It is anticipated that the cost of installing the cable television system under the initial CATV franchise could range from seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000.00) to one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000.00). It is also anticipated that annual gross revenues derived by the franchisee after the system has been completed and is fully operable could range as high as one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000.00). Whereas cable television services have traditionally been limited to television programming primarily for purposes of entertainment, advancing technology permits delivery of a new generation of interactive services which invade nonentertainment commercial fields, and may extend from the provision of burglar alarm services to services which permit the subscriber to shop or bank from his or her home and receive a vast array of professional, technical, educational and other information, to medical, fire protection and other emergency services, and to types of services which are as yet unidentified.
A. Such services promise significant benefit to the community. They also potentially generate regulatory needs the exact nature and scope of which are impossible to predict, and the enforceability of which could be time consuming and expensive should a franchisee refuse to comply. The need to regulate could extend to:
1. Potentially unfair and unlawful competitive practices by a franchisee in operating and utilizing the cable television system to provide services;
2. Inadequate maintenance or repair by the franchisee of the cable television system;
3. Invasion of the privacy of subscribers;
4. Unethical or unfair business practices in relation to subscribers or others; and
5. A variety of other regulatory measures which are necessary to protect the health, safety or welfare of inhabitants of the Sacramento community.
B. The provisions of this chapter address these issues by, with few exceptions, placing no limit upon the services which a franchisee may provide, mandating few services, prescribing general duties and responsibilities in relation to future public interest issues, and making no attempt, with few exceptions, to limit the services which a franchisee may provide to those which may be listed in the franchisee's proposal, and reserving broad authority to amend the provisions of this chapter under Section 5.28.150 of this chapter. The purposes of this chapter and this article are to:
1. Reserve and vest broad regulatory authority in the cable television commission in order to enable it to enact future regulations which are tailored to address the problems requiring regulation and to avoid sensitive constitutional issues which may arise in attempts to regulate operation of a cable television system;
2. Establish general regulatory guidelines defining the rights, duties and responsibilities of a franchisee and the cable television commission which may be made more specific, expanded or otherwise modified to meet future regulatory needs by regulations enacted by the commission or amendment of this article. (Prior code § 20.06.500)