(1) Franchise Required. No Person may own, construct, operate or maintain a Cable System or Open Video System within the City, provide Cable Service over a Cable System, or provide OVS Service over an Open Video System, unless a Cable Franchise or OVS Franchise, whichever is applicable, is first issued by the City to the owner of such Cable System or Open Video System in accordance with this Chapter.
(2) Term of Franchise. Unless otherwise specified in a Cable Franchise or OVS Franchise, no Cable Franchise or OVS Franchise shall be issued for a period of more than fifteen (15) years.
(3) Compensation from Cable Franchisees. Except as expressly provided otherwise in an existing Franchise Agreement, each Cable Franchisee shall pay to the City the maximum cable franchise fees and other compensation permitted by law, and all fees required of Franchisees under Section 11-706.
(4) Compensation from OVS Franchisees. Every OVS Franchisee shall pay compensation to the City as follows:
(a) To the extent that the system is used to provide Cable Service, the OVS Franchisee shall pay to the City all fees required of Franchisees under Section 11-706, and a percentage of its Gross Revenue each month equal to the maximum gross revenue percentage paid by any Cable Franchisee in the City for the same month; provided, however, that if there is no Cable System operating in the City, on account of all Cable Systems having become Open Video Systems in accordance with applicable federal law, the percentage shall be equal to the maximum percentage that was required of any Cable Franchisee pursuant to this Section 11-703, subject to any limit that may be imposed by federal law. To the extent the OVS System is used for the provision of Telecommunications Service, and except as prohibited by law, the OVS Franchisee shall also pay the fees required in subsection 11-701(3) and all other fees required of Telecommunications Providers under the Code.
(b) For purposes of this Section 11-703, Gross Revenue shall be defined to include all the revenues derived from the operation of an Open Video System to provide Cable Services; and, except as required otherwise by federal law, shall include the revenues of affiliated persons using the capacity of the Open Video System to provide Cable Service to subscribers for a fee, to the extent the OVS franchisee does not otherwise pay a fee to the City on account of such revenues.
(c) Except as expressly provided otherwise in an existing OVS Agreement or in subsection (a) above, each OVS Franchisee shall pay to the City the maximum fees on its gross revenue and other compensation permitted by law, and all fees required of Franchisees under Section 11-706.
Notes
| Section 11-703 - Conditional Amendment |