Ventura Municipal Code Art. 4 Service Standards

The city’s policy is to ensure that every franchisee provides service in the franchise area upon any person’s request or to any city building. Each franchisee will extend service upon request in accordance with the provisions of this article or service extension policies set forth in the cable franchise grant; provided, that a cable franchise grant may permit a franchisee to require a potential subscriber to contribute a fair share of the capital costs of installation or extension as a condition of extension or installation in cases where such extension or installation may be unduly expensive. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

A. Except as otherwise provided in a cable franchise grant, a franchisee must extend service to any person or to any city building in the franchise area upon request:

1. Within seven business days of the request, where service can be provided by activating or installing a standard drop;

2. Within 10 business days if the person cannot be served through installation of a standard drop, but can be served by activating or installing a drop;

3. Within 90 days of the request where an extension of one-half mile or less is required; or

4. Within six months where an extension of more than one-half mile is required.

5. Requests for additional outlets, service upgrades or other connections (e.g., DMX, VCR, A/B switch) separate from the initial installation will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed.

B. A “standard drop” is an aerial drop not exceeding 150 feet. A franchisee may obtain an extension of the time limits set forth in this section where, because of exceptional circumstances, the standards could not be satisfied even with due diligence.

C. In cases where a cable franchise grant permits a franchisee to require a potential subscriber to bear a share of extension or installation costs, and a franchisee requires the potential subscriber to bear such costs, the time for extension will be measured from the date the subscriber agrees to bear such costs or, if a franchisee requires prepayment of all or a portion of the estimated costs, from the date the prepayment is made.

A franchisee that requires a potential subscriber to bear a portion of installation or extension costs must prepare a written estimate of extension costs within 20 days of a request for an installation or extension that would be subject to cost-sharing. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

Except insofar as this requirement is preempted by federal law, any cable system within the city will meet or exceed the technical standards set forth in 47 C.F.R. Section 76 Subpart K and any other applicable technical standards. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

Except insofar as this requirement is preempted by federal law, upon request of the city, a franchisee will perform all tests necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the cable franchise grant and other technical and performance standards established by applicable law.

A. Unless a cable franchise grant or applicable law provides otherwise, all tests will be conducted in accordance with applicable law and in accordance with the most recent edition of National Cable Television Association’s “Recommended Practices for Measurements on Cable Television Systems,” or if no recent edition exists, such other appropriate manual as the parties may designate.

B. A written report of any test results will be filed with the city within 30 days of the test.

C. If a location fails to meet technical or performance specifications, the franchisee, without additional notice or request from the city, will promptly take corrective action, and retest the locations. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

Every cable system and every cable operator is required to interconnect with every other cable system and cable operator within the city on fair and reasonable terms so that PEG signals may be seamlessly exchanged to or from a subscriber network and/or from an institutional network. The city may establish the terms and conditions for interconnection and establish deadlines for completion of the interconnection. However, a franchisee will not be considered to be in violation of this section if it is unable to interconnect with another operator, where the failure to interconnect is the result solely of the acts and omissions beyond the control of that franchisee or its affiliates. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

A. A franchisee will publicize the initial build or any substantial rebuild or upgrade of its cable system in each affected neighborhood at least one week before commencing that work by providing written notice to the city and by notifying those persons whose property is within 300 feet of the work in at least two of the following ways:

1. Telephone;

2. In person;

3. By mail;

4. By distributing flyers to residences;

5. By publication in local newspapers; or

6. In any other manner reasonably calculated to provide adequate notice.

B. Apart from any initial build or substantial rebuild or upgrade, any underground construction will be publicized in accordance with applicable notice requirements.

C. Before entering onto any person’s property, a franchisee will contact the property owner or (in the case of residential property) the resident in the manner described in this section, at least one day in advance; provided, that, in the case of an emergency, or as necessary to respond immediately to an outage, the contact will be made as far in advance as is practicable. If franchisee must enter a residence or building, it must schedule a mutually convenient appointment with the owner or resident.

D. For the purposes of this section, the term “substantial rebuild or upgrade” means the planned replacement or addition of trunk or distribution cable (but not drops) affecting:

1. More than 10 percent of the cable system subscribers; or

2. Involving more than 10 miles of plant. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

During the period of any cable system initial build or rebuild, a franchisee will maintain a file open for public inspection showing its timetable for constructing the cable system by area of the city. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

Scheduled maintenance will be performed to minimize the effect of any necessary interruptions of cable service. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)

Each cable franchise grant, during the term of the cable franchise, will ensure that subscribers are able to receive continuous service and that, in the event the cable franchise is revoked or terminated, the franchisee may be obligated to continue to provide service for a reasonable period to assure an orderly transition of service from the franchisee to another entity. (Ord. No. 99-38, § 4, 10-18-99)