(a) Within one year from the date of issuance of a franchise, a grantee shall complete construction and activation of the initial service area as described in its franchise, which shall consist of at least 20% of a geographically contiguous portion of the city as measured by street miles. A grantee shall extend and activate cable to an additional 20% of a geographically contiguous portion of the city each year thereafter as measured by street miles until its system is complete. Further, a grantee shall extend its services as requested by any person unless a grantee determines that provision of cable services to areas not served by it is not economically feasible due to insufficient subscribership as defined in division (c)(6) below in areas then served by it. A person requesting service may appeal the decision of a grantee to not provide service to the governing body of the city. Notwithstanding anything herein or to the contrary, a grantee shall not be obligated to extend service where there are fewer than 30 homes per street mile as measured from the nearest node or terminating amplifier of the system.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a grantee may make a written request to the city that a delay in the construction and activation of its services be granted, if grantee demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city that one or more circumstances as set forth in divisions (c)(1) through (c)(6) below exist. The request shall include all documentation of grantee’s best efforts to promptly pursue and obtain all necessary licenses and permits and other authorizations, subscriber acquisition efforts, if applicable, and other actions necessary to fulfill its commitment under its franchise and shall be filed as soon as possible after grantee becomes aware of the potential delay.
(c) Further, a grantee shall indicate to the city’s satisfaction the steps that it is taking to remedy or address the circumstances causing the delay. The city shall grant a delay only if a grantee has demonstrated best efforts to meet its construction schedule, but circumstances beyond grantee’s reasonable control, based on the criteria in divisions (c)(1) through (c)(6) below, will delay completion. Any delay granted shall be for the shortest possible time in the reasonable discretion of the city:
(1) For periods of force majeure;
(2) For periods of delay resulting from the grantee’s inability to obtain authority to access public rights-of-way in the service area;
(3) In developments or buildings that the grantee cannot access under industry standard terms and conditions after good-faith negotiation;
(4) In developments or buildings that the grantee is unable to provide cable service for technical reasons or that require facilities that are not available or cannot be deployed on a commercially reasonable basis;
(5) In areas where the average residential household density is less than 30 homes per street mile as measured in strand footage from the nearest technically feasible point on the grantee’s system; and
(6) If grantee can demonstrate that it has completed construction and activation of its system in its current service area, but the number of households subscribing to the grantee’s cable service is less than 15% of the households in the grantee’s current franchise area, any grantee seeking a delay in system expansion under this provision will have to demonstrate that it continues to have the financial qualifications to maintain a cable service franchise in the city and that the requested delay would allow it to achieve a market success of at least 15% subscribership in its current area and allow it to extend its system throughout the city.
(d) A cable service grantee which is lawfully providing service in an area that is subsequently annexed by the city may continue to operate within its existing service area and shall not be required to, or allowed to, extend its service. In all other respects, the grantee shall be required to comply with this chapter and obtain from the city a franchise to the extent not inconsistent with the specific terms of its existing authority from another jurisdiction. If a grantee seeks to extend its service outside of its existing service area, it will be required to file an application for a franchise, and be granted a franchise prior to initiating an extension of service.
(e) A licensee operating an open video system, pursuant to its current license, City Ordinance No. 56-04, as codified in §§ 123.425 through 123.430, may continue to operate its open video system services within the terms of the current license until its natural expiration and thereafter based on a renewal of its current open video system license. A licensee may, at least six months prior to the natural expiration of its current open video system license, apply for a partial franchise, to provide cable service, consistent with the terms of this chapter, which partial franchise, when granted, will apply to those areas where the licensee is then currently providing service, or is otherwise able to provide service using its existing system. Upon application for the partial franchise, the licensee shall furnish the city with a map corresponding to the above-described area of service. Alternatively, if the licensee seeks to provide cable services throughout the service area, it will be required to file an application for a franchise and be granted a franchise prior to initiating an extension of service.
(1992 Code, § 44-43) (Ord. 104-09, passed 11-16-2009)