Duarte Municipal Code Art. VII Services

Grantee shall, no more than every two years, upon city request, poll a representative sampling of all subscribers to determine subscriber viewing preferences for services and/or programs not currently offered by grantee. The form and contents of said poll shall be approved by grantor. Results of said poll shall be provided to grantor within thirty days of completion.

(Ord. 646 § 8.1, 1988)

A franchised system shall provide, as a minimum, the services and broad programming categories listed in the franchise.

(Ord. 646 § 8.2, 1988)

To the extent practicable, grantee shall inform grantor at least thirty days in advance of making any change in a service.

(Ord. 646 § 8.3, 1988)

Grantee shall not discriminate between subscribers in the availability of services offered or the rate charged for services. No charges may be made for services except as listed in published schedules which are available to inspection by anyone at grantee's office, quoted by grantee on the telephone, and displayed or communicated to all potential subscribers.

(Ord. 646 § 8.4, 1988)

Grantee may, at its option, charge subscribers for services no more than one month in advance unless an individual subscriber requests a longer period. Bills may be due and payable upon mailing but shall not be delinquent, and no late charge penalties shall be assessed, until the later of: (1) thirty days from postmark; or (2) service has actually been provided for the billed period.

(Ord. 646 § 8.5, 1988)

Grantee may disconnect a subscriber only for cause, which shall be limited to:

A. Payment delinquency in excess of fifteen days;

B. Wilful or negligent damage to or misappropriation of grantee property;

C. Monitoring, tapping, or tampering with grantee's system, signals, or service.

(Ord. 646 § 8.6, 1988)

Grantee shall, upon subscriber's written request, reconnect service which has been disconnected for payment delinquency when payment has removed the delinquency. A published standard charge may be made for reconnection. Grantee shall not be required to make more than three reconnections for the same subscriber if the disconnections involved were caused by payment delinquency within the past twenty-four months.

(Ord. 646 § 8.7, 1988)

A. Upon the request of the owner or occupant, grantee shall promptly provide and maintain basic service to all:

1. Single-family residential structures; and

2. Multiple-family residential structures under construction on, or constructed after, the date of the franchise agreement which are built in accordance with applicable building codes, in the service area defined in the franchise agreement. Grantor agrees to enact and/or maintain in force such building codes as will require laying of cable in a commercially reasonable manner at the time of the construction of multiple-family residential structures by the builder thereof. Grantee shall promptly provide and maintain basic service to all multifamily residential structures constructed prior to the date of the franchise agreement upon securing the written agreement of at least forty percent of the units for basic service. Grantee shall make reasonable efforts consistent with economic feasibility to provide and maintain basic service to industrial and commercial structures upon request.

B. In the case of each new drop, grantee shall advise the subscriber of the most commercially reasonable manner and route of wiring. If subscriber wants a different manner or route, grantee has the right to reasonably accept or reject subscriber's proposal based on safety and technical considerations. Subscriber shall on grantee's request advance any additional expense to grantee in excess of a standard installation; provided, however, (1) in all cases of underground installation, subscriber shall bear the expense of all underground conduit and installation; (2) multi-dwelling units will be wired in a standard or nonstandard manner in the reasonable judgment of grantee. Grantee may, if he so elects, require that any such request be made in writing. If the subscriber requests installation other than a standard installation, then the subscriber may be required to pay a reasonable fee for the time and materials occasioned by the installation and to sign an agreement releasing the grantee from liability for poor service or damage to person or property resulting from the nonstandard installation.

C. For purposes of this subscription, a standard installation shall include installation of drop cable with fittings up to one hundred fifty feet from the CATV distribution system measured along the cable from the centerline of the street or utility easement through the house wall or at the customer's option through the floor from a house vent or crawl space directly to the customer's television set with five feet of cable from the wall or floor entry to the TV set. Also included as part of a standard installation is the grounding cable, fine tuning of the television set and the provision of the appropriate literature.

(Ord. 646 § 8.8, 1988)

At such time as a converter or terminal becomes necessary for subscribers to have access to all services on its system, grantee shall make them available to subscribers. Grantee may require each subscriber who elects to take a converter to furnish a security deposit therefor. Subscribers shall be entitled to interest upon their deposits to be paid upon return of the converter. This section shall in no manner be interpreted to limit damages recoverable from subscribers to the amount of the subscriber's security deposit.

A. Each device shall be and remain the property of the grantee unless grantor approves its sale to the subscriber. Grantee shall be responsible for maintenance and repair of all equipment owned by grantee and may replace it as he may from time to time elect, except that subscriber shall be responsible for loss of or damage to any such device while in his possession.

B. Upon termination or cancellation of subscriber's service, subscriber shall promptly return grantee's property to grantee in the same condition as received, reasonable wear and tear excepted.

C. Grantee may apply the security deposit against any sum due from subscriber for loss of or damage to such converter exceeding reasonable wear and tear. In the event that no security deposit has been required, the grantee may charge the subscriber for any such damage exceeding reasonable wear and tear.

D. If grantee has no claim against the deposit, grantee shall return it, or the balance, to the subscriber.

(Ord. 646 § 8.9, 1988)

For each nonstandard drop installed, the grantee may charge the subscriber for the cost of material and labor in excess of that for a standard drop. Grantee shall provide each subscriber an estimate prior to installation for all nonstandard drop charges.

(Ord. 646 § 8.10, 1988)