution cables for any area, Grantee shall provide service to any requesting subscriber within the area within thirty (30) days from the date of the request.
1.
Each Grantee shall construct, install and maintain its system in a manner consistent and in compliance with all applicable laws, ordinances, construction standards, governmental requirements, and technical standards equivalent to those established by the FCC.
Each Grantee shall provide to the Grantor written reports of the Grantee’s annual proof of performance tests conducted pursuant to FCC standards and requirements.
2.
Each Grantee shall at all times comply with the National Electrical Safety Code (National Bureau of Standards); National Electrical Code; National Bureau of Fire Underwriters; applicable FCC and other Federal, State and local regulations; and codes and other ordinances of the City.
3.
In any event, the system shall not endanger or interfere with the safety of persons or property within the City or other areas where the Grantee may have equipment located.
4.
All working facilities, conditions, and procedures, used or occurring during construction and maintenance of the system, shall comply with the standards of the occupational Safety and Health Administration.
5.
Construction, installation and maintenance of the system shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner, and in close coordination with public and private utilities serving the City, following accepted construction procedures and practices and working through existing committees and organizations.
6.
All cable and wires shall be installed, where possible, parallel with electric and telephone lines, and multiple cable configurations shall be arranged in parallel and bundled with due respect for engineering considerations.
7.
Any antenna structure used in the system shall comply with construction, marking and lighting of antenna structures required by the United States Department of Transportation.
8.
RF leakage shall be checked at reception locations for emergency radio services so as to prove no interference signal combinations are possible.
9.
Radiation shall be measured adjacent to any proposed aeronautical navigation or communication radio sites to prove no interference to air navigational reception.
1.
Standards. The cable communications system shall meet all technical and performance standards contained in the franchise agreement and those required by the FCC.
2.
Test and Compliance Procedure. The Grantee shall submit, within sixty (60) days after the effective date of the franchise agreement, a detailed test plan describing the methods and schedules for testing the cable system on an ongoing basis to determine compliance with the provisions of the franchise agreement. The tests for basic cable service shall be performed at intervals no greater than twelve (12) months. The tests may be witnessed by representatives of the Grantor, and written test reports shall be submitted to the Grantor. If more than ten percent (10%) of the locations tested fail to meet the performance standards, the Grantee shall be required to indicate what corrective measures have been taken, and the entire test shall be repeated. A second failure of more than ten percent (10%) may be considered a breach of the franchise agreement.
3.
Special Tests. At any time after commencement of service to subscribers, the Grantor may require additional tests, full or partial repeat tests, different test procedures, or tests involving a specific subscriber’s terminal. Requests for such additional tests will be made on the basis of complaints received or other evidence indicating an unresolved controversy or significant noncompliance, and such tests shall be limited to the particular matter in controversy. The Grantor shall endeavor to so arrange its requests for such special tests so as to minimize hardship or inconvenience to Grantee or to the subscriber.
4.
Costs of Tests. The costs of all tests required by subsection 2 and 3, and retesting as necessary, shall be borne by the Grantee, except that if Grantor requires the utilization of outside consultants or test personnel, such costs shall be borne by the Grantor.
1.
Service Provided. The Grantee shall provide, as a minimum, the initial services listed in the franchise agreement. Services shall not be reduced without prior notification to Grantor.
2.
Basic Cable Service. The “Basic Cable Service” shall include any service tier which includes the retransmission of local television signals. This service shall be provided to all subscribers at the established monthly subscription rates.
3.
Public, Educational and Government (PEG) Access Channel. The Grantee shall provide a channel for use by the Grantor for PEG purposes. Any equipment, interface equipment and cabling to permit operation will be at the expense of the Grantor.
4.
Cable Channel for Commercial Use. The Grantee shall designate channel capacity for commercial use as required by the Act and applicable law.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prevent or prohibit: (i) the Grantor and the Grantee from agreeing to exceed the customer service standards set forth herein; (ii) the establishment or enforcement of any State or municipal law or regulation concerning customer service or consumer protection that imposes customer service or consumer protection requirements that exceed the standards set forth herein, or address matters not addressed herein. The Grantee shall maintain a local office to provide the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to comply with the following consumer standards under normal conditions of operation:
1.
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 and shall occur during periods of minimum use of the system. A written log or an equivalent stored in computer memory and capable of access and reproduction, shall be maintained for all service interruptions and requests for cable service as required by this chapter.
2.
Telephone Lines. Local toll-free or collect call telephone line capacity shall be made available by Grantee to customers 24 hours per day, seven days a week, including holidays. The Grantee shall use best efforts under normal operating conditions during normal business hours to ensure that a minimum average of ninety percent (90%) of all callers (measured on a quarterly basis) for service will not be required to wait more than thirty (30) seconds before being connected to a trained customer service representative, and shall receive a busy signal less than three percent (3%) of the time (measured on a quarterly basis). If the call needs to be transferred, the transfer time shall not exceed thirty (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 company representative on the next business day.
3.
Regional Customer Service Center. Grantee shall maintain a regional customer service center with a toll free telephone number for the purpose of receiving inquiries, requests, and complaints concerning all aspects of the establishment, construction, maintenance, and operation of the system. The regional customer service center shall be open during normal business hours.
4.
Installation Staff. An installation staff shall install service to any subscriber located up to 250 feet from the existing distribution system within seven (7) days after receipt of a request. This standard shall be met no less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.
5.
Installation, Outages and Service Call Scheduling. Grantee shall schedule, either at a specific time or, at maximum, within a specified four (4) hour time period, all appointments with subscribers for installation or service. Grantee may not cancel an appointment with a customer 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 customer and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the customer will be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the customer. These standards shall be met no less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.
6.
Repair Standards. 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:
A.
System Service Interruption. Under normal operating conditions (including weekends), within two (2) hours of receiving subscribers calls which by number identify a system service interruption of sound or picture on one or more channels, affecting all the subscribers of the system or two percent (2%) thereof.
B.
Isolated Service Interruption. Within twenty-four (24) hours (including weekends) of receiving requests for service identifying an isolated service interruption (less than 2% of subscribers) of sound or picture for one or more channels. This standard shall be met no less than ninety-five percent (95%) of the time, measured on a quarterly basis.
C.
Inferior Reception Quality. Within forty-eight (48) hours (including weekends) of receiving a request for service identifying a problem concerning picture or sound quality. Grantee shall be deemed to have responded to a request for service under the provisions of this section when a technician arrives at the service location and begins work on the problem. In the case of a subscriber not being home when the technician arrives, response shall be deemed to have taken place if the technician leaves written notification of arrival.
7.
Notification of Service Interruption to City Administrator. The Grantee shall promptly notify the City Administrator, in writing, or if appropriate, by oral communication, of any significant interruption in the operation of the system. For the purposes of this section, a “significant interruption in the operation of the system” means any interruption of sound or picture on one or more channels of a duration of at least twenty-four (24) hours to at least five percent (5%) of the subscribers.
8.
Subscriber Credit for Service interruption. Upon service interruption of subscriber’s cable service, the following shall apply:
A.
Grantee shall provide, at the subscriber’s request, a credit for service interruptions of over four (4) hours and up to seven (7) days of one-thirtieth (1/30) of one month’s fees for affected services for each 24-hour period service is interrupted for four (4) or more hours.
B.
For interruptions of seven (7) days or more in one month, the Grantee shall provide, at the subscriber’s request, a credit that will be issued based an the hourly rate the subscriber pays for all monthly service and the number of hours of the service interruption.
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