Spokane Municipal Code

Title 10 Regulation of Activities

Chapter 10.27A Cable Communications Code

Article III. Franchise Conditions

Section 10.27A.700 Provision of Service

1. A franchisee shall not deny service, access or otherwise discriminate against any person, including subscribers and users, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age or sex. A franchisee shall comply at all times with all other applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

2. In providing service a franchisee shall maintain a convenient local customer service and bill payment office in the City for receiving subscriber payments, handling billing questions, equipment replacement and dispensing customer service information. The franchisee shall comply with the standards and requirements for customer service set forth below and shall comply with all applicable state and federal regulations relating to customer service obligations, including 47 CFR section 76.309 and any amendments thereto.

1. 1. Cable System Office Hours and Telephone Availability.

1. 1. 1. Franchisee will maintain a local, toll-free or collect call telephone access line which will be available to its subscribers twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

1. 1. 1. 1. Trained franchisee representatives will be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours.

1. 1. 1. 2. After normal business hours, the access line may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine.

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Inquiries received after normal business hours must be responded to by a trained franchisee representative on the next business day.

1. 1. 2. Under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a customer representative, including wait time, shall not exceed thirty seconds when the connection is made. If the call needs to be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed thirty seconds. These standards shall be met no less then ninety percent of the time under normal operating conditions, measured on a quarterly basis.

1. 1. 3. Every franchisee shall possess equipment to measure compliance with the telephone answering standards above.

1. 1. 4. Under normal operating conditions, the customer will receive a busy signal less than three percent of the time.

1. 1. 5. Customer service center and bill payment locations will be open at least during normal business hours.

1. 2. Installations, Outages and Service Calls.

Under normal operating conditions, each of the following standards will be met no less than ninety-five percent of the time measured on a quarterly basis:

1. 1. 1. Standard installations will be performed within seven business days after an order has been placed. “Standard” installations are those that are located up to one hundred twenty-five feet from the existing distribution system.

1. 1. 1. 1. The “appointment window” alternatives for installations, service calls and other installation activities will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a four-hour time block during normal business hours. (Franchisee may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the customer.)

1. 1. 1. 2. Franchisee may not cancel an appointment with a customer after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment.

1. 1. 1. 3. If franchisee’s representative is running late for an appointment with a customer and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the franchisee shall use its best efforts to contact the customer prior to the time of the scheduled appointment. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient for the customer.

1. 1. 1. 4. Under normal operating conditions, if franchisee cannot perform installations within the times specified in applicable customer standards, the franchisee shall offer the subscriber a credit equal to the charge for a standard installation or other compensation of equal or greater value. For non-standard installation, franchisee shall attempt to contact a subscriber requesting an estimate of charges within seven business days of receiving the request by the subscriber. This section does not apply to the introduction of new products and services when franchisee is utilizing a phased introduction.

1. 1. 2. Excluding conditions beyond the control of franchisee, franchisee will begin working on “service interruptions” promptly and in no event later than twenty-four hours after the interruption becomes known. Franchisee must begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem. Franchisee shall resolve all service interruptions to the extent reasonably possible within forty-eight hours under normal operating conditions.

1. 1. 1. 1. In those cases where service is not restored within twenty-four hours due to unusual circumstances, the reasons for the delay shall be fully documented in an outage log.

1. 1. 1. 2. Under normal operating conditions, if after twenty-four hours service is not restored to a subscriber, a franchisee shall, upon a subscriber’s request, provide a refund or credit or other compensation of equal or greater value.

1. 1. 1. 3. As subscribers are connected or reconnected to the system, franchisee shall, by appropriate means such as a card or brochure, furnish general subscriber information (including, but not limited to, terms of service and procedures for making inquiries or complaints, including the name, address and local telephone number of the employee or employees or agent to whom such inquiries or complaints are to be addressed) and furnish information concerning the City office responsible for the administration of the franchise, including the address and telephone number of said office.

1. 3. Communications between Franchisee and Subscribers.

1. 1. 1. Notifications to Subscribers.

Franchisee shall provide written information on each of the following areas at the time of installation of service, at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time upon request to subscriber or the City:

1. 1. 1. 1. Products and services offered.

1. 1. 1. 2. Prices and options for programming services and conditions of subscription to programming and other services.

1. 1. 1. 3. Installation and service maintenance policies.

1. 1. 1. 4. Instructions on how to use the cable service.

1. 1. 1. 5. Channel positions of the programming carried on the system; and

1. 1. 1. 6. Billing and complaint procedures, including the address and telephone number of the City.

1. 1. 2. Rate/Programming Changes.

1. 1. 1. 1. Subscribers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing. Notice must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty days in advance of such changes if the changes are within the control of the franchisee. In addition, the franchisee shall notify subscribers thirty days in advance of any significant changes in the other information required by subsection (B)(3)(a) of this section. Franchisee shall not be required to provide prior notice of any rate changes as a result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee or other fees, tax, assessment or charge of any kind imposed by any federal agency, state or city on the transaction between the operator and the subscriber.

1. 1. 1. 2. All programming decisions remain the discretion of franchisee in accordance with this franchise, provided that franchisee notifies the City and subscribers in writing thirty days prior to any channel additions, deletions or realignments directed to each subscriber individually through mailed notice or as an insert or addendum to the subscriber’s monthly bill, email or other means reasonably calculated to give the subscriber and the City advanced notice, and further subject to franchisee’s signal carriage obligations hereunder and pursuant to 47 U.S.C. section 531 through section 536, and further subject to City’s rights pursuant to 47 U.S.C. section 545. Location and relocation of the PEG channels shall be governed by a franchise agreement.

1. 1. 3. Billing.

1. 1. 1. 1. Bills will be clear, concise and understandable. Bills must be fully itemized, with itemizations including, but not limited to, basic and premium service charges and equipment charges. Bills will also clearly delineate all activity during the billing period, including optional charges, rebates and credits.

1. 1. 1. 2. Billing complaints shall be responded to promptly, but in no event later than within seven days of receipt.

1. 1. 4. Refunds.

Refund checks will be issued promptly, but no later than either the:

1. 1. 1. 1. subscriber’s next billing cycle following resolution of the request or thirty days, whichever is earlier; or

1. 1. 1. 2. return of the equipment supplied by franchisee if service is terminated.

1. 1. 5. Credits.

Credits for service will be issued no later than the subscriber’s next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.

1. 1. 6. Subscriber Charges.

A list of franchisee’s current subscriber rates and charges for cable service shall be maintained on file with the City and shall be available for public inspection.

Date Passed: Monday, June 4, 2007

Effective Date: Wednesday, July 11, 2007

ORD C34041 Section 1 (Recodification)