The franchisee under the initial CATV franchise shall install the cable television system throughout the entirety of the imposed service area in compliance with the construction standards set forth in Article IV of this chapter and the applicable standards for the system including, but not limited to, channel capacity, number of cables and other functional and technological features of the system as identified in the franchise documents, and shall make basic service and other services identified pursuant to Section 5.28.1280 of this chapter available within the times prescribed by Section 5.28.950 of this chapter.
The governing bodies find as follows:
A. That at the current time construction of the cable television system under the initial CATV franchise within areas outside the imposed service area, would be uneconomic, even with reduced system design and capability, reduced services and higher rates, because of the sparsity of residential development to support construction costs;
B. That subjecting potential service of areas outside the imposed service area to the competitive selection process could result in issuance of a franchise for service in areas which is not economically justified and threatens imposition of unreasonably high service costs upon subscribers in urban areas in order to underwrite the cost of service in sparsely populated areas; and
C. That permissive proposal of service outside the imposed service area would result in competing applications which variously propose service only within the imposed service area, and within the imposed service area and a potential number of other areas, and would make the applications extremely difficult to compare in relation to such factors as economic feasibility, cross-subsidization, propriety of system design and service levels, and rates with respect to applicants who propose basic service rate restrictions.
Therefore, applicants for the initial CATV franchise shall not be authorized to propose in their applications a proposed service area. (Prior code § 20.05.404)