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(a) Level of Service. Company shall provide within the City a Cable Television System, which will be capable of carrying video and audio programming, and data services, internet access and other forms of electronic or electric signals. The programming on said channels may include television programming available off the air and programming imported from distant markets and received from cable satellite networks. Except as otherwise provided in this article Company shall have the right to determine the programming and the time, place and manner in which such programming will be provided to Subscribers.
(b) Compliance with Industry Standards. The Company shall maintain its service in accordance with accepted standards of the industry, to provide its Subscribers with a high level of quality and reliability.
(c) Cable Television System Repairs. Whenever it shall be necessary to shut off or interrupt service for the purpose of making repairs, adjustments or installations, the Company shall do so at such time and as it will cause the least amount of inconvenience to its Subscribers and unless such interruption is unforeseen and immediately necessary, it shall give reasonable notice thereof to its Subscribers.
(d) Repair Service.
(1) Company shall maintain a repair department comprised of qualified technicians, to provide prompt and efficient repair service.
(2) Company shall maintain a toll free, locally listed telephone number operated so that requests for service can be received at any time. Company shall respond to requests for service within forty-eight (48) hours of Company’s receipt of such a request, provided that response time for service complaints shall be computed excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
(e) Subscriber Owned Equipment Excluded. The requirements for maintenance and repair shall not apply to television sets or other equipment owned by Subscribers.
(f) Installation of Service. Service to any Subscriber served by a standard aerial drop shall commence not later than seven business days after service is requested; service to any Subscriber served by a standard underground drop shall commence by not later than 45 days after service is requested unless additional time is required by severe weather or other circumstances outside of Company’s control. Company shall exert every reasonable effort to commence service to a subscriber served by a non-standard drop as expeditiously as possible. A standard drop, for which the Subscriber shall be charged Company’s standard installation fee, is an aerial drop running not more than one hundred fifty feet (150’) from feeder cable to the Subscriber’s structure; provided, that any installation which requires Company to place a drop underground or cross a street underground shall be considered a non-standard installation. An aerial drop in excess of one hundred fifty feet (150’) in length shall be considered a non-standard installation. If the Company fails to meet the above installation deadline, it shall credit the Subscriber’s account in the amount of a standard installation charge. If the Company schedules an appointment with a Subscriber for an installation, repair or other service call, and the Company fails to arrive at the Subscriber’s premises within 30 minutes of the scheduled time or scheduled window of time (which window shall not exceed four hours) for reasons not caused by the Subscriber, the Company shall not charge the Subscriber for any make-up or late installation. The Company shall apply a twenty dollars ($20.00) credit to the Subscriber’s account for any late service call as defined above.
(Ord. 11-2005. Passed 2-15-05.)
(a) Office Hours and Telephone Availability.
(1) Company shall maintain a business office in the City which is conveniently located and which shall be open during normal business hours. Company shall also maintain at least one centrally located bill payment center in the City of York which shall be open during normal business hours. The term “normal business hours” is defined herein.
(2) Company shall provide and maintain a toll free telephone access line which will be available to subscribers twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week. Trained representatives shall be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours. After normal business hours, the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained company representative on the next business day.
(3) Under normal operating conditions, telephone answering time by a customer representative, including wait time, shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds after the connection is made. If the call must be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed thirty (30) seconds. These standards shall be met no less than ninety (90) percent of the time under normal operating conditions.
(4) Under normal operating conditions, the customer shall receive a busy signal less than three (3) percent of the time.
(5) Company shall not be required to acquire equipment or perform surveys to measure compliance with the telephone answering requirements above unless an historical record of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply. If the City determines, after receiving complaints itself and/or receiving a record of complaints made to Company in accordance with Section 8 below, that there is a clear failure to comply with the telephone answering requirements above, the City shall notify Company in writing that it must measure its compliance with these requirements for the next ninety (90) days and report to the City with its results.
(b) Installations and Service Calls.
(1) Company shall maintain a competent staff of employees sufficient to provide adequate and prompt service to its subscribers.
(2) Standard installations will be performed within seven (7) business days after an order has been placed. “Standard” installations are those that are located up to one hundred fifty (150’) feet from the existing distribution system.
(3) Excluding conditions beyond its control all service calls not affecting public health, safety or welfare shall be commenced within a maximum of forty- eight (48) hours after notice to Company or scheduled at the convenience of the customer.
(4) Upon scheduling of appointments with the customer for installations, service calls and other activities, Company shall provide the customer with either a specific time or an “appointment window” of a maximum of four (4) hours during normal business hours. Company may schedule service calls and installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the customer.
(5) Company may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the schedules appointment. If, at any time, an installer or technician is running late, an attempt to contact the customer must be made prior to the time of the appointment. If the appointment must be reschedules, it must be done so at a time which is convenient for the customer.
(c) Notices.
(1) Company shall provide written notice to each subscriber upon initial subscription, at intervals not more than one (1) year thereafter to each subscriber and the City, and at any time upon request, on each of the following areas:
A. Products and services offered;
B. Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services;
C. Installation and service maintenance policies:
D. Channel positions and programming carried on the Cable System;
E. Billing and customer complaint procedures;
F. Policy and procedures for disconnecting or terminating a subscriber’s service;
G. Company’s address, telephone number and office hours;
H. The subscriber’s right to obtain a parental control device contained in Section 323.11(f); and
I. A notice of subscriber privacy rights as required by federal law.
(2) Company shall notify subscribers in writing of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes. Company shall not be required to provide prior notice to subscribers of any rate change that is the result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee or any other fee, tax, assessment or charge of any kind imposed by any federal agency, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or the City on the transaction between Company and the subscriber.
(3) Company shall maintain a file available to the public containing all written notices provided to subscribers pursuant to the requirements contained in 47 C.F.R. §76.305 as set forth on the effective date of this Agreement.
(d) Billing.
(1) Bills shall be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, Basic Service, Additional Services , if applicable, equipment charges and any installation or repair charges. The bill shall state the billing period, including an effective due date, the amount of current billing and any relevant credits or past due balances.
(2) Company shall provide bill payment locations which are conveniently located and which are open at least during normal business hours.
(3) Company shall not assess late fees for non-payment of a current bill unless and until thirty (30) days have elapsed since the receipt of the current bill by the subscriber.
(e) Customer Complaint Procedures. Company shall establish clear written procedures for resolving all customer complaints, which shall include at least the following:
(1) Company shall provide the customer a written response to a written complaint within thirty (30) days of its receipt. Such response shall include the results of its inquiry into the subject matter of the complaint, its conclusions based on the inquiry, and its decision in response to the complaint.
(2) If the City is contacted directly about a customer complaint, it shall notify Company in writing. When Company receives such notification, the time period for Company to respond as required above shall commence.
(3) Any subscriber who, in good faith, disputes all or part of any bill sent by Company has the option of withholding the disputed amount, without finance charges, the initiation of collection procedures or disconnection until Company has investigated the dispute in good faith and has made a determination that the amount is owed provided that:
A. The subscriber provides a written complaint to Company in a timely fashion and includes identifying information;
B. The subscriber pays all undisputed charges; and
C. The subscriber cooperates in determining the appropriateness of the charges in dispute.
(4) Company shall maintain a record of customer written complaints, which shall contain the date each such complaint is received, the name and address of the affected subscriber, a description of the complaint, the date of resolution, and a description of the resolution. Subject to the privacy protections of subsection (h) herein, Company shall provide such information (not including names of subscribers) to the City upon specific written request.
(5) Company shall submit to the City upon request, a report showing the number of complaints that have generated a work order and/or necessitated a response (“trouble calls”) received during a specified reporting period, and the general nature of the complaints generating the calls.
(f) Disconnection. Company may disconnect or terminate a subscriber’s service for cause:
(1) If at least thirty (30) days have elapsed from the due date of the bill in which subscriber has failed to pay; and
(2) If Company has provided at least ten (10) days written notice to the affected subscriber prior to disconnection, specifying the effective date after which cable services are subject to disconnection; and
(3) If there is no pending written dispute regarding the bill to which Company has not issued a final decision in writing; or
(4) If at any time and without notice Company determines in good faith that subscriber has tampered with or abused Company’s equipment or is engaged in theft of cable service.
(g) Credit for Service Outages. In the event that Company’s service to any subscriber is completely interrupted for six (6) or more consecutive hours, and upon that subscriber’s written or credible oral request, it will grant such subscriber a pro rata credit or rebate, of that portion of the service charge during the next consecutive billing cycle, or, at its option, apply such credit to any outstanding balance that is currently due. Company shall give a loss of service credit of fifty percent (50%) for a loss of service which is due to Unforeseen or Uncontrollable Acts that exceeds twelve consecutive hours from the time of notification. For purposes of this paragraph, loss of service shall be considered a Subscriber’s receipt of less than two-thirds of the available channels. The credit shall be determined by dividing the number of hours of loss of service by the total hours in a month multiplied by the subscriber’s monthly bill multiplied by fifty percent (50%).
(h) Privacy.
(1) Company shall protect and abide by the rights of privacy of every subscriber and shall not violate such rights through the use of any device or signal associated with the Cable System. Company shall at all times comply with the privacy provisions of Section 631 of the Cable Act and all other applicable federal, state and generally applicable local privacy laws and regulations.
(2) Company shall be responsible for carrying out and enforcing such privacy policy, and shall at all times maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative security safeguards to ensure that personal subscriber information is handled and protected strictly in accordance with this policy and all applicable laws and regulations.
(3) Company shall notify all third parties who offer cable services in conjunction with Company, or independently over the Cable System, of the subscriber privacy requirements contained herein.
(4) Neither Company nor its designee shall tap, monitor, arrange for the tapping or monitoring, or permit any person to tap or monitor, any cable, line, signal, input device, or subscriber outlet or receiver for any purpose, without the prior written authorization of the affected subscriber or user, provided, however, that Company may conduct system-wide or individually addressed “sweeps” solely for the purpose of verifying system integrity, checking for illegal taps, controlling return-path transmission, billing for pay services or monitoring channel usage in a manner not inconsistent with the federal law. Company shall report to the affected parties any instances of monitoring or tapping of the Cable System or any part thereof, of which it has knowledge, whether or not such activity has been authorized by Company. Company shall not record or retain any information transmitted between a subscriber or user and any third party, except as required for lawful business purposes.
(5) Except as permitted by Section 631 of the Cable Act as amended, neither Company nor its designee nor its employees shall make available to any third party, including the City, information concerning the viewing habits or subscription package decisions of any individual Subscriber. If a court authorizes or orders such disclosure, Company shall notify the subscriber not less than fourteen (14) calendar days prior to disclosure, unless such notification is otherwise prohibited by applicable law or the court.
(6) Upon a request by a subscriber, Company shall make available for inspection at a reasonable time and at its local principal place of business all personal subscriber information that Company maintains regarding said Subscriber. Company shall ensure that all information related to billing and service requests is accurate and up to date and shall promptly correct any errors upon discovery.
(7) Company shall not make its subscriber list or lists, or any portion thereof, available to any person or entity, with or without remuneration, except where expressly permitted by applicable law.
(Ord. 11-2005. Passed 2-15-05.)
(a) Right to Regulate Rates.
(1) As a franchising authority certified by the FCC, the City has the right to regulate cable rates and service to the full extent authorized by applicable federal, state, and local laws.
(2) If the City desires to regulate rates and has met all legal requirements to do so, Company shall file all required forms and documentation for any increase in rates or charges for any cable television service or equipment with the City on or before the notification period required by applicable federal, state and local law. Such documentation shall include, but not be limited to, FCC Form 1240 for increases in the cable rate and FCC Form 1205 for increases in rates for equipment and installation.
(b) Right to Inspect.
(1) The City shall have the right, upon ten (10) business days written notice and during normal business hours, to inspect all documents, records and other pertinent information maintained by Company at its principal place of business, which relate, directly or indirectly, to the terms of this Agreement.
(2) In addition, Company shall maintain for inspection by the public and the City all records required by the FCC and as specified in 47 C.F.R. §76.305, in the manner specified therein.
(3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, all information specifically marked by Company as proprietary or confidential in nature and furnished to the City or its designated representatives shall be treated as confidential in conformity with Pennsylvania law. Information and documentation marked by Company as proprietary or confidential shall include a brief written explanation as to its proprietary nature or confidentiality. The City, and its officially designated representatives agree in advance to treat any such information or records which Company reasonably deems would provide an unfair advantage for Company’s competitors (e.g., system design maps, engineering plans, and programming contracts, etc.) as confidential and only to disclose it to City employees, agents, or representatives that have a need to know or
in order to enforce the provisions of the Agreement. In the event a request is made by an individual or entity not an employee, agent or representative of the City acting in their official capacity for information related to the franchise and marked by Company as confidential and/or proprietary, the City shall immediately notify Company of such request and permit Company to take whatever action Company deems necessary to protect its interests before providing documents or access to documents to the requestor. Company shall not be required to provide subscriber information in violation of Section 631 of the Cable Act [47 U.S.C. §551], or information which is not relevant to regulation of the Franchise (e.g., employee files, tax returns, etc.).
(c) Right to Conduct Compliance Review. The City or its representatives may conduct a full compliance review and hold public hearings with respect to whether Company has complied with any material terms of this Agreement so long as it provides Company with twenty (20) business days written notice in advance of the commencement of such reviews and public hearings.
(d) Government Reports. Company shall provide to the City, copies of any and all communications reports, documents, pleadings and notifications of any kind which Company or any of its affiliated entities have submitted to any federal, state or local regulatory agencies, courts or other governmental bodies if such documents relate exclusively to Company’s Cable System within the City. Company shall provide copies of such documents no later than thirty (30) days after their filing, mailing or completion. Company shall not claim confidential, privileged or proprietary rights to such documents unless such documents have been determined to be confidential, privileged or proprietary by a court of competent jurisdiction or a federal or state agency.
(e) Reserved Authority. The City reserves the regulatory authority arising from the Cable Act , any amendments thereto and any other relevant federal, state or local laws or regulations.
(Ord. 11-2005. Passed 2-15-05.)
(a) Company Insurance. Company shall maintain during the term of the Franchise insurance as will protect it and the City from any claims which may arise from Company’s ownership, construction, repair, maintenance or operation of the Company’s Cable Television System in the City, such insurance policies to have the following coverages and limits:
(1) Workers’ Compensation coverage as required by statute.
(2) Property insurance on all insurable Company assets.
(3) General Liability insurance with combined single limit for bodily injury, personal injury, death and property damage in an amount of at least five million dollars ($5,000,000) per occurrence (which may be supplied by a combination of primary and excess policy limits) and Company’s liability insurance shall include contractual liability, including so much of the indemnity specified herein as is reasonably insurable.
(b) Additional Insured. The liability insurance policy shall name City as an additional insured.
(c) Evidence of Insurance. Not later than thirty (30) days after the effective date of this Agreement, Company shall furnish to City current certificates of insurance demonstrating compliance with the insurance coverage requirements of this Section.
(d) Authorized Carrier. All insurance coverage shall be with a company authorized to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(e) Change in Limits. City shall have the right, effective at the end of the seventh year of the term hereof, to require an increase in the amounts of insurance specified in subsection (a) hereof; provided that the City gives Company at least ninety days’ notice of any such increase and provided further that the increase bears some reasonable relation to increases in the cost of living since the grant of this Franchise.
(f) Indemnification. Company shall indemnify and hold the City harmless with respect to the Company’s construction; maintenance or operation of the Cable Television System from and against any and all expenses, losses and claims, demands, payments, suits, actions, receiver and judgments, other than as a result of City’s negligence or intentional acts, including reasonable attorney’s fees. In the event of the commencement of any action against City, City will give notice thereof to Company within ten (10) days after City is formally served in any such action, and Company shall have the right to select counsel for the defense of such action at no cost to the City. City’s failure to give timely notice shall relieve the Company of its obligation under this Section if such failure to give notice causes prejudice to Company’s ability to defend any such claim. Settlement of any action or claim shall be made by Company or its counsel without the approval of City unless the City has an affirmative obligation as part of the settlement. Further, City’s approval is not required when Company’s defense is provided under the terms of an insurance policy that does not allow for the insured’s approval of settlements. The City will cooperate with Company as reasonably required for the defense of any such action.
(Ord. 11-2005. Passed 2-15-05.)
(a) PEG Channels.
(1) The Company will provide one analog PEG channel in the Basic Service tier by reserving channel 16 as a public access channel throughout the portion of the Cable Television System operated by Company in York County, Pennsylvania 24 hours per day, 7 days per week on which access programming is currently broadcast. Access programming on Channel 16 will be added to service in additional municipalities that request such access service. Channel 4, which is currently used for local origination programming, shall be used exclusively by Company.
(2) Company shall provide one analog channel in adddition to the channel provided in (a)(1) on the Basic Service tier exclusively for public, educational and governmental access use by City or its designees and such channel shall be available throughout the Cable Television System. Such channel shall be made available within ninety (90) days of a request from the City. The PEG Channel shall be available for PEG access programming on a twenty-four (24) hour basis, seven days a week.
(3) All PEG access programming shall be distributed as received and Company shall not interfere with the content of any PEG access channel distributed by Grantor or its designee except as otherwise permitted by law. City shall be responsible for the quality of the audio/video signal up to the cable insertion equipment.
(b) Use of PEG Channels. The City, or its designees, shall have the exclusive use of the PEG access channels. The City shall have the right to administer and operate the PEG access channels. Use of the PEG access channels shall be subject to such rules as City may adopt. The City agrees not to use PEG access channels to provide commercial services except to the extent necessary to support the services and programming provided. There shall be no charge by Company for the use of the PEG access channels.
(c) Additional PEG Channels.
(1) Company shall be required to make available a third analog channel on the Expanded Basic tier whenever cable casts of the non-duplicated, programming of local or regional interest on the initial PEG Channel or the two PEG channels as the case may be, either exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the total time available on such channel(s) between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or seventy-five percent (75%) of the total time available on such channel between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, for at least sixty (60) days in a seventy-five (75) day period, as verified by programming logs. Such additional channel shall be provided by the Company within ninety (90) days after a request from the City.
(2) At any time after the fifth complete year of this Agreement measured from the date of passage of this Agreement as an Ordinance, the City may request and the Company shall provide within 120 days thereafter, bandwidth in the digital spectrum equal to the bandwidth necessary to operate one analog channel. The use of the bandwidth shall be within the discretion of the City(except that the bandwidth may not be used for a commercial video channel or a commercial use competitive with the Company) and may include but not be limited to public, educational or governmental access uses or for public safety use.
(3) If Company rebuilds the Cable Television System to a capacity in excess of 750Mhz, Company shall provide 3% of the expanded bandwidth above 750Mhz to the City for its use within ninety (90) days of the City’s request. The channel shall not be used for uses competitive with the Compay.
(d) Regional Access Studio.
(1) Company will support the relocation of the PEG access facilities from 1050 East King Street to a location to be designated by the City as the Regional Access Studio.
(2) As part of said relocation and regional access support, Company will contribute one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) which shall be paid to the City within sixty (60) days after written notice from the City that the money is necessary to fund equipment purchases for the studio. Company’s contributions may be used by City only for construction and, equipment expenses of the Regional PEG access studio and for no other purpose. In addition, the Company shall contribute to the City for capital improvements to the PEG channels the following amounts on the dates indicated: twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) on each of April 1, 2007, 2009, 2011; thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) on each of April 1, 2013 and 2015 and thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) on each of April 1, 2017 and 2019.
(3) Company will also provide technical assistance in the development of a business plan, acquisition of equipment and design of the PEG Regional Access Studio.
(4) Company will provide support for City’s applications for grants, and for its efforts to form a regional municipal cooperative to fund and operate the Regional PEG Access Studio.
(e) Indemnification of PEG Access Programming Procedures and Users.
(1) All local producers and users of any of the PEG access facilities or channels shall agree in writing to hold harmless Company and City from any and all liability or other injury (including the reasonable costs of defending claims or litigation) arising from or in connection with claims for failure to comply with applicable federal laws, rules, regulations or other requirements of local, State or Federal authorities; for claims of libel, slander, invasion of privacy, or the infringement of common law or statutory copyright; for unauthorized use of any trademark, trade name or service mark; for breach of contractual or other obligations owing to third parties by the Company or City; and for any other injury or damage in law or equity, which claims result from the use of a PEG access facility or channel.
(2) Should the liability protection outlined in the paragraph above prove to discourage PEG use, as evidenced, for example, by numerous refusals to sign the release on the part of would-be users, Company and City agree to work together to modify the safeguards without putting themselves or citizens at risk.
(f) Service to Community Facilities. At no charge to the City Company shall provide the following services to all City Buildings staffed at least during normal business hours, all firehouses, all City community resource centers all, County Government Buildings within the City and all public and non-profit private school buildings and libraries within the City:
(1) Company shall provide one cable drop, outlet and Basic and Expanded Basic service package to each of the buildings. No charge shall be made for installation or service except that Company may charge for installation and service for more than one drop in each building or any such connection beyond a “standard installation” in accordance with installation of service as defined in Section 323.05(c)(2).
(2) Company shall provide one high speed internet service via cable modem to each building designated by the City. No charge shall be made for installation, except that Company may charge for installation for more than one cable modem connection in a building or any such connection beyond a standard installation in accordance with Section 323.05(c)(2) hereof. The modem service shall be provided at fifty percent (50%) of the monthly commercial data rates offered by the Company.
(3) Company shall provide to the City permanently located cablecast equipment that will allow the City to do live cablecasts from three locations being, the Mayor’s office and two locations to be designated by the City that are passed by the Cable Television System. In addition, the Company will provide equipment necessary to do mobile videocasts including a camera, audio equipment and a modulator.
(4) Additional connections or service beyond Basic or Expanded Basic, to any municipal or educational building may be charged at the lowest rate presently in existence for bulk rate customers of similar size. Any internal wiring with the designated buildings will not be Company’s responsibility but if Company agrees to do such internal wiring, Company shall be paid on a time and material basis.
(g) Leased Channel. The City reserves the right to lease a channel for commercial cablecast programming. City shall be entitled to lease a channel for commercial purposes on the most favorable terms extended to lease channel customers at the time that the City elects to lease the channel.
(Ord. 11-2005. Passed 2-15-05.)
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