An Act To Ensure Nondiscriminatory Treatment of Public, Educational and Governmental Access Channels by Cable System Operators
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §3008, sub-§5, ¶¶B and C, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, are further amended to read:
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §3008, sub-§5, ¶D, as amended by PL 2007, c. 548, §1, is further amended to read:
Sec. 3. 30-A MRSA §3008, sub-§5, ¶D-1 is enacted to read:
Sec. 4. 30-A MRSA §3008, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 548, §1, is amended to read:
This subsection does not allow the office to establish prices for any cable television service or to regulate the content of cable television service.
Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §3010, first ¶, as amended by PL 2007, c. 548, §2, is further amended to read:
This section applies to every franchisee. For purposes of this section, "franchisee" means a cable system operator that is granted a franchise by a municipality in accordance with section 3008. For purposes of this section, "cable system operator" and "cable television service" have the same meanings as in section 3008 , except that "cable system operator" includes a multichannel video programming distributor as defined in 47 United States Code, Section 522(13). For purposes of this section, "originator" means a local unit of government or the entity to which a local unit of government has assigned responsibility for managing public, educational and governmental access channels.
Sec. 6. 30-A MRSA §3010, sub-§§5-A, 5-B and 5-C are enacted to read:
A cable system operator shall restore a public, educational or governmental access channel that has been moved without the consent of the originator within the 24 months preceding the effective date of this subsection to its original location and channel number within 60 days after the effective date of this subsection.
A cable system operator, when requested, shall assist in providing the originator with access to the entity that controls the cable television service's electronic program guide so that subscribers may view, select and record public, educational and governmental access channels in the same manner as that in which they view, select and record local broadcast channels. In addition, a cable system operator shall identify public, educational and governmental access channels on the electronic program guide in the same manner as that in which local broadcast channels are identified. This subsection does not obligate a cable system operator to list public, educational and governmental access channel content on channel cards and channel listings. If channels are selected by a viewer through a menu system, the cable system operator shall display the public, educational and governmental access channels' designations in a similar manner as that in which local broadcast channel designations are displayed.
A cable system operator shall make available to the originator a toll-free telephone number with a direct line to a service technician who is familiar with the signal path and equipment associated with public, educational and governmental access channels on the cable television system for resolution of a signal quality problem.
Sec. 7. Automatic renewal. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 3010, subsection 5-C, paragraph B, an automatic renewal provision in a franchise agreement in effect between a municipality and a cable system operator on the effective date of this Act remains in effect if the renewal date is less than 36 months after the effective date of this Act.
summary
This bill extends cable television service to rural areas by requiring all cable television franchises to provide line extensions with a minimum homes-per-mile requirement not to exceed 15 homes per mile.
The bill prohibits automatic franchise renewals beyond the initial term of the franchise renewal period, except for automatic franchise renewals in effect on the effective date of this legislation, which require advance notification of expiration from the cable system operator to the municipality. A cable system operator may not refuse to provide the municipality with required information to complete the renewal process.
The bill prohibits a cable system operator from modifying or amending the State's model franchise agreement without the consent of the municipality as arrived at during negotiations.
The bill includes provisions for the use and support of public, educational and governmental access channels and requires that these channels be placed in the same numerical sequence location as the local commercial network broadcast channels. The bill also requires all cable system operators in the State to carry public, educational and governmental access channels on the basic cable or video service offerings or tiers and specifies that the channels may not be separated or moved numerically from other channels carried on the basic cable or video service offerings or tiers without the agreement of the local unit of government or the entity to which the local unit of government has assigned responsibility for managing public, educational and governmental access channels, unless the change is required by federal law. In the event of transfer of the franchise license, the same channel numbers used by the incumbent cable system operator must be retained. The bill provides that any public, educational or governmental access channel that has been moved within the 24 months preceding the effective date of this legislation and without the consent of the originator must be restored within 60 days to its original location and number.
The bill requires all cable system operators in the State to work with the local unit of government or the entity to which the local unit of government has assigned responsibility for managing public, educational and governmental access channels to ensure that the signal sent from the point of origination to the cable system operator and delivered to the cable subscriber is of the same quality and format as originally created. A cable system operator is required to set up a toll-free telephone number for requests to resolve a signal quality problem.
The bill requires all cable system operators in the State to provide the local unit of government or the entity to which the local unit of government has assigned responsibility for managing public, educational and governmental access channels access to the entity that controls the electronic program guides in the same manner as the local broadcast channels if requested by the local unit of government or the entity to which the local unit of government has assigned responsibility for managing public, educational and governmental access channels. In addition, if channels are selected through a menu system, public, educational and governmental access channel designations must be displayed in a similar manner as local broadcast channel designations on the electronic program guide are displayed.