(A) General. The county may issue a license, easement or other permit to a person other than the grantee to permit that person to traverse any portion of the grantee’s franchise area within the county in order to provide service outside, but not within the county. Such license or easement, absent a grant of a franchise in accordance with this chapter, shall not authorize nor permit said person to provide cable service to any subscriber within the county, nor render any other service within the county. The granting of such license, easement or permit shall be conditioned upon the payment of fee for occupancy of the public right-of-way to the extent permitted by applicable law.
(B) Review for competition.
(1) The county recognizes that the cable television and telecommunications industries are in a period of convergence, that the technologies and services provided by these industries are rapidly changing, and that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 promoted and encouraged competition between and among these formally discrete industries. At this time, it is premature to know fully the extent to which there will be changes in law, technology or services that may impact entities that have been or may be granted franchises or licenses to use the county’s rights-of-way. It is the desire of the county to be a communications friendly county that encourages the development of competitive advanced communications capabilities for the benefit of all its citizens.
(2) For this reason, the regulatory ordinances and franchises of the county should not impede or restrict the fair opportunity to compete, but rather are intended to provide uniform and consistent requirements for all similarly situated providers.
(Ord. passed 12-19-2005)