Minimum facilities and services

(a)

The following minimum requirements for facilities and services apply to all licenses granted by the city. The city may require in a license agreement that a licensee exceed these minimum requirements where it determines, under circumstances existing at the time of the grant of the license, that the additional requirements are necessary to meet the future cable related needs of the city and interests or to serve the public interest.

(1)

Any cable system that commences construction, including but not limited to initial construction, rebuild, upgrade, or reconstruction after the effective date of this chapter shall have a minimum capacity of at least 750 MHZ providing no less than 78 activated video channels or its digital equivalent, including two-way capability as defined in subsection 11-2 hereof. The construction, rebuild, upgrade or reconstruction of any cable system must be completed within a 24-month construction schedule. A license agreement may provide for a larger minimum channel capacity requirement as well as upgrades during the term of a license. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $1,050.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(2)

The city may require in a license agreement that a licensee provide access channels, facilities and other support for public, educational and/or governmental use, in excess of the minimum requirement of this chapter. Licensee's failure to comply with the terms of a license agreement with respect to the provision of access channel facilities and other support for public, educational and/or governmental use shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $1,575.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(3)

A cable system shall provide leased access channels as required by federal law.

(4)

If required by the terms of a license agreement, a licensee shall, at minimum, provide at least one cable outlet and shall provide cable service, including basic and cable programming service tier, with the exception of digital and premium/pay-per-view, or its equivalent, without charge, to each and every floor of all public buildings including, but not limited to city buildings, parks, community and day-care centers, and any other public building designated by resolution of the city commission. In addition, licensee agrees to provide one outlet of cable service without charge to each and every floor of all buildings of the city that may be constructed, opened or annexed within the city after the effective date of the license agreement, subject to the service policy set forth below. In new locations and remodels of existing locations, licensee shall have access to "pre-wire." Such cable service shall at a minimum include the basic cable service tier, and all programming offered without additional charge on the cable programming service tier offered by licensee over the cable system. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $525.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(5)

If required by the terms of a license agreement, licensee shall, upon request, provide to each and every floor of all public buildings including, but not limited to city buildings, parks, community and day-care centers, and any other public building designated by resolution of the city commission, with, at minimum, one free connection to an on-line service provided by licensee. Such on-line service will provide access to the Internet. Upon request, each city building, park, community center and daycare center within the city, and any other public building designated by resolution of the city commission, shall receive, at minimum, one free cable modem which will be allowed to be networked, and free, unlimited access to the on-line service. All services requested shall be provided not later than one year after licensee makes commercially available an on-line service for personal computers within the city. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $525.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(6)

Licensee shall, at a minimum, provide at least one cable outlet and shall provide cable service, including basic and cable programming service tier, with the exception of digital and premium/pay-per-view, or its equivalent, without charge, to each floor, not to exceed three floors, in all public and private schools (as defined by, and which receives funding pursuant to, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 421(a) et seq., as amended), (grades K—12). Licensee will make arrangements for each school to receive school materials for teachers and other facility administrators, to the extent they are available, that explain the educational applications of the broadband cable systems and services offered on the cable system. The materials will be provided to all connected schools. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $525.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(7)

Licensee shall, upon written request from the school, provide all schools (as defined in subsection (6) above) within the city which receive cable service with, at minimum, one free connection to an on-line service provided by licensee. Such on-line service will provide access to the Internet. Upon request, each connected school shall receive, at minimum, one free cable modem which will be allowed to be networked, and free, unlimited access to the on-line service. All services requested shall be provided not later than one year after licensee makes commercially available an on-line service for personal computers within the city. Additional cable modems and operational support and services (for example, assisting schools in setting up and maintaining reliable Internet connections) shall be provided to connected schools upon written request and at the actual and direct costs of licensee. In addition, licensee shall sponsor local workshops in each region to educate teachers and other facility administrators about its on-line service and to provide connected schools, city parks, community centers and day-care centers with an opportunity for hands-on training. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $525.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(8)

A cable system shall include an "emergency alert" capability, which shall permit the city manager or designated representative, to the extent permitted by applicable law, to remotely override the audio of all channels on the cable system or to allow for video crawl over all channels.

(9)

The city may seek the use of a portion of the cable system's bandwidth for collecting data from subscribers for purposes including but not limited to a fire, police or other alarm system, or reading water meters, provided that the following conditions are met:

a.

Licensee has excess capacity on its system, at each location the city wishes to utilize at the time of the request and, as of the date of the city's request, has not allocated such excess capacity, as evidenced by a written agreement with a third party for such bandwidth for provision of services during the 12 months following the date of city's request;

b.

The city purchases the necessary equipment according to the reasonable technical specifications provided by licensee;

c.

Attachment of the necessary equipment is performed by the licensee owning the cable system, and the city reimburses the labor and material cost of such attachment to said licensee at the direct, actual costs to licensee;

d.

The city pays to the licensee the direct and actual costs of the bandwidth usage, but in no event to exceed the lowest rate offered by the licensee to an unaffiliated third party for similar bandwidth usage; and

e.

No sooner than one year after city commences use of the bandwidth, a licensee may thereafter reclaim the excess bandwidth, upon no less than 120 calendar days notice, if it plans to provide an additional product or service to its customers utilizing said bandwidth within six months of reclaiming the bandwidth, provided that city shall have a right of first refusal for use of the bandwidth on terms and conditions equal to those at which the licensee proposes to offer the capacity to a third party. To the extent a licensee is providing an institutional network for the city, at no cost to the city, such provision may be in lieu of the licensee's obligations under this section.

(10)

A licensee shall make available to its subscribers equipment capable of decoding closed circuit captioning information for the hearing impaired.

(11)

The cable system operator shall maintain equipment capable of providing standby powering for headend transportation and trunk amplifiers for a minimum of two hours. The equipment shall be constructed so as to automatically notify the cable office when it is in operation and to automatically revert to the standby mode when the AC power returns. All utility safety regulations must be followed to prevent a standby generator from powering the "dead" utility line, with possible injury to an unwitting lineman.

(b)

Most favored nation.

(1)

Pursuant to the requirements of a license agreement, a licensee shall provide, at a minimum, the same facilities, services, products and benefits available on any system serving any other similarly sized city or other community in the state, or other such communities outside the state, owned and operated by the licensee, its parent, affiliate or subsidiary.

(2)

Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $1,575.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(c)

Universal service. Upon request and payment of all applicable charges and provided that the requesting person grants the licensee access to his or her premises in order to furnish, maintain, and continue to offer cable service to that person, a licensee shall, throughout the term of a license, offer any person at his or her place of residence or place of business within the license area, all cable services distributed over the cable system, except as otherwise set forth in a license agreement. Licensee's failure to comply with this subsection shall result in imposition of fines to be paid by the licensee to the city in the amount of not less than $525.00 per violation, per day or part thereof that the violation continues.

(d)

Upon licensee's acquisition of facilities in any city right-of-way, or upon the annexation to the city of any area in which licensee owns or operates any facility, licensee shall, at the city's request, submit to the city a statement describing all facilities involved, whether authorized by license, permit, franchise or other prior right, and specifying the location of all such facilities to the extent licensee has possession of such information. Such facilities shall immediately be subject to the terms of licensee's license granted pursuant to this chapter.

(e)

Pursuant to the requirements of a license agreement, in the event licensee offers cable Internet services over its cable system in the city, it shall, taking into account technical feasibility, provide access to its cable modem platform to providers of Internet access and on-line services on comparable terms and conditions to those terms and conditions on which access is provided by licensee, its parent, affiliate or subsidiary in any other community. Licensee shall comply with all lawful requirements with respect to access to licensee's cable modem platform for providers of Internet access and on-line services.

(f)

A licensee granted a license under this chapter shall make a proposal to the city for the installation, operation and maintenance of or provide funding for an institutional network ("I-NET"). The I-NET shall, at minimum, take into consideration the interconnection of all government and other public buildings, schools, or persons as designated by the city, with minimum technical facilities as shall be specified subject to negotiation between the city and the licensee. A licensee may provide the city, subject to city approval, with an equivalent of an I-NET, based on current technology, in lieu of the obligation set forth herein.

(g)

Where an I-NET already exists in the city, an applicant for a license shall provide the city with a capital grant in an amount which represents the cost of an institutional network, or, at the city's sole option, alternative facilities, equipment and support, including but not limited to a new institutional network, in satisfaction of licensee's obligation to provide the city with an I-NET pursuant to this chapter.

(Ord. No. 11936, § 3, 6-8-00; Ord. No. 13142, § 6, 2-11-10)