For the purpose of this chapter and any permit, the following terms, phrases, words, and their derivations shall have the meanings given herein. when not inconsistent with the context, words used in the present tense include the future tense, words in the plural number include the singular number, and words in the singular number include the plural number. All capitalized terms used in the definition of any other term shall have their meaning as otherwise defined in this § 793.02. The words "shall" and "will"' are mandatory and "may" is permissive. Words not defined shall be given their common and ordinary meaning.
(a) "Approved" means approval by the city under the requirements of this chapter or any permit.
(b) "Auditor" shall mean the Auditor of the city.
(c) "Basic Service" means a separately available basic service tier to which subscription is required for access to any other tier of service. Such basic service tier shall, at a minimum, consist of the following:
(1) All signals carried in fulfillment of the requirements of sections 614 and 615 of the Cable Act;
(2) Any public, educational, and governmental access programming required by this chapter or the permit;
(3) Except as otherwise permitted by law, any signal of any television broadcast station that is provided by the cable operator to any subscriber, except a signal which is secondarily transmitted by carrier beyond the local service area of such station.
An operator may add additional video programming signals or services to the basic service tier.
(d) "Best Efforts" means the best reasonable efforts under the circumstances, taking into consideration, among other appropriate matters, safety, expedition, available technology and human resources and cost.
(e) "Cable Act" means the 1996 Telecommunications Act or any successor legislation thereto, and any amendments thereto and any rules or regulations adopted thereunder.
(f) "Cable Communications System" see System.
(g) "Cable Service" means:
(1) The one-way transmission to subscribers of video programming or other programming service; and
(2) Subscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection or use of such video programming or other programming service.
(h) "Cable System" see System.
(i) "Channel" means a band of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, or any other means of transmission (including, without limitation, optical fibers or any other means now available or that may become available), which is capable of carrying a video signal, an audio signal, a voice signal, or a data signal.
(j) "Chapter" or "This chapter" means Chapter 793 of the Code of ordinances of the city, as amended from time to time.
(k) "City" means the City of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, or, as appropriate in the case of specific provisions of this chapter, any board, bureau, authority, agency, commission, department of, or any other entity of or acting on behalf of, the City of Reynoldsburg, or any officer, official, employee, representative or agent thereof, the designee of any of the foregoing, or any successor thereto.
(l) "City Council" means the governing body of the city.
(m) "Compliance Committee" means the committee described in Section 793.06 which consists of the Mayor or the Mayor's designate, the President of City Council or the President's designate, and a third person mutually selected by the Mayor and the President of City Council. The committee shall act by majority vote.
(n) "Converter" means an electronic device with an appropriate channel selector which permits a subscriber to view all signals delivered at designated converter dial locations and which contains a Parental Control Device.
(o) "Force Majeure" means a strike, acts of God, acts of public enemies; judicial, administrative or regulatory orders of any kind of a government of the United States of America or of the State of Ohio or any of their departments, agencies or political subdivisions; riots, epidemics, landslides, lightning, earthquakes, fires, tornadoes, storms, floods, civil disturbances, explosions, partial or entire failure of utilities or any other cause or event not reasonably within the control of the disabled party, but only to the extent the disabled party notifies the other party as soon as practicable regarding such Force Majeure.
(p) "Franchise Permit Fee" means the fee to be paid to the city as set forth in Section 793.06.
(q) "Gross Revenues" means all cash, credit, property of any kind or nature, or other consideration received directly or indirectly by an operator arising from or attributable to the sale or exchange of cable services by the operator within the city or in any way derived from the operation of its system for the provision of such cable services, including, but not limited to, monthly fees charged to subscribers for basic service; monthly fees charged to subscribers for any optional service, including other interactive cable service; monthly fees charged to subscribers for any tier of service other than basic service; pay television fees; installation, disconnection, and reconnection and late payment fees; leased channel fees; fees, payments, or other consideration received from programmers (exclusive of payments in support of marketing); converter rentals or sales; and the sale, exchange, or cablecast of any programming developed on or for community service channels or institutional users. Traditional advertising, production revenues and revenues from home shopping channels and like services in which goods or services are purchased by subscribers utilizing the system that are not delivered to or on behalf of the subscribers via the system shall not be included in gross revenues; provided, however, that "infommercials" and rental or lease payments for programming or channel time and like revenues are not classified as advertising revenue. This sum shall be die basis for computing the fee imposed pursuant to Section 793.06 (B) hereof This sum shall not include any taxes on services furnished by an operator which are imposed upon any subscriber or user by the state, county, city or other governmental unit and collected by the operator on behalf of said governmental unit. Franchise permit fees paid to the city are not deemed to be taxes but are not to be included in the total gross revenues figure on which franchise permit fees are paid. Other than adjustments for subscriber refunds and unless specified herein. Gross revenues shall also include revenues received by an operator's affiliates, uncollectibles, there shall be no other deductions from this sum subsidiaries, parent or any person in which an operator has a financial interest, arising from or attributable to the sale or exchange of cable services within the city, where such revenue was diverted by the operator in such a manner as to lower gross revenues and therefore avoid payment of franchise permit fees hereunder. The city reserves the right to amend this definition, from time to time, to reflect changes in law, service or technology; provided that such changes are not inconsistent with law.
(r) "Installation" means the act of connecting the system from the feeder cable to the subscriber terminal so that service may be received by the subscriber.
(s) "Mayor"means the Mayor of the City of Reynoldsburg.
(t) "Noncable Service" means any service which is distributed over the system other than a cable service.
(u) "Operator" means any person operating a cable communications system within the city and, for purposes of the reporting, auditing, inspection and provision of information requirements herein which are necessary to ascertain the operator's compliance with this chapter, also includes any affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or successor of the operator.
(v) "Parental Control Device" means the function described in Section 7 of the permits issued hereunder.
(w) "Pay Television" means the delivery over the system of per-channel or per-program audio-visual signals to subscribers for a fee or charge.
(x) "Permit" means the non-exclusive franchise agreement entered into between the city and an operator pursuant to which operator is granted the authority to construct and operate a system within the city pursuant to this chapter and pursuant to the terms and conditions contained in such permit.
(y) "Person" means any natural person or any association, firm, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other legally recognized entity, whether for-profit or not-for-profit.
(z) "Public Property" means any real property, other than a street, owned by any governmental unit.
(aa) "Service" means any cable service or noncable service, including any basic service or any other service, whether originated by an operator or any other person, which is offered to any person in conjunction with, or distributed over, the system.
(bb) "Signal" means any transmission of radio frequency energy or of optical information.
(cc) "Street' means the surface of and the space above and below any public street, public road, public highway, public freeway, public lane, public path, public way, public alley, public court, public sidewalk, public boulevard, public parkway, public drive or any public easement or right-of-way now or hereafter held by the city which shall, within its proper use and meaning in the sole opinion of the city, entitle an operator to the use thereof for the purpose of installing or transmitting over poles, wires, cables, conductors, ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, attachments and other property as may be ordinarily necessary and pertinent to a system.
(dd) "Subscriber" means any person or entity who lawfully subscribes to a service by means of or in connection with the system.
(ee) "System", "Cable Communications System", or "Cable System" means a broadband telecommunications facility, consisting of a set of closed transmission paths and associated signal generation, reception, and control equipment that is designed to provide service which includes audio, data or video programming and which is provided, directly or indirectly, to multiple subscribers within the city, but such term does not include:
(1) A facility that serves only to retransmit the television signals of one or more television broadcast stations;
(2) A facility that serves only subscribers in one or more multiple unit dwellings, unless such facility or facilities crosses or uses any public right-of-way;
(3) A facility of a common carrier which is subject, in whole or in part, to the provisions of Title II of the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, except that such facility shall be considered a cable system to the extent such facility is used in the transmission of video programming directly to subscribers; or
(4) Any facilities of any electric utility used solely for operating its electric utility systems.
(Ord. 91-99. Passed 7-26-99.)