Township of Springfield, PA Telecommunications Services

An application for a franchise under this ordinance must be on a form supplied by the Township of Springfield and include at a minimum the following information:

(1)

The name, address and telephone number of the applicant.

(2)

The name, address and telephone number of a responsible person whom the Township of Springfield may notify or contact at any time concerning the applicant's telecommunications facilities.

(3)

An engineering site plan showing the proposed locations of the applicant's telecommunications facilities, including any manholes or overhead poles, the size, type and proposed depth of any conduit or other enclosures and the relationship of the system to all existing poles, utilities, sidewalks, pavement, telecommunication facilities and other improvements within the public right-of-way.

(4)

The technical standards that the franchisee proposes to follow in construction and operation of the telecommunications facilities.

(5)

A description of the telecommunications services to be provided.

(6)

Any additional information the Township of Springfield may require. To the extent that the applicant proposes to resell the services of or lease existing facilities of another franchisee under this ordinance, the application may omit the data required under Subsection C of this section. Each application must be accompanied by a receipt from the Treasurer for the applicable filing fee, the amount of which shall be fixed from time to time by resolution.

If the information in an application is incomplete or if the proposed use is inconsistent with the requirements of this ordinance, the application may be returned as unacceptable for filing.

If the information provided in an application is complete and meets all the requirements of this ordinance, the Township Manager must promptly hold a public administrative hearing prior to granting or denying the application. At least 15 days' public notice must be given before the public hearing. At the public hearing, the Township Manager may accept written and oral testimony and any other material relevant to the application. If more than one application has been submitted, multiple applications may be considered in the same proceeding.

In evaluating an application, the Township Manager must consider:

(1)

The applicant's technical, financial and legal qualifications to construct and operate a telecommunications system, subject to Subsection D(6), below.

(2)

The nature of the proposed facilities, equipment and services.

(3)

The applicant's recent performance record of providing telecommunications services in other communities, if any.

(4)

The ability of the applicant to provide a telecommunications service or services making efficient use of the public right-of-way and justifying any inconvenience of the public attendant thereon.

(5)

The effects of a grant of a franchise on the present and future use of the public rights-of-way, including any foreclosure of future uses of the public rights-of-way.

(6)

Such other factors as the Township Manager may deem relevant, but the Township Manager must not consider, in evaluating the application, the fact that the applicant or a person with whom the applicant has been associated is or was a debtor in a case under the United States Bankruptcy Code or former Bankruptcy Act; the fact that the applicant or a person with whom the applicant has been associated is or was insolvent before or during the applicant's or person's case under the United States Bankruptcy Code or former Bankruptcy Act before the time discharge is or was granted or denied; or the fact that the applicant or a person with whom the applicant has been associated has not paid a debt that is dischargeable in the applicant's or person's pending case under the United States Bankruptcy Code or discharged in the applicant's or person's prior case under the Bankruptcy Code or under the former Bankruptcy Act.

Based upon the application, the written and oral testimony and other material presented at the hearing and any other information relevant to the application, the Township Manager must propose to grant, with or without conditions, or to deny the franchise application and must notify the applicant of the proposed grant or the proposed denial of the application.

If the Township Manager proposes to grant a franchise application, the Township Manager and the applicant must agree on the terms of a franchise agreement within 60 days from the notice of the proposed grant specified in Subsection E of this section. This period may be extended for good cause by the Township Manager. If agreement is not reached within 60 days and the period is not extended, the notice of proposed grant is void.

The Township of Springfield must make the text of a proposed franchise agreement available to the public. A summary of the terms of a proposed franchise agreement must be advertised once a week for three successive weeks in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the Township of Springfield to give the public the opportunity to comment on the franchise agreement.

After complying with the requirements of this section, the Township of Springfield Manager must submit a recommendation to grant a franchise and the proposed franchise agreement to the Board of Commissioners or a recommendation not to grant a franchise. The Board of Commissioners must approve or disapprove the proposed grant and agreement, based on its weighing of the record and on the applicant's ability to provide a telecommunications service or services making efficient use of the public rights-of-way and justifying any incommodation of the public attendant thereon, within 60 days from receipt of the Township Manager's recommendation; provided, however, that if the Board of Commissioners does not act within 60 days, the proposed grant and agreement shall be deemed to have been approved.

Every grant of a franchise is subject to a franchise acceptance fee in an amount not to exceed the Township of Springfield's costs in considering the application, less the amount of the filing fee. Within 30 days of the date the grant of the franchise is approved by the Board of Commissioners, the Township Manager must notify the approved applicant of the amount of the franchise acceptance fee and its method of calculation. If the franchise acceptance fee is not paid within 30 days of the date the Township of Springfield notifies the approved applicant of the amount, the grant is void. Before the franchise is effective, the approved applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Township of Springfield compliance with the bond, insurance and similar provisions of the franchise agreement.

For the purposes of Article III of this ordinance, the term "gross revenues" includes all revenue derived directly or indirectly by the franchisee, its affiliates, subsidiaries, parent companies and any person in whom the franchisee has a financial interest or revenues received by franchisee from a person with whom franchisee has a revenue-producing agreement, from the provision of telecommunications services, originated or terminated at locations in the Township of Springfield via the public rights-of-way, in whole or in part, which provision shall be interpreted to include all services and ancillary equipment; provided, however, that this term shall not include taxes imposed directly upon any subscriber or user by the federal, state, county or other governmental unit; provided, further, that the franchisee may deduct from its gross revenues subject to the franchise fee under Subsection C hereinafter, revenues received from a telecommunications reseller who submits a resale certificate from the Township of Springfield Treasurer for the applicable reporting period.

Each holder of a franchise authorizing it to use the township's rights-of-way for the provision of telecommunications services under this Article III shall remit quarterly to the Township of Springfield Treasurer, accompanied by a verified return, a franchise fee equal to 5% of the franchisee's gross revenues from telecommunications services; provided, however, that no franchisee fee shall be due in respect of revenues from traffic transiting the Township of Springfield.

In order to avoid duplicative franchise fees on the same revenues derived from subscribers or other customers, the franchisee shall exclude from the revenue base on which its annual franchise fee is computed all revenues derived from charges for telecommunications facilities and services to nonfacilities-based resellers of telecommunications services to the extent that such revenues are covered by resale certificates. Upon filing its periodic franchise fee returns with the Treasurer, each telecommunications provide may issue resale certificates to underlying telecommunications facilities and service providers. The amount of each certificate shall be proportional to the aggregate charges paid by the reseller to each underlying provider during the corresponding period. Resale certificates shall be subject to audit in the same manner as annual computations of franchise fees.

So much of the revenues of a "telephone carrier," defined as an eligible telecommunications carrier under Section 214(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 214(e), from telephone services in "service areas," as defined in accordance with paragraph (5) thereof, shall be excluded from revenues subject to the franchise fee specified in Subsection A of this section.