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S1461......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS VIDEO SERVICE - RIGHTS-OF-WAY - Adds to existing law relating to the use of public rights-of-way to provide video service; to provide a short title; to define terms; to provide for certificate of authority; to provide for franchising authority; to provide for authorization to use public rights-of-way; to provide for modification of existing franchise agreements; to provide for customer access to community programming; to provide for a video service provider fee; to provide for nondiscrimination by governmental entities relating to the use of public rights-of-way; to prohibit discrimination among potential residential subscribers; to provide for customer service standards; and to provide for application of other law. 03/04 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing 03/05 Rpt prt - to St Aff
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]] Fifty-ninth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2008IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1461 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO USE OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY TO PROVIDE VIDEO SERVICE; AMENDING 3 TITLE 50, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW CHAPTER 30, TITLE 50, IDAHO 4 CODE, TO PROVIDE A SHORT TITLE, TO DEFINE TERMS, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTIFI- 5 CATE OF AUTHORITY, TO PROVIDE FOR FRANCHISING AUTHORITY, TO PROVIDE FOR 6 AUTHORIZATION TO USE PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY, TO PROVIDE FOR MODIFICATION OF 7 EXISTING FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS, TO PROVIDE FOR CUSTOMER ACCESS TO COMMUNITY 8 PROGRAMMING, TO PROVIDE FOR A VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDER FEE, TO PROVIDE FOR 9 NONDISCRIMINATION BY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES RELATING TO USE OF PUBLIC 10 RIGHTS-OF-WAY, TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION AMONG POTENTIAL RESIDENTIAL SUB- 11 SCRIBERS, TO PROVIDE FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS AND TO PROVIDE FOR 12 APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW; AND PROVIDING SEVERABILITY. 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 14 SECTION 1. That Title 50, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby amended 15 by the addition thereto of a NEW CHAPTER, to be known and designated as Chap- 16 ter 30, Title 50, Idaho Code, and to read as follows: 17 CHAPTER 30 18 USE OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY TO PROVIDE VIDEO SERVICE 19 50-3001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the 20 "Use of Public Right-of-Way to Provide Video Service Act." 21 50-3002. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter: 22 (1) "Access to video service" means the capability of a video service 23 provider to provide video service at a household address irrespective of 24 whether a subscriber has ordered the service or whether the service is actu- 25 ally provided at that address. 26 (2) "Cable service" has the meaning ascribed to it in 47 U.S.C. section 27 522, as that section existed on January 1, 2008. 28 (3) "Cable system" has the meaning ascribed to it in 47 U.S.C. section 29 522, as that section existed on January 1, 2008. 30 (4) "Certificate of authority" means a certificate issued by the Idaho 31 secretary of state to a video service provider pursuant to the provisions of 32 this chapter. 33 (5) "Franchise" has the meaning ascribed to it in 47 U.S.C. section 522, 34 as that section existed on January 1, 2008. However, a certificate of author- 35 ity issued pursuant to section 50-3003, Idaho Code, shall constitute a fran- 36 chise for the purposes of 47 U.S.C. section 522. 37 (6) "Franchising entity" means the city, county or state, authorized by 38 state or federal law to grant a franchise. 39 (7) "Incumbent cable service provider" means a person who provides cable 40 service and holds a franchise issued by a franchising entity prior to July 1, 41 2008. 2 1 (8) "Local authorization" means approval pursuant to this chapter by a 2 local unit of government to use public rights-of-way within its jurisdiction 3 to deliver video service. 4 (9) "Local unit of government" means a city, county or other governmental 5 entity of the state of Idaho having jurisdiction over the public rights-of-way 6 within an area for which a franchise or certificate of franchise authority has 7 been issued by a franchising entity, unless the context requires otherwise. 8 (10) "Nonincumbent video service provider" means: 9 (a) A person authorized in this chapter to provide video service in an 10 area in which cable service is being provided by an incumbent cable ser- 11 vice provider; or 12 (b) A person authorized in this chapter to provide video service in an 13 area in which, on the effective date of this chapter, there was no incum- 14 bent cable service provider providing cable service. 15 (11) "Political subdivision" means a city or county of the state of Idaho. 16 (12) "Public rights-of-way" means the area on, below or above a public 17 roadway, highway, street, public sidewalk, alley, waterway or utility easement 18 dedicated for compatible uses. 19 (13) "System operator" means any person or group of persons who provide 20 video service and directly, or through one (1) or more affiliates, own a sig- 21 nificant interest in the system or facilities through which the video services 22 are provided and which person has been issued a certificate of franchise 23 authority pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. 24 (14) "Video service" means video programming services provided primarily 25 through wires or cables located in the public rights-of-way without regard to 26 the delivery technology. The term includes cable service, but excludes any 27 video programming provided to persons in their capacity as subscribers to com- 28 mercial mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. section 332(d), or video pro- 29 gramming provided solely as a part of and via a service that enables end users 30 to access content, information, electronic mail or other services offered over 31 the public internet. 32 (15) "Video service provider" means a provider of video service, and 33 includes an incumbent cable service provider, a nonincumbent video service 34 provider or a system operator, unless the context in which the term is used 35 indicates otherwise. 36 (16) "Video service provider fee" means the amount paid by a system opera- 37 tor pursuant to section 50-3005, Idaho Code. 38 50-3003. CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY -- FRANCHISING AUTHORITY -- AUTHORIZA- 39 TION TO USE PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY -- MODIFICATIONS OF EXISTING FRANCHISE AGREE- 40 MENTS. (1) On and after January 1, 2009, no person shall offer video service 41 within the state of Idaho unless such person: 42 (a) Is a cable service provider currently providing cable service within 43 an existing franchise area pursuant to an existing franchise agreement; or 44 (b) Has been granted a certificate of authority to do business in the 45 state of Idaho as a video service provider by the Idaho secretary of state 46 as required in this chapter; and 47 (c) Has secured a local authorization from the political subdivision in 48 which video service is to be delivered. 49 (2) Any application seeking a certificate of authority to provide video 50 service shall set forth the following information: 51 (a) The name of the applicant and the address of its principal place of 52 business within the state of Idaho and the names of the applicant's prin- 53 cipal executive officers and its primary Idaho representative; 54 (b) A specific identification of cities, for incorporated areas, and 3 1 counties, for incorporated areas, wherein the applicant intends to provide 2 service; 3 (c) Verification that the applicant has filed with the federal communica- 4 tions commission all forms required by that agency in advance of offering 5 video service in this state; and 6 (d) Verification that the applicant has procured and will maintain com- 7 prehensive general liability insurance coverage and automobile liability 8 insurance coverage underwritten by one (1) or more companies licensed to 9 do business in the state of Idaho in an amount not less than the maximum 10 liability limit established by the Idaho tort claims act, chapter 9, title 11 6, Idaho Code. 12 (3) The application shall be accompanied by a filing fee in the sum of 13 two hundred dollars ($200) plus twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each city or 14 county identified in the application as an area in which the applicant intends 15 to provide video service. 16 (4) Persons that have received a certificate of authority as set forth in 17 this section may, upon receiving an authorization from the state or any polit- 18 ical subdivision thereof, use the public rights-of-way of the state or of any 19 political subdivision that has issued an authorization in compliance with the 20 provisions of this chapter and in compliance with provisions of local ordi- 21 nance made applicable to other nonpublic use of public rights-of-way. A cer- 22 tificate of authority granted pursuant to this subsection, coupled with an 23 authorization approved by a political subdivision, shall constitute a fran- 24 chise issued to the system operator for purposes of 47 U.S.C. section 25 541(b)(1). 26 (5) The certificate of authority issued by the secretary of state accom- 27 panied by an authorization from a political subdivision shall authorize a sys- 28 tem operator to provide video service within rights-of-way maintained or man- 29 aged by the state of Idaho, subject to permitting requirements, or within 30 local public rights-of-way of each political subdivision having issued an 31 authorization to use such public rights-of-way to the holder of a certificate 32 of authority issued pursuant to this chapter. Any such grant of authority to 33 the system operator to use and occupy the public right-of-way in the delivery 34 of video service shall be subject to the laws of this state and the police 35 powers of the political subdivision having jurisdiction over the public right- 36 of-way in which the service is to be delivered. 37 (6) The approval provided by the certificate of authority is subject to 38 maintaining compliance with the qualifications necessary to initially obtain a 39 certificate of authority and to maintain compliance with reasonable, generally 40 applicable right-of-way use and maintenance standards established by the state 41 and the political subdivision. Any holder of an Idaho certificate of authority 42 issued pursuant to this chapter shall immediately notify the secretary of 43 state of its failure to meet standards established for initial qualification. 44 (7) Prior to initiating construction of physical facilities in any local 45 jurisdiction a certificate of authority holder shall provide competently 46 engineered plans describing the facilities to be installed in order to initi- 47 ate service within the jurisdiction. Upon presentation of competently prepared 48 plans, and after participation in coordination activities by a holder of a 49 certificate of authority as required herein, no political subdivision shall 50 unreasonably deny authorization to use the local rights-of-way to provide 51 video service. 52 (8) A certificate of authority shall be nonexclusive and shall be for a 53 term of ten (10) years, subject to changes in federal law. 54 (9) A certificate of authority may be issued to any successor of the sys- 55 tem operator to which the certificate was initially issued upon showing that 4 1 the successor meets all requirements established by this chapter. Any succes- 2 sor may undertake operation and maintenance of video facilities pursuant to an 3 approved certificate of authority upon providing notice to the state or local 4 governments with jurisdiction concerning the public rights-of-way to be used. 5 (10) A certificate of authority may be terminated by the holder of the 6 certificate by submitting a written notice to the secretary of state and any 7 affected local unit of government. No approval of the termination of the cer- 8 tificate shall be required by the secretary of state or by any affected local 9 unit of government. Termination of a certificate of authority shall not 10 relieve a certificate holder of any subsequent obligation to mitigate the 11 effects of abandoned physical facilities remaining in any public right-of-way. 12 (11) To the extent required for the purposes of 47 U.S.C. sections 521 13 through 561, the state of Idaho shall constitute the primary franchising 14 authority for nonincumbent video service providers in the state of Idaho. 15 Video service providers may elect to secure authorization to use rights-of-way 16 in any local jurisdiction pursuant to local ordinance or policy. 17 (12) No local unit of government or other political subdivision of the 18 state of Idaho, may require a system operator to obtain a franchise from the 19 local unit of government or impose any franchise fee or impose any other 20 requirement for the provision of video services within the geographic terri- 21 tory of such local unit of government or political subdivision, unless such 22 fee or requirement is expressly authorized by this chapter or unless imple- 23 mented pursuant to a voluntary local franchise agreement with a video service 24 provider. 25 (13) A system operator shall, prior to commencing to provide video service 26 within a political subdivision, secure an authorization to use public rights- 27 of-way by providing not less than sixty (60) days' written notice to the chief 28 administrative officer of the political subdivision and to any incumbent cable 29 service provider providing service within such political subdivision. In order 30 to qualify for such authorization the video service provider shall provide a 31 copy of the certificate of authority issued by the secretary of state and a 32 specific map describing where facilities are proposed and construction methods 33 that are proposed. 34 (a) Construction plans must be approved as to routes, methods and timing 35 before construction can be initiated. The political subdivision may apply 36 local ordinances that apply generally to work in the public right-of-way, 37 including the charging of reasonable inspection fees associated with 38 installation of physical plant in the public right-of-way. 39 (b) The local authorization granted pursuant to this chapter carries with 40 it an obligation to respect orderly management and maintenance of public 41 rights-of-way. Any video service provider authorized to use public right- 42 of-way shall employ sound construction practices to maintain the integrity 43 of public improvements and right-of-way conditions and shall be responsi- 44 ble for repair or replacement of any improvements or maintenance or res- 45 toration of any conditions disrupted by construction activities. The video 46 service provider shall cause any repairs to be made promptly, bearing the 47 costs of such repair. 48 (c) The local certificate of authority granted pursuant to this chapter 49 also requires a duty to coordinate installation of any physical plant in 50 public rights-of-way with public utilities or municipal services already 51 using or contemplating use of the same or related rights-of-way in order 52 to minimize conflicts and to avoid damage to existing or otherwise planned 53 facilities. 54 (d) No provision of this chapter shall diminish or otherwise limit the 55 authority of political subdivisions to enact local laws to govern the use 5 1 or maintenance of public rights-of-way as otherwise provided by law. 2 (14) Following the activation of new video facilities within a specific 3 political subdivision pursuant to authorization granted as allowed by a cer- 4 tificate of authority, an incumbent cable service provider within the same 5 jurisdiction may, at its discretion, apply for modification of its existing 6 franchise in order to negotiate revisions to the existing franchise to place 7 the incumbent cable service provider on an equal footing with a newly author- 8 ized provider of video service. Such revisions must be implemented by negoti- 9 ated modification of an existing franchise agreement within no more than one 10 hundred twenty (120) days from the date that such application for modification 11 of franchise is presented. If such modifications cannot be negotiated, the 12 existing franchise agreement shall be considered modified to the extent neces- 13 sary not to exceed the limitations imposed upon video service providers by the 14 provisions of this chapter. 15 50-3004. CUSTOMER ACCESS TO COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING. (1) Any video service 16 provider offering service pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall 17 designate a sufficient amount of capacity or one (1) or more channels to allow 18 the provision of public, educational and governmental (PEG) noncommercial pro- 19 gramming, as follows: 20 (a) Designate an amount of capacity or channels equal to that which has 21 been provided by an incumbent video service provider on the effective date 22 of this chapter, under the terms of a franchise agreement in effect prior 23 to January 1, 2009. 24 (b) If no PEG channels have been activated within the jurisdictional lim- 25 its of the political subdivision on January 1, 2009, the political subdi- 26 vision may require a maximum of two (2) public, educational and governmen- 27 tal channels for a political subdivision with a population of at least 28 fifty thousand (50,000) and one (1) public, educational and governmental 29 channel for a political subdivision with a population of less than fifty 30 thousand (50,000). For purposes of this section, if a franchise agreement 31 in effect prior to January 1, 2009, requires the provision of PEG channels 32 in excess of the limits set forth in this section, and such excess chan- 33 nels have not been activated by January 1, 2009, such franchise agreement 34 shall be deemed amended to conform to the PEG channel limitations, 35 requirements and authorizations set forth in this section. 36 (c) The limits set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection 37 shall constitute the total number of PEG channels that may be designated 38 on all video service networks that share or provide a common headend to 39 serve such political subdivisions, regardless of the number of political 40 subdivisions served by such headend. The respective populations of all 41 political subdivisions served by such video service networks shall be 42 aggregated for the purpose of applying such limits. 43 (d) The PEG signal shall be receivable by all subscribers, whether they 44 receive digital or analog service, or a combination thereof, without the 45 need for any equipment other than the equipment necessary to receive the 46 lowest cost tier of service. The PEG access capacity provided shall be of 47 similar quality and functionality to that offered by commercial channels 48 on the lowest cost tier of service unless the signal is provided to the 49 video service provider at a lower quality or with less functionality. 50 (2) The content of programming to be provided over PEG access shall be 51 the responsibility of the public, educational and governmental agencies 52 receiving the benefit of such capacity. The video service provider shall bear 53 the responsibility for the transmission of such content only to the extent 54 that such content complies with the requirements of subsection (5) of this 6 1 section. 2 (3) The public, educational or governmental agencies utilizing the capac- 3 ity for PEG programming shall ensure that all transmissions, content or pro- 4 gramming to be transmitted by a holder of a state-issued certificate of 5 authority are provided or submitted in a manner or form that is compatible 6 with the video service provider's network. If the public, educational or gov- 7 ernmental agency does not produce or maintain PEG programming in the manner or 8 form employed by the holder of the certificate of authority, then the agency 9 may submit or provide PEG programming in a manner or form that is standard in 10 the industry. The holder of the certificate of authority shall be responsible 11 for any changes in the form of the transmission necessary to make it compati- 12 ble with the technology or protocol utilized by the holder of the certificate 13 of authority to deliver services. If the video service provider is required to 14 change the form of the transmission, the local entity shall permit the video 15 provider to do so in a manner that is most economical to the video provider. 16 Governmental entities utilizing PEG access channels shall make the programming 17 of any PEG access channels available to all video service providers providing 18 service within such governmental entity's jurisdiction in a nondiscriminatory 19 manner. Each video service provider shall be responsible for providing 20 connectivity to the governmental entity's access channel distribution point 21 within the jurisdiction to be served. 22 (4) No franchising entity may require a video service provider to provide 23 any institutional network or equivalent capacity on its video service network. 24 (5) Where technically feasible, video service providers shall use reason- 25 able efforts to interconnect their video networks for the purpose of providing 26 PEG programming. Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable, micro- 27 wave link, satellite or other reasonable method of connection. Video service 28 providers shall negotiate in good faith to provide interconnection of PEG 29 channels. 30 (6) A political subdivision collecting a per-connection fee to fund capi- 31 tal facilities on or before January 1, 2009, for ongoing capital support of 32 PEG facilities and services pursuant to an existing franchise agreement may 33 continue such fee by enacting an ordinance maintaining a PEG capital fee to be 34 imposed only on a per-subscriber basis. Such fee shall not exceed one percent 35 (1%) of the average charge per subscriber within the jurisdiction and shall be 36 paid by subscribers to all video service providers, incumbent or subsequent. 37 The PEG capital fee shall be collected by the video service provider and paid 38 to the political subdivision on the same quarterly schedule as the video ser- 39 vice provider fee. The video service provider may identify the PEG capital fee 40 as a separate line item on the regular bill of each subscriber. In order for 41 the PEG facility to monitor its on-air signal, the video service provider 42 shall provide one (1) free outlet of its lowest cost tier to each PEG channel 43 distribution point. Except as set forth in this section, an authorizing entity 44 may not require a video service provider to provide any funds, services, pro- 45 gramming, facilities or equipment related to public, educational or governmen- 46 tal use of channel capacity. The operation of any PEG access channel provided 47 pursuant to this section and the production of any programming that appears on 48 each such channel shall be the sole responsibility of the governmental entity 49 receiving the benefit of such channel, and the video service provider shall 50 bear only the responsibility for the transmission of the programming on each 51 such channel to subscribers and the initial cost of connecting to existing and 52 obligated PEG channels. 53 50-3005. VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDER FEE. (1) Every video service provider 54 acting pursuant to authorization provided in this chapter shall pay to the 7 1 political subdivision issuing an authorization pursuant to this chapter a fee 2 as required in this section. For the purposes of this section, subscribers 3 whose service address is within the jurisdictional limits of the city shall be 4 deemed city subscribers, and those subscribers whose service address is out- 5 side the jurisdictional limits of a city shall be deemed county subscribers. 6 (2) Upon receipt of an authorization from a political subdivision, a sys- 7 tem operator shall thereafter be obligated to pay a video service provider 8 fee, as provided in subsection (3) of this section, to the political subdivi- 9 sion in which the video service is provided to the subscriber. The video ser- 10 vice provider's fee shall be due to each political subdivision on a quarterly 11 basis, forty-five (45) days after the close of each calendar quarter, and 12 shall be calculated as a percentage of gross revenues, as defined in subsec- 13 tion (4) of this section. Except as provided in section 50-3006, Idaho Code, 14 the political subdivision may not require any additional fees or charges from 15 the system operator and may not require the use of any other calculation 16 method. 17 (3) The percentage to be applied against gross revenues pursuant to this 18 section shall be set annually by the political subdivision in an amount equal 19 to the percentage paid by an incumbent cable service provider or five percent 20 (5%), whichever is less. If there is no incumbent cable service provider hav- 21 ing a franchise agreement with the political subdivision, the fee to be paid 22 shall be established annually by the political subdivision, but shall in no 23 event be in excess of five percent (5%) of the gross revenues, as set forth in 24 subsection (4) of this section. 25 (4) (a) For purposes of this section: 26 (i) "Gross revenues" means all consideration of any kind or nature, 27 prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles 28 (GAAP) including, without limitation, cash, credits, property and 29 in-kind goods or service contributions received by the system opera- 30 tor from subscribers to video services within the jurisdictional lim- 31 its of the political subdivision as provided herein. Gross revenues 32 shall include all of the following: 33 1. All charges and fees paid by subscribers for the provision 34 of video service, including equipment rental, late fees, insuf- 35 ficient funds fees and fees attributable to video service when 36 sold individually or as part of a package or bundle, or func- 37 tionally integrated, with services other than video services; 38 2. Compensation received by the provider for promotion or exhi- 39 bition of any products or services over the video service; 40 3. Revenue received by the provider as compensation for car- 41 riage of video programming on that provider's video service; 42 4. All revenue derived from compensation arrangements for 43 advertising attributable to the political subdivision's juris- 44 dictional area; and 45 5. Any advertising commissions paid to an affiliated third 46 party for video service advertising. 47 (ii) "Gross revenues" does not include: 48 1. Any revenues not actually received, even if billed, such as 49 bad debt net of any recoveries of bad debt; 50 2. Refunds, rebates, credits or discounts to subscribers or a 51 political subdivision to the extent not already offset by sub- 52 paragraph (i) of this paragraph and to the extent the refund, 53 rebate, credit or discount is attributable to the video service; 54 3. Any revenues received by the system operator or its affili- 55 ates from the provision of services or capabilities other than 8 1 video service, including telecommunications services, informa- 2 tion services, and services, capabilities, and applications that 3 may be sold as part of a package or bundle, or functionally 4 integrated, with video service; 5 4. Any revenues received by the provider or its affiliates for 6 the provision of directory or internet advertising, including 7 yellow pages, white pages, banner advertisement and electronic 8 publishing; 9 5. Any amounts attributable to the provision of video service 10 to customers at no charge, including the provision of such ser- 11 vice to public institutions without charge; 12 6. Any tax, fee or assessment of general applicability imposed 13 on the customer or the transaction by a federal, state or local 14 government or any other governmental entity, collected by the 15 provider and required to be remitted to the taxing entity, 16 including sales and use taxes; 17 7. Any foregone revenue from the provision of video service at 18 no charge to any person, except that any foregone revenue 19 exchanged for trade, barter, service or other item of value 20 shall be included in gross revenue; 21 8. Sales of capital assets or surplus equipment; 22 9. Reimbursement by programmers of marketing costs actually 23 incurred by the provider for the introduction of new program- 24 ming; or 25 10. The sale of video service for resale to the extent the pur- 26 chaser certifies in writing that it will resell the service and 27 pay a video service provider fee with respect to the service. 28 (b) In the case of a video service that is bundled or integrated func- 29 tionally with other services, capabilities or applications, the portion of 30 the system operator's revenue attributable to the other services, capabil- 31 ities or applications shall be included in gross revenues unless the pro- 32 vider can reasonably identify the division or exclusion of the revenue 33 from its books and records that are kept in the regular course of busi- 34 ness. Revenues proportionately allocated from bundled or functionally 35 integrated services may be separated from aggregate charges but shall not 36 be counted at a charge less than the minimum charge for video service for 37 individual customers not receiving bundled or integrated service packages. 38 (c) Revenue of an affiliate shall be included in the calculation of gross 39 revenues to the extent the treatment of the revenue as revenue of the 40 affiliate would have the effect of evading the payment of the video ser- 41 vice provider fee that would otherwise be paid for video service. 42 (5) Payment of the fees as required in this section shall be accompanied 43 by a written accounting categorizing revenues by category as set forth herein, 44 including a tabulation of households receiving service. A political subdivi- 45 sion may, upon reasonable advance written notice, but not more frequently 46 than once in any calendar year, review the business records of a system opera- 47 tor to the extent necessary to ensure proper and accurate payment of the video 48 service provider fee. A video service provider shall provide sufficient infor- 49 mation about such revenues to a political subdivision to allow a proper com- 50 pliance review by such political subdivision. The annual frequency limitation 51 on examinations shall not apply in circumstances where reported system reve- 52 nues decline in any quarter by more than fifteen percent (15%) or in any year 53 by more than ten percent (10%) or where the political subdivision can identify 54 inconsistencies in the data reported. The system operator shall keep all busi- 55 ness records reflecting any gross revenues, even if there is a change in own- 9 1 ership, for at least three (3) years after those revenues are recognized by 2 the system operator on its books and records. All records reasonably necessary 3 for the audit shall, at the discretion of the political subdivision, be made 4 available by the system operator at the location within the jurisdiction where 5 the records are kept in the ordinary course of business, or may be provided 6 electronically to the political subdivision with its consent. The political 7 subdivision and the system operator shall each be responsible for their 8 respective costs of the audit, unless the audit discloses that the system 9 operator has underpaid the video service provider fee by more than two percent 10 (2%) during the examination period, in which case the system operator shall 11 pay all of the reasonable and actual costs of the audit. Any undisputed amount 12 or refund due to the political subdivision or the system operator shall be 13 paid within sixty (60) days plus interest at the statutory rate on civil judg- 14 ments. 15 (6) Any system operator may identify and collect the amount of the video 16 service provider fee as a separate line item on the regular bill of each sub- 17 scriber. 18 (7) Any city annexing lands shall notify a video service provider of any 19 such annexation and each authorized provider shall thereafter remit to said 20 city the video service provider fee authorized herein beginning in any quarter 21 after which the video service provider has received at least forty-five (45) 22 days' notice of annexation of customers into the city's corporate limits. 23 50-3006. NONDISCRIMINATION BY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES RELATING TO USE OF 24 PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY. (1) A local unit of government shall allow the holder of 25 a certificate of authority and a local authorization issued pursuant to this 26 chapter to install, construct and maintain facilities within public rights-of- 27 way, over which the local unit of government has jurisdiction, to enable the 28 provision of video services to subscribers to such services. The local unit of 29 government shall provide the holder of such certificate of authority and local 30 authorization with open, comparable, nondiscriminatory and competitively neu- 31 tral access to the public rights-of-way within its jurisdiction. 32 (2) A local unit of government may not discriminate against the holder of 33 a certificate of authority in any manner, including: 34 (a) The authorization or placement of facilities in public rights-of-way 35 that is necessary for the provision of video services; 36 (b) Access to a public building; or 37 (c) The terms or conditions for access to any utility pole within control 38 of the jurisdiction. 39 (3) A local unit of government may impose a permit fee on a system opera- 40 tor relating to the opening, closing, inspection or repair of public rights- 41 of-way over which rights-of-way the governmental entity has jurisdiction, only 42 to the extent it imposes such a fee on incumbent cable service providers or 43 others accessing the public rights-of-way relating to the opening, closing or 44 repair thereof. Any fee authorized in this section may not exceed the actual 45 costs incurred by the governmental entity issuing the permit that are directly 46 related to the system operator's activity in the right-of-way with which the 47 permit is associated. In no event may a fee under this subsection (3) be 48 levied: 49 (a) If the system operator already has paid a permit fee in connection 50 with the same activity in the public rights-of-way that would otherwise be 51 covered by the permit fee under this section; or 52 (b) For general revenue purposes. 10 1 50-3007. DISCRIMINATION AMONG POTENTIAL RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBERS PROHIB- 2 ITED. A system operator may not deny access to video service to any group of 3 potential residential subscribers because of the income of the residents in 4 the local area in which such group resides. 5 50-3008. CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS. The holder of a certificate of 6 authority shall comply with customer service requirements consistent with 7 those contained in 47 CFR 76.309(c), as amended from time to time, and shall 8 maintain a local or toll-free telephone number for customer service contact. 9 The office of the attorney general is hereby authorized to investigate and 10 enforce consumer service and nondiscrimination requirements of this chapter. 11 50-3009. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW. (1) The provisions of this chapter 12 are intended to be construed to be consistent with the federal cable communi- 13 cations policy act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. sections 521 through 561, unless a dif- 14 ferent intent is expressed in this chapter. 15 (2) Except as otherwise stated herein, nothing in this chapter shall be 16 interpreted to prevent an incumbent cable service provider, a nonincumbent 17 video service provider, a system operator, a local unit of government or a 18 franchising entity from seeking clarification of its rights and obligations 19 under federal or state law or to exercise any right or authority under federal 20 or state law. 21 (3) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit, abrogate or 22 supersede the provisions of titles 61 and 62, Idaho Code, regarding telecommu- 23 nications service within the state of Idaho, nor to require a telephone corpo- 24 ration to obtain a certificate of authority or local authorization pursuant to 25 this chapter for the purpose of permitting or authorizing the telephone corpo- 26 ration to construct, upgrade, operate or maintain its telecommunications sys- 27 tem. 28 SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY. The provisions of this act are hereby declared 29 to be severable and if any provision of this act or the application of such 30 provision to any person or circumstance is declared invalid for any reason, 31 such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of 32 this act.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 18004C1
The purpose of the proposed legislation is to increase the
opportunity for competition for the provision of video services
within the state, together with increased provider choice for video
service customers and increased investment in video infrastructure
by new entrants into the market.
The proposed legislation establishes a streamlined statewide
process that will enable new providers of video service to receive
a certificate of franchise authority from the Idaho Secretary of
State to provide video service within the state, subject to the new
video service provider obtaining local authorization for the use of
the public rights of way in individual cities and unincorporated
areas of the counties and full compliance with local requirements
and oversight. Local authority over the use of the public rights of
way is preserved.
Further, the proposal provides for equality of treatment
between incumbent cable service providers and new video service
providers and continuation of the right of local government to
receive revenues from incumbent and new video service providers on
an equal basis.
FISCAL NOTE
There is no negative fiscal impact on state or local governments.
Contact
Name: Senator Mike Jorgenson
Representative Brent Crane
Phone: 332-1384
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1461