Article 6 — GENERAL SERVICE PROVISIONS

The cable programming offered by the grantee shall include at a minimum each of the following categories as is appropriate to the license area: community, family, children’s, news and public affairs, sports, cultural, religious, arts and music, minority or foreign language, and educational for all ages.

Basic service shall be available to all subscribers. No subscriber shall be required to purchase any other service as a prerequisite to purchasing basic service. Basic service shall include all PEG channels at no extra charge.

• a. The cable system shall have a minimum channel capacity of 30-six activated channels. If the service area of the county license is part of a cable system under a single headend that also has licenses with one or more contiguous cities within Contra Costa County, and if the City licenses require a greater channel capacity, then the highest City standard shall be considered the county standard, provided that the grantee is permitted to adjust rates as necessary to recover the reasonable, proportionate capital cost of providing such additional channel capacity, including a return on investment comparable to that allowed by the contiguous jurisdiction, but in no event less than that specified by the FCC in cost of service showings applicable to the regulated rates of cable operators.

• b. Such system shall maintain a plant which, with appropriate modifications, has the technical capability for data/video return or "two-way" communication "Capability" shall not mean that such two-way communication is made operational. Whether and under what circumstances such two-way communication is made operational will be set out in the grantee’s license award resolution.

• c. In cases where the grantee’s existing cable system does not meet the requirements of this section, the license award resolution shall specify the time within which the grantee’s cable system must comply.

The grantee shall make available one or more dedicated channel on its cable system for purposes of PEG programming to be cablecast by the county, as set forth in the Access Agreement.

Except as limited by the Access Agreement the grantee shall provide such additional PEG services, facilities and equipment as are specified in the license award resolution.

PEG channels shall be part of basic cable service. All subscribers within the unincorporated and incorporated areas of the county served by a grantee shall receive all PEG channels that the

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.612

§ 5.4.616

grantee provides to the county under this division.

The county agrees not to lease, transfer, or divest itself of control of the use of a PEG channel for commercial purposes. Nothing in this section shall prevent the county from delegating to an independent nonprofit entity such as a commission, board, or nonprofit corporation the authority to manage all or any part of the county’s PEG facilities, programming and/or funds. The commission, board, or nonprofit corporation shall be subject to the provisions of the Access Agreement, and may be established jointly with neighboring jurisdictions at county’s sole option.

• a. The county, in its sole discretion, may determine that it is desirable for certain public buildings within the county to receive one primary outlet and basic service to that outlet without charge to the county. Public buildings shall include but not be limited to:

  • 1. Public schools and community colleges;
  • 2. Fire stations, Police Chief’s stations and police stations;
  • 3. Jail and detention facilities; and
  • 4. Other buildings owned or occupied by the county or other public entity governed by the board.

• b. Public buildings shall not include buildings owned or occupied by private companies or organizations under contract with the county.

• c. If the county makes such a determination, the grantee who serves the cabled area in which the designated public building is located shall, without cost to the county but subject to the distance limitations of this section, install one primary outlet and provide basic service to that outlet.

• d. Free installation to existing buildings shall be subject to the following distance limitations as measured from the nearest active coaxial feeder line along a reasonably direct route.

  • 1. 150 feet for aerial service drops; or
  • 2. 75 feet for underground service drops.

• e. Free installation to new buildings shall be subject to the following distance limitations as measured from the nearest active coaxial feeder line along a reasonably direct route.

  • 1. 150 feet for aerial service drops; or
  • 2. 150 feet for underground service drops, provided such drops can be installed in utility trenches concurrently with the construction of such new buildings and do not require cutting, boring or similar work. If cutting, boring or similar work is required, the cable operators shall install the first 75 feet at no cost to the county. The remaining distance will be paid for by the county at the actual cost of the operators.

• f. That portion of primary outlet installation which exceeds the foregoing distance limitations,

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City of Oakley, CA § 5.4.616

OAKLEY CODE

§ 5.4.616

and additional outlet installation to any such building, if requested by the county, shall be provided by the grantee and paid for by the county on an actual time and materials basis.

• g. The grantee shall not charge the county or other public entity for any basic service provided under the provisions of this section, nor shall the grantee be responsible for securing any easements necessary to provide this service.

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.702

§ 5.4.708

Article 7 CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customers have the right to receive, and the grantee has the obligation to provide, efficient service, prompt repairs and service interrupted only for good cause and for the shortest possible time. It shall be the right of all subscribers to continue receiving service insofar as their financial and other obligations to the grantee are honored. In the event that the grantee elects to overbuild, rebuild, modify, or sell the system, or the board gives notice of intent to terminate or fails to renew this license, the grantee shall act so as to ensure that all subscribers receive continuous, uninterrupted service, subject to the provisions of Section 5.4.710 and Section 5.4.714.

The grantee shall not deny service or access or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, channel users or general citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or occupation. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the discounts permitted in Section 5.4.302e.

Except as provided otherwise in the license award resolution, all grantees shall maintain a business office within the county open for at least eight hours per day during weekdays, excluding those holidays observed by the grantee.

• a. Except for delays beyond the grantee’s control, the grantee shall provide service pursuant to the following requirements.

• b. Within 15 working days, the grantee must make cable service available to any resident requesting connection at the standard connection charge, if no new drop is required or if connection to the resident would require a new aerial drop of 150 feet or less or a new underground drop by 75 feet or less, as measured from the nearest active coaxial feeder line along a reasonably direct route. Upon receiving a request for new service pursuant to this subsection, the grantee shall make reasonable efforts to promptly acquire all easements or rights of occupancy necessary for extension of service to such resident’s home and not already secured by the grantee, but the grantee shall not be required to install service until such easements or rights of occupancy have been acquired.

• c. The grantee must extend and make cable television service available to every dwelling unit within three months in any unserved area reaching the average density of 10 occupied residential dwelling units per one-quarter mile, as measured from the nearest active coaxial feeder line. Multiple dwelling units that are not served by the grantee or that are served as one unit under a bulk discount rate shall be counted as one occupied unit for purposes of this subsection. Extension of cable television service to any unserved area satisfying the foregoing requirements will be subject to the following:

  • 1. Each occupied residential dwelling unit must be located within a distance of no more than 150 feet from the anticipated location of such extension, provided that an

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City of Oakley, CA § 5.4.708

OAKLEY CODE

§ 5.4.714

occupied residential dwelling unit located more than this distance from the anticipated location of such extension shall be counted if the owner or occupant agrees to reimburse the grantee for the cost of the portion of the drop to such residential dwelling unit exceeding 150 feet; and

• 2. The grantee is able to secure all necessary easements or rights-of-way for purposes of locating its cable system in the area of such extension.

• d. In areas not meeting the requirements for mandatory extension of service, the grantee shall provide, upon the request of a potential subscriber desiring service, an estimate of the reasonable costs required to extend service to said subscriber, including materials, labor, overhead and private easements, if necessary. The grantee shall then extend service within four months upon request of said potential subscriber, who shall be responsible for all reasonable costs associated with the extension. The grantee may require advance payment or assurance of payment satisfactory to the grantee.

• a. Upon receipt of a service complaint during hours the business office is open, the grantee shall respond as follows:

  • 1. To a system outage of one or more channels, within four hours;
  • 2. To an individual outage of one or more channels, within 24 hours;
  • 3. To all other reception problems, by the next working day or as agreed upon by the subscriber and the grantee.

• b. The grantee will be deemed to have responded to a service complaint when a field service representative competent to fix the problem arrives at the service location which may be some portion of the cable system and not a subscriber’s residence. and begins work on the problem. In the case of a response which involves request for service at a subscriber’s residence, and the subscriber is not home when the field service representative arrives, response will be deemed to have taken place if the field service representative leaves notification of arrival.

• c. Where the grantee is unable to respond to a service complaint within the applicable time period specified in this section, the grantee shall make reasonable efforts, within such time period, to notify the complainant of the reasons and the estimated timeframe for correction, and shall proceed to correct the service complaint at the earliest possible time.

Service calls shall be scheduled within the deadlines set forth in Section 5.4.710. At the subscriber’s option, weekday service calls shall be scheduled as morning or afternoon appointments, unless otherwise specified in the license award resolution. For service calls responding to system or individual outages, holiday and weekend scheduling shall also be available. Appointments shall be scheduled within a time window of no more than four hours, unless the subscriber voluntarily consents to a longer period. If the appointment cannot be kept, the grantee shall make reasonable efforts to promptly notify the subscriber in advance.

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.714

§ 5.4.716

Where service interruptions of one hour duration or longer are planned, the grantee shall notify subscribers at least 24 hours before the anticipated interruption, provided that no notification shall be required for service interruptions occurring between two am. and six am. Notification need not be repeated before each anticipated interruption as long as the initial notification advises of the possibility of repeated interruptions during a specified period not to exceed one month. To the extent feasible, the grantee shall avoid interruptions between five p.m. and midnight

• a. The grantee shall render efficient telephone communication service, sufficiently staffed by knowledgeable, courteous personnel.

• b. Customer Service Response. At a minimum, the grantee shall have on duty a sufficient number of customer service representatives available to handle customer calls during all hours that the business office is open. During times not handled by customer service representatives, each system must have a capable answering service for repair requests or service complaints. Answering machines are not acceptable, except for automated response units that are used to process and route calls to on-duty personnel of the grantee.

• c. Telephone System Requirements. The grantee shall at all times provide a telephone system meeting the following requirements:

  • 1. Each grantee shall have a phone system with a sufficient capacity to promptly respond to telephone calls. Telephone numbers for customer service shall be listed in a local telephone directory. All telephone lines for customer service shall be toll free to subscribers within the license area;
  • 2. Knowledgeable, qualified customer service representatives shall be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries Monday through Friday during normal business hours. Additionally, the grantee shall staff telephones for such supplemental hours on weekdays and weekends as are specified in the license award resolution;
  • 3. Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer service representative, including wait time, and the time required to transfer the call, shall not exceed 30 seconds. Those systems which utilize automated answering and distributing equipment shall limit the number of routine rings to four or fewer. Systems not utilizing automated equipment shall make every effort to answer incoming calls as promptly as the automated systems. Under normal operating conditions, the customer shall receive a busy signal less than 3% of the total time that the telephone system is staffed by customer service representatives. These standards shall be met no less than 80% of the time measured quarterly. If the county receives complaints indicating a significant problem in any telephone system, the county may require the grantee to meet the above standards not less than 80% of the time measured over a 60 day period until such time as the performance is perceived to be satisfactory;
  • 4. The grantee shall, by means of automatic monitoring equipment, track all customer service telephone calls and prepare monthly summaries of all calls according to the criteria listed in subsection (3) of this section. Such report shall be delivered to the

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City of Oakley, CA § 5.4.716

OAKLEY CODE

§ 5.4.722

county as required in Section 5.4.428 and, in addition, as requested. Where the grantee serves two or more communities in the county from a common headend and/ or provides cable service to two or more communities in the county through common administrative and operational facilities, reports with respect to the requirements set forth in subsection (3) may be provided for all communities served by the grantee and need not be provided on a separate basis for the unincorporated area of the county served by the grantee. In the event the grantee elects to provide combined reports, as allowed by this subsection, any deficiencies reflected therein shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section;

• 5. In cases of outages or major service interruptions beyond the grantee’s control, the telephone system requirements described in subsection (3) of this section shall not apply. However, there shall be a recording informing customers of the problem and probable correction time;
• 6. In cases where the grantee’s existing telephone system cannot demonstrate compliance with the standards set forth in subsections (3) or (4) of this section, the license award resolution may specify comparable criteria for the grantee’s telephone system and the time frame for compliance with the standards set forth in this section.

The grantee shall keep a computer log or written record for at least three years of all service calls and complaints which require the dispatch of a service vehicle to respond to the service call or complaint, as described in Section 5.4.708 and Section 5.4.710, received by the grantee, together with the disposition of such calls. This record shall be available for public inspection by the affected subscriber at the local office of the grantee during regular office hours such that each subscriber may examine his or her own records. Before making a record available for inspection under this section, the grantee may require reasonable advance notice, which shall in no event exceed one working day.

Upon reasonable request or complaint by a subscriber, the grantee shall, at its sole expense, perform such signal level tests as necessary to establish if a signal of requisite quality is being delivered to the subscriber’s premises. The test shall be conducted at the subscriber’s receiver and at other such locations deemed necessary by the grantee, and a copy of the written test results shall be made available to the subscriber upon request.

• a. Not less than once every two years, the grantee, at its sole expense, shall conduct a survey or surveys of all subscribers in the grantee’s service area to determine:

  • 1. Preferences for programming currently offered by the grantee, as well as programming available nationally or regionally but not currently offered by the grantee;
  • 2. Satisfaction with customer service, including without limitation response to customer complaints; and
  • 3. Satisfaction with the technical capabilities of the system. The survey methodology

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.722

§ 5.4.728

and format shall be submitted to the County Administrator for review and comment prior to distribution to the grantee’s subscribers. In addition, not more than six months prior to submitting an application for license renewal, license transfer or for extension of license term, the grantee shall conduct a survey in accordance with this section.

• b. A copy of the survey results shall be sent by the grantee to the County Administrator, together with any programming or other changes resulting from the survey.

The grantee shall send or deliver to all new and reconnected subscribers in writing, in a form easy to read and understand, information concerning the conditions of service, including but not limited to: rates, fees, charges, deposits, refunds of deposits, available levels of service tiers, payment options, discounts if any, service call policy, privacy protections and disconnection and reconnection policy. The grantee shall provide a copy of such information to the County Administrator prior to its distribution to the grantee’s subscribers for review and comment.

Upon connection or reconnection to the system and at least once a year, the grantee shall, by appropriate means, such as a card or brochure, printed notice on billing statement or billing insert, furnish to each subscriber information concerning the procedures for making inquiries or complaints to the grantee or the county, including the name, address and local telephone number of the grantee and the County Administrator. The form and content of the complaint notice shall be subject to review and comment by the County Administrator.

• a. When there have been a significant number of complaints made, or where there exists other evidence which, in the judgment of the county, indicates a problem with the reliability or quality of cable service as required under this division or in the license award resolution, the board shall have the right and authority to require the grantee to evaluate the performance, operation or administration of the cable system including without limitation matters to customer service. The grantee shall fully cooperate with the county in performing such evaluation and shall prepare results and a report, if requested, within 30 days after notice. Such report shall include the following information:

  • 1. The nature of the complaint or problem which precipitated the evaluation;
  • 2. What system component, operation or service was evaluated;
  • 3. The equipment used and procedures employed;
  • 4. The method, if any, by which such complaint or problem could be or has been resolved; and
  • 5. Any other information pertinent to the evaluation which may be required.

• b. The county may require that evaluations be supervised, or conducted, at an agreed upon maximum cost to be shared equally by the grantee and county, by an engineer, accountant or other consultant selected by the county and not on the permanent staff of the grantee or the county. The engineer, accountant or other consultant shall sign all records of the

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City of Oakley, CA § 5.4.728

OAKLEY CODE

§ 5.4.732

evaluation and forward to the county such records with a report interpreting the results of the evaluation and recommending actions to be taken. The county’s rights under this section, shall be limited to evaluating specific subjects and characteristics based on complaints, circumstances or other evidence which cause the county to believe that evaluation is necessary to protect the public against substandard cable service.

• c. The county shall maintain a list of qualified engineers, accountants and other consultants mutually acceptable to the county and the grantee. The list shall be updated every three years or as otherwise agreed by the county and the grantee. The county shall select a consultant from such list to supervise or conduct the evaluations described in subsection (b). Before retaining a consultant to supervise or conduct evaluations, the county shall first notify the grantee in writing and give the grantee a reasonable period of time within which to cure the problem. If an investigation involves a complaint or problem for which the list does not provide a qualified consultant, the county shall select a qualified consultant mutually acceptable to the county and the grantee. In approving consultants pursuant to this section, neither the county nor the grantee shall unreasonably withhold approval.

• a. Bills for service shall be monthly. Nothing in this section shall prohibit voluntary prepayment of service; by subscribers, provided that the grantee shall not be required to offer or accept any discount or other reduction in the amount paid by any subscribe for a voluntary prepayment of services.

• b. Before itemizing on subscriber bills any fees, taxes, assessments or other items payable to the county the itemization of which is not expressly authorized by State or Federal statute or regulation, the grantee shall submit a sample bill to the county for review and comment. In the event that the billing language proposed by the grantee is misleading or incomplete, the grantee shall modify the same as requested by the county or shall include a reason able explanation as agreed to by the county and the grantee.

• c. Charges on a bill shall not be deemed delinquent and a subscriber shall not be subject to a late fee, so long as payment is received from the subscriber within 10 days after the end of the service period covered by the bill.

• d. Before disconnecting a subscriber’s service for nonpayment, the grantee shall, by Cablegram, T-gram, mailgram, telegram or other means approved in advance by the County Administrator, give the subscriber at least five days’ written notice of intention to disconnect. The notice shall specify a deadline for payment to avoid disconnection, which deadline shall be at least five days after the delinquency date described in subsection (c) of this section. Provided the grantee has given such notice to the subscriber, if payment for the delinquent charges and any applicable late fee is not received by the deadline, or if the subscriber’s payment is dishonored by the bank, the grantee may disconnect the subscriber’s service without further notice.

• a. Except for loss of service beyond the reasonable control of the grantee, after notification from a subscriber of an individual or system outage and following the timeframes set out in this chapter for an opportunity to cure, the grantee shall, upon request, credit the subscriber’s account on a pro-rata basis one-thirtieth of the subscriber’s monthly rate for

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.732

§ 5.4.740

each day or portion of a day that the system or individual outage continues. In addition, in cases where, within any seven-day period, there have been more than six individual outages, system outages or service interruptions of 15 minutes or more, the grantee shall, upon request, credit the subscriber’s account for one-thirtieth of the subscriber’s monthly rate. Should an individual or system outage affect a pay-per-view or other similarly priced per-event service, the subscriber shall, upon request, be credited the charges for such service. Credit shall be given under this section only if the subscriber has notified the grantee of the outage within 24 hours of its occurrence and has provided access to the grantee as necessary to correct the problem.

• b.

• Nothing in this section shall prohibit the grantee from giving other credits.

The grantee shall refund all subscriber deposits within 30 days of termination of service. Any outstanding balance, including any equipment not returned by the subscriber, may be deducted from the deposit. The refund shall be mailed to the subscriber at no expense, or shall be handled as otherwise agreed to by the subscriber.

The grantee shall provide subscribers, upon request, with a parental locking device or digital code that permits inhibiting the video portions of premium channels. The grantee may charge a reasonable rate for such a device.

• a. The grantee shall not sell or otherwise release to any person, without specific written authorization from each individual subscriber, any list which identifies individual subscriber viewing habits.

• b. The grantee shall not place in a residence any equipment capable of being used by the grantee for audio eavesdropping or video surveillance. In addition, the grantee shall not activate any two-way communications capability of the system in a subscriber’s residence, or use the system to gather information about individual subscriber viewing habits, without the subscriber’s informed written or electronic consent. Notwithstanding the above, the grantee shall have the right to use the system to:

  • 1. Obtain information necessary to render cable service or any other service provided by the grantee to the subscriber;
  • 2. Verify receipt of cable service for billing purposes; or
  • 3. Detect unauthorized reception.

• a. Neither the owner of any residential dwelling nor his/her agent or representative shall ask or demand any payment, service or gratuity in any form as a condition for permitting the installation of cable service to the dwelling unit occupied by a tenant or resident requesting service.

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City of Oakley, CA

OAKLEY CODE

§ 5.4.740

§ 5.4.740

• b. Neither the owner of any residential dwelling nor his/her agent or representative shall penalize, charge or surcharge a tenant or resident or forfeit or threat en to forfeit any right of such tenant or resident, or discriminate in any way against such tenant or resident who requests or receives cable service from a grantee operating under a valid and existing cable license issued by the county.

• c. No person shall resell, without the express written consent of the grantee and without a license from the county, where required, any cable service, program or signal transmitted by a grantee operating under a license issued by the county. However, the owner of a multiple dwelling unit, under the auspices of a bulk cable service agreement with the grantee, may charge tenants for cable service, so long as such charges do not exceed the charges made by the grantee to the owner, plus a reasonable sum to reimburse the owner for necessary administration and billing.

• d. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from requiring that cable system facilities conform to laws and regulations and reasonable conditions necessary to protect safety, functioning, appearance and value of premises or the convenience and safety of persons or property.

• e. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a person from requiring a grantee to agree to identify the owner, or his/her agents or representatives, for damages or from liability for damages caused by the installation, operation, maintenance or removal of cable system facilities.

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City of Oakley, CA

BUSINESS REGULATIONS

§ 5.4.802

§ 5.4.802