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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.
1.
Compliance Records. Upon reasonable notice, Grantee shall demonstrate compliance with any or all of the standards required by this chapter. Grantee shall provide sufficiently detailed information to permit Grantor to readily verify the extent of compliance.
2.
Breach for Noncompliance. A repeated and verifiable pattern of noncompliance with the consumer protection standards of Section 113.24, after Grantee’s receipt of due notice and an opportunity to cure, may be termed a breach of franchise, subject to any and all remedies prescribed in this chapter, the Act and applicable law. The Grantee shall not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards in Section 113.24(2) unless an historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply.
1.
Complaints to Grantee. Grantee shall establish written procedures for receiving, acting upon and resolving subscriber complaints without intervention by the Grantor. The procedures shall prescribe the manner in which a subscriber may submit a complaint, either orally or in writing. At the conclusion of Grantee’s investigation of a subscriber complaint, but in no event more than ten (10) days after receiving the complaint, Grantee shall notify the subscriber of the results of the investigation and its proposed action or resolution, if any. The Grantee shall also notify the subscriber of the subscriber’s right to file a complaint with the Grantor in the event the subscriber is dissatisfied with the Grantee’s decision.
2.
Complaints to Grantor. A subscriber who is dissatisfied with Grantee’s proposed decision shall be entitled to have the complaint reviewed by the Grantor. The subscriber shall initiate the review by filing a complaint, together with the Grantee’s decision, if any, with the Grantor, and the Grantor shall notify the Grantee of the filing. The subscriber shall make such filing and notification within twenty (20) days of receipt of Grantee’s decision or, if no Grantee decision has been provided, within thirty (30) days after filing the original complaint with Grantee. The Grantor may extend these time limits for reasonable cause.
3.
Review by the Grantor. The Grantor shall determine, upon a review of a subscriber complaint and the Grantee’s decision, if any, whether further action is warranted. In the event the Grantor does not initiate further proceedings within fifteen (15) days of the filing of the complaint, the Grantee’s proposed action or resolution shall be final. If the Grantor decides to initiate further investigation, the Grantor shall require the Grantee and the subscriber to submit, within ten (10) days of notice thereof, a statement of the facts and arguments in support of their respective positions. The Grantor shall issue a written decision within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the statements or, if a hearing is requested, within fifteen (15) days of the conclusion of the hearing, setting forth the basis of the decision.
4.
Remedies for Violations. The Grantor may, as a part of a subscriber complaint decision issued under the provisions of this chapter, impose damages on the Grantee. Damages may be imposed only if the Grantor finds that the Grantee has arbitrarily refused or failed without justification, to comply with the provisions of this chapter.
1.
Operating Policies. As subscribers are connected or reconnected to the cable system, and at least annually, and at any time upon request, and when Grantee’s procedures change, under normal operating conditions, the Grantee shall provide each subscriber with written information concerning products and services offered, prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services, installation and service maintenance policies, instructions on how to use the cable services, channel positions of programming carried on the system, the procedures for billing and making inquiries or complaints (including the name, address and local telephone number of the employee or employees or agent to whom such inquiries or complaints are to be addressed) and also furnish information concerning the Grantor office responsible for administration of the franchise with the name and telephone number of the office. The notice shall also indicate Grantee’s business hours, legal holidays and procedures for responding to inquiries after normal business hours. The Grantee shall provide all subscribers and the Grantor written notice no less than thirty (30) days prior to any proposed change in these policies.
2.
Rates, Programming Service and Channel Position. The Grantee, under normal operating conditions, shall provide all subscribers and the Grantor with notice of any change in rates, programming services, or channel position at least thirty (30) days prior to the change(s) through announcements on the cable system and in writing.
3.
Billing. Bills will be clear, concise, understandable and shall include the Grantee’s toll-free or collect telephone number required by Section 113.24. Bills shall be fully itemized, with itemizations, including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills shall also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits. In case of a billing dispute, the Grantee must respond to a written complaint from a subscriber within thirty (30) days. Refund checks will be issued promptly, no later than either (i) the customer’s next billing cycle following resolution of the request or thirty (30) days, whichever is earlier, or (ii) the return of the equipment supplied by the Grantee if service is terminated. Credits for service shall be issued no later than the customer’s next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
4.
Copies to Grantor. Copies of all notices provided to subscribers shall be filed concurrently with the Grantor.
The overall quality of service provided by Grantee to subscribers may be subject to evaluation by Grantor, not less often than once annually. In addition, Grantor may evaluate the quality of service at any time, based upon the number of subscriber complaints received by the Grantee and the Grantor, and Grantee’s response to those complaints. Grantor’s evaluation that service quality is inadequate may lead to direction to Grantee to cure the inadequacies. Grantee shall commence corrective action within thirty (30) days after receipt of written notice. Failure to do so shall be deemed to be a breach of the franchise and subject to the remedies prescribed in this chapter. Grantor, after due process, may utilize the performance bond and/or security fund provided for in this chapter to remedy any such franchise breach.
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