It shall be unlawful for any person to construct, operate or
maintain a cable system or other competing cable services, including
OVS, in the grantor without a franchise in the form of a franchise
agreement authorizing the same, unless valid applicable federal or
state law prohibits the grantor's enforcement of such a requirement.
Such franchise agreement shall comply with all of the specifications
of this chapter unless otherwise specified by the grantor.
For the purpose of constructing, operating, and maintaining
a cable system in the grantor, grantee may erect, install, construct,
repair, replace, relocate, reconstruct and retain in, on, over, under,
upon, across and along the rights-of-way accessible for construction
of a cable system within the grantor such lines, cables, conductors,
ducts, conduits, vaults, manholes, amplifiers, appliances, pedestals,
attachments and other property and equipment as are necessary and
appurtenant to the operation of the cable system, subject to the requirements
of this chapter and all other applicable grantor codes. Nothing in
this chapter shall be construed to require the grantee to construct,
operate, or maintain underground any ground-mounted appurtenances
such as customer taps, line extenders, system passive devices, amplifiers,
power supplies, pedestals, or other related equipment.
A franchise shall commence upon acceptance by grantee as defined in Article
XV herein and as may continue for up to 15 years from the date of acceptance, unless renewed, revoked or terminated sooner as herein provided.
Every franchise shall apply to the area designated by the franchise
agreement approved by the grantor.
In conformance with the Cable Act and FCC rules, an application for an initial franchise
for a cable system to provide cable service shall at a minimum be
subject to additional information needed by the grantor, to understand
the application, including the following:
B. The names of the applicant's officers and directors.
C. The business address of the applicant.
D. The name and contact information of a designated contact for the
applicant.
E. A description of a geographic area of the grantor that the applicant
proposes to serve.
F. The public access or EG access channel capacity and capital support
proposed by the applicant.
G. The term of the agreement proposed by the applicant.
H. Whether the applicant holds an existing authorization to access the
public rights-of-way in the grantor franchise.
I. The amount of franchise fee the applicant offers to pay.
J. Information necessary for grantor to evaluate a grantee's legal,
technical, and financial qualifications to construct, own, and operate
a cable system.
K. Any additional information required by applicable state laws or grantor
ordinances.
Applicants may be evaluated according to the information included in an application as required by §
92-17, and within a maximum time, after 90 days for persons with existing authority to access rights-of-way and 180 days for persons that do not have authority to access rights-of-way. The times start on the date an applicant files an application or other writing including certain minimum information which is set forth in §
92-17 of this chapter and deemed complete by the grantor. The grantor and an applicant may agree, in writing, to extend the ninety-/one-hundred-eighty-day time period for negotiations. It may then be adopted at the date as permitted by this section. If the ninety-/one-hundred-eighty-day time elapses without action by the grantor, the applicant is automatically granted an interim franchise based on the application submitted. Thereafter, the grantor and applicant may continue to negotiate the terms of a franchise in an attempt to reach a negotiated franchise. The ninety-/one-hundred-eighty-day time may be tolled by the grantor if it has requested and not received information from the applicant.
Since competing or overlapping franchises may encourage the
introduction of better cable services and quality at lower prices,
the grantor will at all times attempt to accommodate additional entrants.
At the same time it is recognized that the introduction of overlapping
cable systems could have a potential adverse impact on the rights-of-way,
and on the quality and availability of existing cable services to
the public. Accordingly, the grantor shall issue a franchise in an
area where another grantee is operating only following a public hearing
to consider the potential impact which the grant of an additional
franchise may have on the community and the rights-of-way. In considering
whether to grant one or more additional franchises, the grantor shall
specifically consider, and address in a written report, the following
issues:
A. Whether or not applicant has provided, at a minimum, information with its application as required by §
92-17, and consideration described in §
92-18.
B. The legal, technical, and financial qualifications of applicant and
agreement by a grantee to comply with such requirements of the grantor
as may be determined by it to be applicable to a grantee in conformance
with applicable law.
C. Acceptance of a franchise and the terms therein.
D. The capacity of the rights-of-way to accommodate one or more additional
cable systems and the potential disruption of rights-of-way and private
property that may occur if one or more additional franchises are granted.
E. Such other information as the grantor may deem appropriate to be
considered prior to granting any competing or overlapping franchise.
Renewals will be according to valid applicable law, as amended.
A grantor and a grantee, by mutual consent, may enter into renewal
negotiations at any time during the franchise term of a franchise
agreement. According to applicable law, grantor will review and evaluate
the past performance of a grantee, including compliance with an existing
franchise; also, review and determination by grantor of current and
future community needs and the technical, financial, and legal capabilities
of a grantee to meet the current and future cable service-related
needs in a new franchise considering the reasonable cost to do so.
The grantor 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 rights-of-way for purposes other than providing
cable service. 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 of any type to any home or place of
business within the grantor nor render any other service within the
grantor except as specifically authorized by grantee.