Alameda County Municipal Code Art. III Regulation of Franchise

The grantor shall exercise regulatory authority under the provisions of this chapter and applicable law. If the franchise area served by the cable communications system also serves contiguous or neighboring communities, grantor may, at its sole option, participate in a joint regulatory agency with delegated responsibility in the area of cable-related communications.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.0)

The grantor, acting alone or acting jointly with other grantors, may exercise or delegate the following regulatory responsibilities:

A. Administering and enforcing the provisions of the cable communications system franchise(s);

B. Coordination of the operation of public, educational and government (PEG) access channel and facilities;

C. Providing technical, programming and operational support to public agency users, such as government departments, schools and health care institutions;

D. Establishing jointly with the grantee, or as otherwise specified in the franchise agreement, procedures and standards for use of channels dedicated to public use and for sharing of public facilities, if provided for in any franchise agreement;

E. Planning expansion and growth of public benefit cable services;

F. Analyzing the possibility of integrating cable communications with any local, state or national telecommunications networks;

G. Formulating and recommending long-range telecommunications policy.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.1

If so specified in the franchise agreement, the grantor may utilize a portion of the cable communications system capacity, associated facilities, and resources to develop and provide noncommercial cable services that will be in the public interest. In furtherance of this purpose, the grantor may establish a commission, public corporation, or other entity to receive and allocate facilities, support funds and other considerations provided by the grantor, the grantee, and/or others. Such an entity, if established, may be delegated the following responsibilities:

A. Receive and utilize or reallocate for utilization, channel capacity, facilities, funding and other support provided specifically for public usage of the cable communications system;

B. Review the status and progress of each service developed for public benefit;

C. Reallocate resources jointly with the grantee on a periodic basis to conform with changing priorities and public needs;

D. Report to the grantor and the grantee annually on the utilization of resources, the new public services developed and the benefits achieved for the grantor and its residents.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.2)

A. Intent. It is the intent of the grantor to insure the PEG access facilities provided for in any franchise agreement shall be managed in the best public interest so that programming using such facilities will be open to all residents, and available for all forms of public expression, community information and debate of public issues. Pursuant to these objectives, the grantor may delegate the responsibility for PEG access facility management to a nonprofit entity which may include, but not be limited to, any of the following:

1. A nonprofit public corporation;

2. A PEG access facility management commission or committee, appointed by grantor, and representing a broad spectrum of the community;

3. An established nonprofit entity with special cablecasting capability, such as a local or regional community college.

B. Functions. The entity designated to manage the PEG access facilities shall have the following functions:

1. Responsibility for program production for and management of, the public access facilities as may in the franchise agreement be designated for community-based programming. Community channels may include public, educational and government access channels, as designated in the franchise agreement;

2. To assure that the PEG access facilities are made available to all residents of the franchise area on a nondiscriminatory, first-come, first-served basis;

3. To assure that no censorship or control over program content of the PEG access facilities exists except as necessary to comply with federal prohibition of material that is illegal;

4. To devise, establish, and administer all rules, regulations, and procedures pertaining to the use and scheduling of the PEG access facilities;

5. To prepare such regular or special reports as may be required or desirable;

6. To hire and supervise staff;

7. To make all purchases of materials and equipment that may be required;

8. To develop sources of funding, such as foundation or federal or state grants, to further community programming;

9. To perform such other functions relevant to the PEG access facilities as may be appropriate;

10. Establishment of budgets on an annual basis, and utilization of funds and resources received from the grantor or the public usage entity designated in Section 3.16.230, for the purpose of PEG access programming.

C. Access Rules. The PEG access facility management entity shall complete a set of rules for the use of the PEG access facilities which shall be promptly forwarded to the grantor. The rules shall be prepared in cooperation with the grantee, and confirmed by agreement between the PEG access facility management entity and the grantee. The rules shall, at a minimum provide for:

1. Access on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis for all residents of the franchise area;

2. Prohibition of commercial use by public access programming producers;

3. Prohibition of any presentation of obscene material;

4. Public inspection of the log of producers, which shall be retained by the PEG access facility management entity for a period of four years;

5. Procedures by which individuals or groups who violate any rule may be prevented from further access to the facilities;

6. Free use of such reasonable amounts of channel time, cablecasting facilities, and technical support as are provided for in the agreement between the PEG access facility management entity and the grantee.

D. PEG Access Facility Management Entity Reports to Grantor. The PEG access facility management entity shall provide a report to the grantor and the grantee, at least annually, indicating achievements in community-based programming and services.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.3)

The grantor reserves the right, at its discretion, from time to time, to determine if the entities described in Sections 3.16.230 and 3.16.240 of this chapter are performing their purposes in a manner satisfactory to the grantor, and if they are not, the grantor may receive and reallocate all or a portion of the channel capacity, operations appropriation, and capital appropriation including any facilities and equipment purchased previously with such appropriation, to other entities. A newly designated entity shall be required to comply in all respects with the legal responsibilities described in Sections 3.16.230 and 3.16.240 as applicable. Nothing herein shall preclude the grantor from contracting with grantee for PEG access facility management.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.4)

The grantee shall establish rates for its services that must be applied fairly and uniformly within categories of subscribers in the franchise area.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.5

At grantor's sole option, within ninety (90) days succeeding the first anniversary of the effective date of each franchise, and each year thereafter throughout the term of the franchise, the grantor may hold a public hearing at which the grantee shall be present and shall participate, to review the performance and quality of service of the cable communications system. The reports required in Article 12 of this chapter regarding subscriber complaints, the records of performance tests and the opinion survey report shall be utilized as the basis for review. In addition, any subscriber may submit comments or complaints during the review meetings, either orally or in writing, and these shall be considered.

A. Within thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the public hearing, grantor shall issue a report with respect to the system performance and quality of service. If material inadequacies are found which the grantor may reasonably expect the grantee to correct, grantor may direct grantee to correct the inadequacies within a reasonable period of time.

B. Failure of grantee, after due notice, to correct or to commence to correct the inadequacies shall be considered a breach of the franchise, and grantor may, at its sole discretion, exercise any remedy within the scope of this chapter considered appropriate.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.6)

To provide for technological, economic, and regulatory changes in the state of the art of cable communications, to facilitate renewal procedures, to promote the maximum degree of flexibility in the cable system, and to achieve a continuing, advanced modern system, the following system and services review procedures are hereby established:

A. At grantor's sole option, the grantor may hold a public hearing on or about the third anniversary date of the franchise agreement at which the grantee shall be present and shall participate, to review the cable communications system and services. Subsequent system and services review hearings may be scheduled by the grantor each three years thereafter.

B. Sixty (60) days prior to the scheduled system and services review hearing, grantee shall submit a report to grantor indicating the following:

1. All cable system services reported in cable industry trade journals and commonly provided on an operational basis, excluding tests and demonstrations, to communities in the United States with comparable populations, but not provided to the grantor;

2. Any specific plans for provision of such new services by the grantee, or a statement of justification for grantee's belief that such services are not feasible for the franchise area.

C. Topics for discussion and review at the system and services review hearing shall include but shall not be limited to, service provided, feasibility of providing new services, application of new technologies, system performance, programming, subscriber complaints, user complaints, right of privacy, amendments to the franchise, undergrounding processes, developments in the law, and regulatory constraints.

D. Either the grantor or the grantee may select additional topics for discussion at any review hearing which are consistent with applicable law.

E. Not later than sixty (60) days after the conclusion of each system and service review hearing, grantor shall issue a report, including a specific listing of any cable services not then provided to the grantor but considered technically and economically feasible. Grantor may request grantee to provide such services within a reasonable time, under reasonable rates and conditions, but grantee is not obligated to provide such services, unless the franchise agreement is so modified by mutual agreement of the parties.

(Prior gen. code § 2-121.7)