(a)
PEG channels.
(1)
Upon written request made by the County Administrator on behalf
of the County and in accordance with applicable rules and regulations,
the franchisee shall provide up to three public, educational, and
governmental access ("PEG") channels dedicated solely to the County
or its designee and not shared with any other jurisdiction unless
the County, in writing, agrees otherwise.
(2)
The County may, after a public hearing and upon a finding that
the existing PEG channel is substantially utilized within the meaning
of § 15.2-2108.22(1) of the Code of Virginia, require by
ordinance that all County franchisees provide additional PEG channels,
up to a maximum of three additional PEG channels, provided that the
total number of PEG channels in the County, including the additional
PEG channels, shall not exceed seven.
(3)
Any additional PEG channel provided pursuant to Subdivision
(2) of this Subsection (a) that is not utilized for at least eight
hours a day by the County need no longer be made available to the
County by a franchisee, but may be programmed at the franchisee's
discretion. At such time as the County can certify to the franchisee
a schedule for at least eight hours of daily programming for a period
of three months, the franchisee shall restore any reallocated additional
PEG channel.
(4)
All PEG channels shall be carried on a franchisee's basic
tier.
(5)
The County or its designee shall be responsible for management,
operation, and programming of the PEG access channels.
(6)
A franchisee shall, as necessary and reasonably possible, interconnect
with one or more other franchisees in the County or directly connect
to PEG insertion points to ensure the carriage of all required PEG
access channels.
(7)
Franchisee shall ensure that all PEG access channel signals
carried on its system, regardless of the method used to acquire the
PEG channels, comply with all applicable FCC signal quality and technical
standards for all classes of signals. The technical and signal quality
of all PEG access channel signals shall be preserved.
(b)
PEG fees.
(1)
As of July 1, 2012, for an effective date no earlier than January
1, 2013, if the County is operating a PEG facility in accordance with
this chapter, the County may negotiate with all franchisees to set
a recurring fee to support the reasonable and necessary capital costs
of PEG facilities, including institutional networks, that shall be
imposed on all franchisees such that the fee applies equally, on a
gross revenue percentage or per-subscriber basis, to all franchisees
in the County.
(2)
If the County and the franchisees cannot agree on a recurring
PEG capital cost fee through negotiation under Subdivision (1) of
this Subsection (b), the County, by ordinance adopted after a public
hearing, may impose a recurring fee, calculated on a per-subscriber
or percentage of gross revenue basis, to support the reasonable and
necessary capital costs of PEG access facilities, including institutional
networks, to be effective after January 1, 2013.
(3)
The PEG capital cost fee, if imposed, shall not constitute nor
be a part of any franchise fee, and all such costs fall within one
or more of the exceptions listed in 47 U.S.C. § 542.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia § 15.2-2108.22.
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(a)
The franchisee shall comply in all respects with the customer service
requirements established by the Federal Communications Commission
and set forth in Title 47, Part 76 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Accordingly, the franchisee shall be subject to the following customer
service standards consistent with 47 CFR §§ 76.309,
76.1602, 76.1603, 76.1618 and 76.1619:
(1)
Customer service telephone access line. A franchisee shall maintain
a local, toll-free, or collect telephone access line which will be
available to its subscribers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
a.
Trained representatives will be available to respond to customer
telephone inquiries during normal business hours.
b.
After normal business hours, the access line may be answered
by a service or automated response system, including an answering
machine. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded
to by a trained representative on the next business day.
(2)
Installations, outages, and service calls. Under normal operating
conditions, each of the following four standards will be met no less
than 95% of the time as measured on a quarterly basis:
a.
Standard installations will be performed within seven business
days after an order has been placed. "Standard" installations are
those that are within 125 feet of the existing distribution system.
b.
Excluding conditions beyond the control of the franchisee, the
franchisee will begin working on service interruptions promptly and
in no event later than 24 hours after the interruption becomes known.
The franchisee must begin actions to correct other service problems
the next business day after notification of the service problem.
c.
The "appointment window" alternatives for installations, service
calls and other installation activities will either be at a specific
time or, at maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business
hours. A franchisee may schedule service calls and other installation
activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience
of the customer.
d.
A franchisee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after
the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.
If a franchisee representative is running late for an appointment
with a customer and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled,
the customer will be contacted. The appointment will be rescheduled
as necessary, at a time that is convenient for the customer.
(3)
A franchisee shall accurately collect and maintain data to measure
its compliance with Subparagraph (2) and shall provide to the County,
within 30 days of receipt of written request, such data reports for
County review. Data reports shall be maintained for a minimum of three
years prior to destruction.
(b)
A franchisee shall meet the following communications standards for
its subscribers:
(1)
A franchisee shall provide written
information on each of the following areas at the time of installation
of service, at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time
upon request:
i.
Products and services offered;
ii.
Notice of availability of basic tier service along with monthly
cost of such service and a list of all services included in the basic
service tier;
iii.
Prices and options for programming services and conditions of
subscription to programming and other services;
iv.
Installation and service maintenance policies;
v.
Instruction on how to use the cable service;
vi.
Channel positions of programming carried on the system;
vii.
Refund policy; and
viii.
Billing and complaint procedures, including the franchisee's
office hours, address and telephone number of the local cable office.
(2)
A franchisee shall notify subscribers in writing of any changes
in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as reasonably
possible. Notice should be given to subscribers a minimum of 30 days
in advance of such change if the change is within the control of the
franchisee.
(c)
Billing.
(1)
A franchisee's bills to its subscribers shall be clear,
concise, and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations
including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and
equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity
during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates, and
credits.
(2)
Bills shall show clearly and predominately a local or toll-free
telephone number for customers to use to contact the franchisee's
customer service department.
(3)
In case of a billing dispute, a franchisee must respond to a
written complaint from a subscriber within 30 days.
(5)
Credits for service will be issued no later than the customer's
next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.
(6)
A franchisee shall maintain and provide to the County, within
30 days of receipt of written request, a log of all subscriber complaints
indicating the action taken by the franchisee. Such logs shall be
maintained for a minimum period of three years prior to destruction.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia §§ 15.2-2108.22(4), 15.2-2108.25.
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(a)
Within no less than three years of the date of the grant of the franchise, a franchisee shall make cable service available to all of the occupied residential dwelling units in the initial service area selected by the franchisee pursuant to § 28-3(c) hereof.
(b)
Within seven years of the date of the grant of the franchise, a franchisee
shall make cable service available to no less than 65% of the residential
dwelling units throughout the area in the County in which the franchisee
has telephone facilities to the extent permitted by state law.
(c)
Notwithstanding Subparagraphs (a) and (b) above, a franchisee shall
not be required to make cable service available:
(1)
For periods of force majeure;
(2)
For periods of delay caused by the County;
(3)
For periods of delay resulting from the franchisee's inability
to obtain authority to access rights-of-way in the service area;
(4)
In areas where developments or buildings are subject to claimed
exclusive arrangements;
(5)
In developments or buildings that the franchisee cannot access
under industry standard terms and conditions after good faith negotiation;
(6)
In developments or buildings to which the franchisee 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;
(7)
In areas where it is not technically feasible to provide cable
service due to the technology used by the franchisee to provide cable
service;
(8)
In areas where the average occupied residential household density
is less than 30 occupied residential dwelling units per mile as measured
in strand footage from the nearest technically feasible point on the
franchisee's active cable; or
(9)
When the franchisee's prior service, payment, or theft
of service history with a subscriber or potential subscriber has been
unfavorable.
(d)
Should, through new construction, an area within a franchisee's
service area meet the density requirement set forth in Subparagraph
(c)(8), the franchisee shall, subject to the exclusions set forth
in Subparagraphs (c)(1) through (7) and (9), provide cable service
to such area within six months of receiving notice from the County
that the density requirements have been met.
(e)
During the twelve-month period commencing after the seventh-year
anniversary date of the grant of a franchise, the County may, by ordinance
adopted after a public hearing in which the County specifically finds
that such a requirement is necessary to promote competition in cable
services within the County, require a franchisee to make service available
to 80% of the residential dwelling units in the area in the County
in which the franchisee has telephone facilities within no less than
10 years of the date of the grant of the franchisee's franchise,
subject to the exclusions set forth in Subparagraphs (c)(1) through
(9) above. If the franchisee notifies the County that it is unwilling
to accept this additional service availability requirement, the County
may, after notice and public hearing, terminate the franchisee's
ordinance cable franchise.
(f)
A franchisee shall file with the County a certificate at its third
and seventh, and, if applicable, 10th anniversary dates certifying
its compliance with the foregoing service requirements.
(g)
A franchisee may elect to provide cable service to areas not meeting
the density and distance standards set forth herein. The franchisee
may impose an additional charge in excess of its regular installation
charge for any service installation requiring a drop in or line extension
in excess of the standards stated herein. Any such additional charge
shall be computed on a time plus materials basis to be calculated
on that portion of the installation that exceeds the standards set
forth herein. Such additional charge shall be paid by the developer
or landowner or customer requesting cable service in an area that
does not meet the density and distance standards.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia § 15.2-2108.22.
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(a)
All excavation and reconstruction work by a franchisee in the public
rights-of-way must be in compliance with the requirements of applicable
VDOT standards. It shall be the responsibility of a franchisee to
obtain any required permits, to review all applicable excavation,
reconstruction, restoration, repair and permitting requirements, and
to become familiar with such requirements before beginning any excavation,
reconstruction, restoration or repair work in the public rights-of-way
or private property.
(b)
Any equipment or facilities installed by a franchisee in the public
rights-of-way shall be installed, located, erected, constructed, reconstructed,
replaced, restored, removed, repaired, maintained and operated in
accordance with good engineering practices, performed by experienced
maintenance and construction personnel so as not (1) to endanger or
interfere in any manner with improvements the County or VDOT may deem
appropriate to make; or (2) to interfere with the rights of any private
property owner; or (3) to hinder or obstruct pedestrian or vehicular
traffic.
(c)
Whenever the County or VDOT shall determine that it is necessary
in connection with the repair, relocation, or improvement of the public
rights-of-way, the County or VDOT may require by written notification
that any properties or facilities of the franchisee be removed or
relocated. Within 60 days after receipt of notification, unless the
County or VDOT extends such period for good cause shown, the franchisee
shall remove or relocate its facilities to such place and under such
terms and conditions as specified by the County or VDOT. The franchisee
shall bear all expenses associated with the removal and relocation,
except that the County or VDOT will issue, without charge to the franchisee,
whatever local permits are required for the relocation of franchisee's
facilities. If the franchisee does not complete its removal or relocation
within 60 days or such other period as authorized by the County or
VDOT, the County or VDOT may take such actions as necessary to effect
such removal or relocation at the franchisee's expense.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia § 15.2-2108.23.
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A franchisee shall provide, without charge, within the area
in the County actually served by its cable system, one cable service
outlet activated for basic cable service to each fire station, public
school, police station, public library, and any other governmental
building.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia § 15.2-2108.22.
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(a)
Emergency powers. In the event of an emergency, or where a franchisee's
cable system creates or is contributing to an imminent danger to health,
safety, or property, or an unauthorized use of property, the franchisee
shall remove or relocate any or all parts of franchisee's cable
system at the request of the County. If the franchisee fails to comply
with the County's request, the County may remove or relocate
any or all parts of the franchisee's cable system upon reasonable
notice to the franchisee and franchisee shall be responsible to reimburse
the County the expense of such removal or relocation.
(b)
Emergency alert system.
(1)
The franchisee shall comply with the emergency alert system
(EAS) requirements of the FCC in order that emergency messages may
be distributed over the system. A franchisee shall install and thereafter
maintain an EAS for use by the County.
(2)
The EAS shall at all times be operated in accordance with federal
requirements and other applicable law. In the event of an emergency,
as determined by the designated County official or other official
designated by any approved state or local EAS plan, and subject to
applicable federal and Virginia law requirements, the EAS shall be
remotely activated by telephone and shall allow a representative from
the County or other official designated by any approved state or local
EAS plan, in the event of an emergency or for reasonable testing,
to override the audio and video on all channels on the franchisee's
cable system without the assistance of the franchisee.
(3)
The County or other designated body responsible under any approved
state or local EAS plan shall provide reasonable notice to the franchisee
prior to any test of the EAS. The franchisee shall cooperate with
the County or other designated body responsible under any approved
state or local EAS plan in any such test.
(4)
A franchisee shall maintain the EAS and shall periodically upgrade
the EAS at the franchisee's sole expense to ensure that the EAS
technology remains consistent and compatible with prevailing technology
and applicable law.
A franchisee shall assure that access to cable services is not
denied to any group of potential residential cable subscribers because
of the income of the residents of the local area in which such group
resides. The County shall have the right to monitor and inspect the
deployment of cable services.
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State Law reference — Similar provisions,
Code of Virginia § 15.2-2108.21.
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