§ 30-82. System design.

Except as otherwise provided by the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 476 USC 531—533, as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, all cable systems shall be designed, constructed and operated to conform to the minimal technical requirements set forth in sections 30-82 and 30-83.

(1)

Minimum standard channels required. All cable systems shall make available and be capable of initially transmitting over at least 30 channels for delivery to subscribers upon commencement of operation. Nothing referred to in this section shall be construed to require a grantee to carry, at no charge, a signal for a television station which received remuneration from or on behalf of the recipient of the signal (including signals now known as "Teletext" or "Extra- vision" or other similar programs) for which a charge is made by the television station. An exception to this subsection may be made by the county council for applicants who wish to provide specialized cable services.

(2)

Channels for commercial use. To the extent required by the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, 47 USC 532, as amended by the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, a grantee shall designate channel capacity for commercial use by persons who are not affiliated with a grantee. A grantee may use any unused channel capacity designated pursuant to this section until an agreement is reached to lease that capacity. If a person who is not affiliated with a grantee seeks to lease channel capacity pursuant to this subsection, then a grantee shall establish the price, terms and conditions of such lease, which will be a least sufficient to ensure that the lease will not adversely affect the operation, financial condition or market development of the cable system.

(3)

Public facilities. All grantees shall provide one cable service connection outlet for basic service, without installation or monthly charges, to all public schools, all public libraries, all county-owned recreational buildings, the county courthouses and annexes, and all other buildings and facilities owned by the county and used by the county for the delivery of county services to the public; provided that:

a.

Such facilities are within the franchise area of the grantee;

b.

Such facility is contiguous to any main lateral cable system of a grantee; and

c.

The connections are specifically requested by the county or the school board of the county.

(4)

Government channel.

a.

The grantee shall provide the county, without charge, one operative television channel over the system, such channel to be provided solely for the county and other governmental bodies within the county in order to transmit over such systems civic and school programs, lectures, shows, announcements, council or board meetings, educational, amusement or recreational information and all other lawful news information which the county desires at any and all times.

b.

The grantee shall furnish the county, at a location to be specified by the county, free of charge, an emergency override capability and alert warning system by which county officials may interrupt by audio or visual (strip) or similar methods all cable system programs simultaneously to either broadcast emergency information directly or to tune to a specified channel.

c.

The cable system shall be interconnected with other cable systems within the county so as to enable each system to carry and cablecast the public educational and governmental access programming of other systems.

(5)

Monitoring prohibited. Except to the extent otherwise authorized by law, no monitoring of a terminal connected to the cable system shall be permitted without the written authorization of the person to be monitored; provided that this subsection does not prohibit maintenance and testing procedures designed to ensure compliance with technical standards, or to detect unauthorized reception of signal.

(Ord. No. 88-10, § 14, 5-19-88; Ord. No. 94-10, § I, 6-9-94)