Azusa Municipal Code Art. IX Operations and Maintenance

(a) The grantee shall maintain an office in the service area, or such other location approved by the grantor in writing, open during all usual business hours, but in no case less than 48 hours per week, including at least one weekend day per week. Grantor shall have a publicly listed nontoll charge telephone number, and operated to receive subscriber complaints and requests on a 24-hour basis. Current information shall be maintained of all complaints and their disposition, and a summary thereof shall be submitted to grantor upon request but no more often than monthly.

(b) The grantee shall respond within eight hours after receipt of request for repairs relating to a service interruption affecting at least ten percent of the subscribers of the system, within 24 hours after receipt of requests for service related to all other service interruptions and within 48 hours for all other complaints and requests for repair. All cable system related problems shall be resolved within five business days unless technically infeasible. No charge shall be made to the subscriber for such a service or repair except that grantee may charge for service calls not related to its cable system.

(c) The grantee shall provide a telephone system to receive all construction and service complaints. A sufficient number of customer service representatives shall be provided so that callers are not required to wait beyond 30 seconds before being connected to a customer service representative 90 percent of the time measured quarterly or receive busy signals more than three percent of the time measured quarterly. The telephone number of the local office shall be listed in the telephone directory serving the City of Azusa. The telephone service shall accept complaints 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The telephone system shall be capable of self-generating reports relating to answer times, response times, hold times, and abandoned calls.

(d) Customer service personnel shall identify themselves by first names immediately.

(e) Customers shall have the right to speak with a supervisor, and if none is available, a supervisor shall return the customer's call within one working day.

(f) All officers, agents or employees of the grantee, its contractors or subcontractors who come into contact with members of the public shall wear on their outer clothing a photo identification card in a form reasonably acceptable to grantor. Grantee shall account for all identification cards at all times. Every vehicle of grantee or its major subcontractors shall be clearly identifiable as working for grantee.

(g) Grantee shall provide and guarantee subscribers with the option of scheduling a four-hour period, either in the morning or afternoon, in which the service call will be made.

(h) If a grantee representative is running late for an appointment with a customer and/or will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the customer will be contacted and the appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the customer with the customer having the option of rescheduling the appointment within a two-hour period.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.1, 4-17-95)

(a) It shall be the duty of a grantee to devise and implement a periodic preventative maintenance program for the system in order to ensure that there is no material degradation of the system that would affect the citizens' health, safety, and welfare, or negatively affect the quality of the services being provided.

(b) Before the grantee implements such a program, it shall provide a copy of such program to the grantor.

(c) Although not exhaustive, the following areas shall be included in a preventative maintenance program and subsequent report:

(1) Daily inspection, and adjustment if necessary, of the signal quality of each channel;

(2) Daily scan, and adjustment if necessary, of carrier levels with spectrum analyzer;

(3) Daily logging of any, and all, adjustments made to the headend, antenna tower, or distribution system;

(4) Daily monitoring, and logging, of signal leakage, and repair if necessary, to ensure that the multi-channel system is within FCC allowed levels;

(5) Inspection of drops as an integral part of every service call, and schedule for replacement, if necessary;

(6) Inspection and recordation of signal levels at the time of each service call;

(7) Weekly monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of headend audio and video carrier levels;

(8) Weekly monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of headend videocipher AGC levels;

(9) Weekly monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of satellite receiver input carrier noise;

(10) Monthly monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of headend audio and video modulation levels;

(11) Monthly performance measurements (and adjustment if necessary) (at a minimum of four extremities) of the distribution system to include:

a. Video and audio signal levels;

b. Overall difference in signal level or response flatness;

c. Hum modulation;

d. Carrier noise; and

e. Signal ingress.

(12) Monthly monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of headend scrambler levels;

(13) Monthly testing, and repair if necessary, of the emergency alert override supplies;

(14) Monthly inspection, and repair if necessary, of one-third of all standby power supplies;

(15) Semi-annual monitoring, and adjustment if necessary, of headend radio frequency (RF) input levels to off-air processors;

(16) Semi-annual inspections and repair if necessary, of:

a. Antenna tower;

b. Any, and all, earth stations; and

c. Buildings and fences;

(17) Semi-annual inspections, and repair and/or recalibration if necessary, of all in-house, and field test or measuring equipment;

(18) Semi-annual extremity tests (and adjustment if necessary) of the distribution system to include:

a. Cross modulation distortion; and

b. Composite second, and third order products; and

c. RF sweep response.

(19) Annual testing for determining cumulative leakage index (CLI);

(20) Annual extremity tests (and adjustment if necessary) of the distribution system to include:

a. Twenty-four-hour signal level stability; and

b. Channel response flatness; and

(21) Where required by local or state law, annual inspection and repair (if necessary) of all grantee owned or leased vehicles.

(d) Forty-five days after each calendar quarter, the grantee shall notify the grantor of the preventive maintenance information available for that calendar quarter, and that such information is available for inspection, examination, and review by authorized personnel upon five days notice.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.2, 4-17-95)

Except for rebuild or planned service interruptions for which grantee receives prior approval of grantor, in the event that one-third or more of its service(s) to any subscriber is interrupted for six consecutive hours, or for a total of 12 nonconsecutive hours within any 30-day period, and subscriber notifies grantee of said service interruption within 24 hours of subscriber discovery thereof, grantee shall provide a ten percent rebate of the monthly fees to affected subscribers for each such consecutive six-hour and/or nonconsecutive 12-hour service interruption period. Grantor shall provide a 50 percent rebate of the monthly fees to all affected subscribers for failure to arrive at a service call within the specified four-hour period. In no case shall such rebate exceed the monthly fee charged to the subscriber.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.3, 4-17-95)

(a) Grantor may require, at its option, that performance audits of the system be conducted every two years by an independent technical consultant, selected and employed by grantor and a grantee's sole expense, to verify compliance of the system to all technical standards and other specifications of the franchise, as provided in the franchise agreement.

(b) Upon completion of a performance audit, the grantor and grantee shall meet to review the performance of the cable system. The reports required herein regarding subscriber complaints, the records of performance audits, tests and the opinion survey report shall be utilized as the basis for review. In addition, any subscriber may submit complaints during the review meetings, either orally or in writing, and these shall be considered.

(c) Within 30 days after the conclusion of the system performance review meeting(s), grantor shall issue findings with respect to the adequacy of system performance and quality of service. If inadequacies are found, grantor may direct grantee to correct the inadequacies within such period of time as grantor determines is reasonable.

(d) Grantor's and grantee's participation in this process shall not waive any rights they may possess under applicable federal and/or state law.

(e) In addition to the biennial audit described above, grantor may conduct an annual audit of the same or lesser magnitude, at its sole expense, when and if determined necessary or appropriate by grantor.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.4, 4-17-95)

Grantee shall provide grantor with a computer disk or other data storage device requested by grantor, in format approved by grantor, which details and documents all grantee's equipment and facilities and their geographic location in the city. Such computer disk or other device shall be updated annually and whenever there have been significant changes in the location of grantee's equipment and facilities. In addition, grantee shall maintain in its local office, a complete and up-to-date set of as-built system maps and drawings upon completion of construction or reconstruction, equipment specification and maintenance publications, and signal level diagrams for each active electronic piece of equipment in the system. As-built drawings shall show all lines and installed equipment, and tap values and spigots. The scale of maps and drawings shall be sufficient to show the required details in easily readable form and size. Technical data at the local office shall also include approved pole applications, details and documentation of satellite and microwave equipment, mobile radio units, heavy construction vehicles and equipment, add video and audio equipment normally used in the operation of the system. If grantor requires use of technical data in its own office, it may make copies of any items at grantor's expense.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.5, 4-17-95)

All technical data shall be available for grantor's inspection during normal business hours, upon reasonable notice, and, in the event of system failure or other operating emergency, at any time, so long as the provision of said data does not unreasonably interfere with grantee's operations.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.6, 4-17-95)

It shall be grantee's responsibility to assure that grantee personnel qualified to make repairs are available at all reasonable times and that they are supplied with keys, equipment location instructions, and technical information necessary to begin repairs upon notification of the need to maintain or restore continuous service to the system.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.7, 4-17-95)

(a) Information to customers. The grantee shall, at the time service is initiated, provide each new customer written information covering:

(1) The time allowed to pay outstanding bills.

(2) Grounds for termination of service.

(3) The steps the grantee must take before terminating service.

(4) How the customer can resolve billing disputes.

(5) The steps necessary to have service reconnected after involuntary termination.

(6) The fact that customer service personnel shall identify themselves by first names immediately.

(7) The fact that customers shall have the right to speak with a supervisor, and if none is available, supervisor shall return customer call within one working day.

(8) The appropriate regulatory authority with whom to register a complaint and how to contact such authority.

In addition, at least once each calendar year, grantee shall notify each customer that information is available upon request concerning items (1) through (8) above.

(b) Written notices. Written notice of all terms of the customer agreement, the name, address and telephone number of company, all equipment and fee options, the availability of A/B switches, the availability of parental control devices, any reduced rates for seniors or other subscribers, company billing and credit practices, company practices with respect to privacy of customer, the telephone numbers for customer complaints of the company and the grantor and other relevant information, shall be made by grantee to customers before service is begun, at least once each calendar year, at any time upon the request of the customer and whenever changes are made.

(c) Advanced notice of changes. Except as provided in applicable law, advance notices of changes, including increases in fees or charges and changes in channel lineup of stations or services, shall be sent to grantor at least 45 days before the changes are made and to subscribers at least 30 days before the changes are made, except for changes not known sufficiently in advance by grantee and not under grantee's control or where grantor's waiver is obtained. Notices should be clearly identified and in print large enough to be easily readable.

(d) Billing.

(1) Bills for service shall be rendered monthly, unless otherwise authorized by the subscriber and the grantee or unless service is rendered for a period less than one month. All bills shall contain a telephone number and a mailing address for billing inquiries or disputes and shall clearly delineate all changes and the basis for those changes.

(2) Disputed bills.

a. In the event of a dispute between a subscriber and the grantee regarding the bill, the grantee shall promptly make such investigation as is required by the particular case and report the results to the subscriber. In the event the dispute is not resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, the grantee shall inform the subscriber of the complaint procedures of the grantee. If the subscriber wishes to obtain the benefits of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection, notification of the disputed bill must be given to the grantee in writing within 30 days after the bill date.

b. The subscriber shall not be required to pay the disputed portion of the bill until the earlier of the following:

1. Resolution of the dispute,

2. Expiration of the 45-day period beginning on the date of issuance, provided that the procedures established in subsection (a) above have been followed.

(3) Pending resolution of the bill dispute, grantee shall exercise reasonable care to ensure that no termination notices shall be issued for the disputed portions of the bill, nor shall any other collection procedures be initiated for said amount. Any such activity may be interpreted as an attempt to avoid the provisions of these rules and shall constitute violation of the regulations.

(e) Referral of accounts to collection agencies.

(1) Uncollected accounts may be referred to private collection agencies for appropriate action if the bill has not been paid by the earlier of (a) 30 days following date of involuntary termination or (b) the sixty-first day following the date of issuance of the original uncollected amount, provided no notification of billing dispute has been made, or if procedures for resolution of billing disputes have not been followed as required above.

(2) If the account was voluntarily terminated, for any reason, the account may not be referred to a private collection agency until at least 30 days following rendering of the final bill. If notification of a billing dispute is made, all collection procedures shall be delayed as required in paragraph (c) of subsection (d)(2) of this section, "disputed bills." Referral to collection agent shall then occur no sooner than the ninety-first day following issuance of the original uncollected amount.

(f) Termination for nonpayment. Bills shall not be delinquent earlier than 30 days from the date of the bill, which must be mailed to subscribers within five working days prior to its dated date. Subscribers must be notified in writing of a proposed disconnection for nonpayment at least 15 days prior to disconnection. Grantee may not assess late charges of any amount earlier than the thirtieth day from the date of the bill.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.8, 4-17-95)

When a subscriber voluntarily discontinues service, grantee shall refund, within 20 days of the discontinuance of service, the unused portion of any advance payments after deducting any charges currently due through the date of such discontinuance. Unused payment portions shall be the percentage of time for which subscriber has paid for service and will not receive it because of his/her discontinuation of service.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.9, 4-17-95)

The quality of grantee's service refers to the services associated with day-to-day operations (e.g., response to customer complaints, billing, service interruptions, disconnection, rebates and credits, signal quality, and the provision to customers or potential customers of information on billing or services). In order to assess the qualify of service, at grantor's request, grantee shall survey, at grantee's cost, a statistically representative telephonic sample of subscribers at least once every other calendar year. The form, content, and methodology of the telephonic survey shall be prior approved in writing by grantor. The results of said survey, including the raw data and conclusions, shall be provided to grantor within 20 days of completion and tabulation of results.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.10, 4-17-95)

(a) Each system franchised by the grantor shall provide, at a minimum, one governmental access channel dedicated to the grantor; one educational access channel under the control of the grantor and dedicated to educational programming; and one public access channel to be utilized by the public in accordance with the rules, regulations, and procedures established by the grantor.

(b) If any governmental, education, or public access channel is being utilized more than four hours per day, five days a week between the hours of 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. for four consecutive weeks, a grantee shall, upon receipt of written notice from the grantor, provide an additional channel for each of the original channels which achieve the usage factor above to the grantor, up to a maximum dedication of six channels, which shall be allocated by the grantor between and among public, educational, and governmental use. Said additional channels shall be provided to grantor upon an exclusive basis within 90 days of written request and certification as to compliance with the above criteria. Under no circumstances shall the grantee provide to grantor upon an exclusive and nonshared basis less than three channels for public, educational, and governmental use (minimum dedicated channels):

(c) Whenever any access channel, other than the three absolute channels required pursuant to subsection (a) above, is utilized less than four hours per day for five days per week for a continuous period of not less than 12 consecutive weeks, the grantor may permit different or additional "interim" uses for said channel. The grantee may be permitted to utilize unused access channel capacity, over the above minimum dedicated channel, under rules and procedures established by the grantor; provided, however, no access capacity shall be utilized by the grantee until all other channel capacity on the cable system has been programmed.

(d) Access channels permitted by the grantor for "interim" use by a cable operator are to be restored to governmental, educational, or public access use, as designated by the grantor, upon 90 days written notice by the city without regard to a showing, of lack thereof, of compliance with the criteria of subsection (b) above.

(e) The grantee shall provide that level of PEG support, included but not limited to the staffing and operation of a local studio, as required by any franchise, or as has or had bean provided by grantee, or any predecessor in interest thereof, and shall not reduce the said level of support without the prior written consent of the grantor.

(Ord. No. 95-08, § 10.11, 4-17-95)