Florida Senate - 2007                        SENATOR AMENDMENT
    Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2)
                        Barcode 403840
                            CHAMBER ACTION
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       04/26/2007 03:07 PM         .                    
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11  Senator Constantine moved the following substitute for
12  amendment (825438):
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14         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 
15         On page 25.......686, through
16            page 36, line 1006, delete those lines
17  
18  and insert:  
19         610.109  Public, educational, and governmental access
20  channels.--
21         (1)  A certificateholder, not later than 180 days
22  following a request by a municipality or county within whose
23  jurisdiction the certificateholder is providing cable or video
24  service, shall designate a sufficient amount of capacity on
25  its network to allow the provision of public, educational, and
26  governmental access channels for noncommercial programming in
27  accordance with this section.
28         (2)  A certificateholder shall designate a sufficient
29  amount of capacity on its network to allow the same number of
30  public, educational, and governmental access channels or their
31  functional equivalent that a municipality or county has
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Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 activated under the incumbent cable or video service 2 provider's franchise agreement as of July 1, 2007. For the 3 purposes of this section, a public, educational, or 4 governmental channel is deemed activated if the channel is 5 being used for public, educational, or governmental 6 programming within the municipality or county. The 7 municipality or county may request additional channels or 8 their functional equivalent as permitted under the incumbent 9 cable or video service provider's franchise agreement as of 10 July 1, 2007. 11 (3) If a municipality or county does not have public, 12 educational, or governmental access channels activated under 13 the incumbent cable or video service provider's franchise 14 agreement as of July 1, 2007, after the expiration date of the 15 provider's franchise agreement and within 6 months after a 16 request by the municipality or county within whose 17 jurisdiction a certificateholder is providing cable or video 18 service, the certificateholder shall furnish up to two 19 educational or governmental channels or their functional 20 equivalent. Cable or video service subscribers must be 21 provided with clear, plain language informing them that public 22 access is unfiltered programming and contains adult content. 23 (4) If a municipality or county has not used the 24 number of access channels or their functional equivalent 25 permitted by subsection (3), access to the two additional 26 channels or their functional equivalent shall be provided upon 27 6 months' written notice. 28 (5) A public, educational, or governmental access 29 channel authorized by this section is deemed activated and 30 substantially used if the channel is being used for public, 31 educational, or governmental access programming within the 2 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 municipality or county for at least 10 hours per day. If the 2 applicable access channel does not meet this utilization 3 criterion, the video service provider shall notify the 4 applicable access provider in writing. If the access provider 5 fails to meet this utilization criterion in the subsequent 6 quarter, the cable or video service provider may reprogram the 7 channel at its discretion. The cable or video service provider 8 shall work in good faith with the access provider to provide 9 future carriage of the applicable access channel within the 10 limits of this section if the access provider can make 11 reasonable assurances that its future programming will meet 12 the utilization criteria set out in this subsection. 13 (6) A cable or video service provider may locate a 14 public access channel on its lowest digital tier of service 15 offered to the provider's subscribers. A cable or video 16 service provider must notify its customers and the applicable 17 municipality or county at least 120 days prior to relocating a 18 public access channel. 19 (7) The operation of any public, educational, or 20 governmental access channel or its functional equivalent as 21 provided under this section shall be the responsibility of the 22 municipality or county receiving the benefit of the channel or 23 its functional equivalent, and a certificateholder shall bear 24 only responsibility for the transmission of the channel 25 content. A certificateholder shall be responsible for the cost 26 of providing connectivity to one origination point for each 27 public, educational, or governmental access channel up to 200 28 feet from the certificateholder's activated video service 29 distribution plant. 30 (8) The municipality or county shall ensure that all 31 transmissions, content, or programming to be transmitted over 3 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 a channel or facility by a certificateholder are provided or 2 submitted to the cable or video service provider in a manner 3 or form that is capable of being accepted and transmitted by a 4 provider without requiring any additional alteration or change 5 in the content by the provider over the particular network of 6 the cable or video service provider, which is compatible with 7 the technology or protocol used by the cable or video service 8 provider to deliver services. To the extent that a public, 9 educational, or governmental channel content provider has 10 authority, the delivery of public, educational, or 11 governmental content to a certificateholder constitutes 12 authorization for the provider to carry such content, 13 including, at the provider's option, authorization to carry 14 the content beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of the 15 municipality or county. 16 (9) Where technically feasible, a certificateholder 17 and an incumbent cable service provider shall use reasonable 18 efforts to interconnect their networks for the purpose of 19 providing public, educational, and governmental programming. 20 Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable, microwave 21 link, satellite, or other reasonable method of connection. 22 Certificateholders and incumbent cable service providers shall 23 negotiate in good faith and incumbent cable service providers 24 may not withhold interconnection of public, educational, and 25 governmental channels. The requesting party shall bear the 26 cost of such interconnection. 27 (10) A certificateholder is not required to 28 interconnect for, or otherwise to transmit, public, 29 educational, and governmental content that is branded with the 30 logo, name, or other identifying marks of another cable or 31 video service provider, and a municipality or county may 4 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 require a cable or video service provider to remove its logo, 2 name, or other identifying marks from public, educational, and 3 governmental content that is to be made available to another 4 provider. This subsection does not apply to the logo, name, or 5 other identifying marks of the public, educational, or 6 governmental programmer or producer. 7 (11) A municipality or county that has activated at 8 least one public, educational, or governmental access channel 9 pursuant to this section may require cable or video service 10 providers to remit PEG and I-Net support contributions in an 11 amount equal to a lump-sum or recurring per-subscriber funding 12 obligation to support public, educational, and governmental 13 access channels, institutional networks, or other related 14 costs as provided for in the incumbent's franchise that exists 15 prior to July 1, 2007. If a municipality or county has not 16 required cable or video service providers to remit PEG and 17 I-Net support contributions prior to July 1, 2007, a 18 municipality or county may require cable or video service 19 providers to remit PEG and I-Net support contributions that do 20 not exceed that of an adjacent local government for a period 21 that does not exceed the expiration of the franchise agreement 22 of the adjacent local government. If an adjacent local 23 government has not required PEG and I-Net support 24 contributions, the municipality or county may require cable or 25 video service providers to remit PEG and I-Net support 26 contributions consistent with a municipality or county having 27 a comparable population. 28 (12) A court of competent jurisdiction shall have 29 exclusive jurisdiction to enforce any requirement under this 30 section. 31 610.112 Cable or video services for public 5 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 facilities.--A certificateholder shall provide within 90 days 2 after receipt of a request from a municipality or county one 3 active basic cable or video service outlet to K-12 public 4 schools, public libraries, or local government administrative 5 buildings/0o the extent such buildings are located within 200 6 feet of the certificateholder's activated video distribution 7 plant. At the request of the municipality or county, the 8 certificateholder shall extend its activated video 9 distribution plant to serve such buildings located more than 10 200 feet from the certificateholder's plant. The governmental 11 entity owning or occupying the building shall be responsible 12 for the time and material costs incurred in extending the 13 certificateholder's activated video distribution plant to 14 within 200 feet adjacent to the building. 15 610.113 Nondiscrimination by municipality or county.-- 16 (1) A municipality or county shall allow a 17 certificateholder to install, construct, and maintain a 18 network within a public right-of-way and shall provide a 19 certificateholder with comparable, nondiscriminatory, and 20 competitively neutral access to the public right-of-way in 21 accordance with the provisions of s. 337.401. All use of a 22 public right-of-way by a certificateholder is nonexclusive. 23 (2) A municipality or county may not discriminate 24 against a certificateholder regarding: 25 (a) The authorization or placement of a network in a 26 public right-of-way; 27 (b) Access to a building or other property; or 28 (c) Utility pole attachment terms and conditions. 29 610.114 Limitation on local authority.-- 30 (1) A municipality or county may not impose additional 31 requirements on a certificateholder, including, but not 6 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 limited to, financial, operational, and administrative 2 requirements except as expressly permitted by this chapter. A 3 municipality or county may not impose on the activities of a 4 certificateholder a requirement: 5 (a) That particular business offices be located in the 6 municipality or county; 7 (b) Regarding the filing of reports and documents with 8 the municipality or county that are not required by state or 9 federal law and that are not related to the use of the public 10 right-of-way. Reports and documents other than schematics 11 indicating the location of facilities for a specific site that 12 are provided in the normal course of the municipality's or 13 county's permitting process, that are authorized by s. 337.401 14 for communications services providers, or that are otherwise 15 required in the normal course of such permitting process are 16 not considered related to the use of the public right-of-way 17 for communications service providers. A municipality or county 18 may not request information concerning the capacity or 19 technical configuration of a certificateholder's facilities; 20 (c) For the inspection of a certificateholder's 21 business records; or 22 (d) For the approval of transfers of ownership or 23 control of a certificateholder's business, except that a 24 municipality or county may require a certificateholder to 25 provide notice of a transfer within a reasonable time. 26 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a 27 municipality or county may require the issuance of a permit in 28 accordance with and subject to s. 337.401 to a 29 certificateholder that is placing and maintaining facilities 30 in or on a public right-of-way in the municipality or county. 31 In accordance with s. 337.402, the permit may require the 7 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 permitholder to be responsible, at the permitholder's expense, 2 for any damage resulting from the issuance of such permit and 3 for restoring the public right-of-way to its original 4 condition before installation of the facilities. The terms of 5 the permit shall be consistent with construction permits 6 issued to other providers of communications services placing 7 or maintaining communications facilities in a public 8 right-of-way. 9 610.115 Discrimination prohibited.-- 10 (1) The purpose of this section is to prevent 11 discrimination among potential residential subscribers. 12 (2) A cable or video service provider may not deny 13 access to service to any individual or group of potential 14 residential subscribers because of the race or income of the 15 residents in the local area in which the individual or group 16 resides. Enforcement of this section shall be in accordance 17 with s. 501.2079. 18 610.116 Compliance.--If a certificateholder is found 19 by a court of competent jurisdiction not to be in compliance 20 with the requirements of this chapter, the certificateholder 21 shall have a reasonable period of time, as specified by the 22 court, to cure such noncompliance. 23 610.117 Limitation.--This chapter may not be construed 24 to give any local government or the department any authority 25 over any communications service other than cable or video 26 services whether offered on a common carrier or private 27 contract basis. 28 610.118 Impairment; court-ordered operations.-- 29 (1) If an incumbent cable or video service provider is 30 required to operate under its existing franchise and is 31 prevented by a lawfully issued court order from exercising its 8 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 right to terminate its existing franchise pursuant to the 2 terms of s. 610.105, any certificateholder providing cable 3 service or video service in whole or in part within the 4 service area that is the subject of the incumbent cable or 5 video service provider's franchise shall, for as long as the 6 court order remains in effect, comply with the following 7 franchise terms and conditions as applicable to the incumbent 8 cable or video service provider in the service area: 9 (a) The certificateholder shall pay to the 10 municipality or county: 11 1. Any prospective lump-sum or recurring 12 per-subscriber funding obligations to support public, 13 educational, and governmental access channels or other 14 prospective franchise-required monetary grants related to 15 public, educational, or governmental access facilities 16 equipment and capital costs. Prospective lump-sum payments 17 must be made on an equivalent per-subscriber basis calculated 18 as follows: the amount of the prospective funding obligations 19 divided by the number of subscribers being served by the 20 incumbent cable service provider at the time of payment, 21 divided by the number of months remaining in the incumbent 22 cable or video service provider's franchise equals the monthly 23 per subscriber amount to be paid by the certificateholder 24 until the expiration or termination of the incumbent cable or 25 video service provider's franchise; and 26 2. If the incumbent cable or video service provider is 27 required to make payments for the funding of an institutional 28 network, the certificateholder shall pay an amount equal to 29 the incumbent's funding obligations but not to exceed 1 30 percent of the sales price, as defined in s. 202.11(13), for 31 the taxable monthly retail sales of cable or video programming 9 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 services the certificateholder received from subscribers in 2 the affected municipality or county. All definitions and 3 exemptions under chapter 202 apply in the determination of 4 taxable monthly retail sales of cable or video programming 5 services. 6 (b) Payments are not due until 45 days after the 7 municipality or county notifies the respective providers. 8 (c) Any certificateholder may designate that portion 9 of that subscriber's bill attributable to any fee imposed 10 pursuant to this section as a separate item on the bill and 11 recover such amount from the subscriber. 12 (2) The provisions of subsection (1) do not alter the 13 rights of a cable service or video service provider with 14 respect to service areas designated pursuant to s. 15 610.104(2)(e)5. Any certificateholder providing cable service 16 or video service in a service area covered by the terms of an 17 existing cable or video service provider's franchise that is 18 subject to a court or other proceeding challenging the ability 19 of an incumbent cable or video service provider to exercise 20 its legal right to terminate its existing cable franchise 21 pursuant to s. 610.105 has the right to intervene in such 22 proceeding. 23 610.119 Reports to the Legislature.-- 24 (1) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and 25 Government Accountability shall submit to the President of the 26 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the 27 majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House of 28 Representatives, by December 1, 2009, and December 1, 2014, a 29 report on the status of competition in the cable and video 30 service industry, including, by each municipality and county, 31 the number of cable and video service providers, the number of 10 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 cable and video subscribers served, the number of areas served 2 by fewer than two cable or video service providers, the trend 3 in cable and video service prices, and the identification of 4 any patterns of service as they impact demographic and income 5 groups. 6 (2) By January 15, 2008, the Department of Agriculture 7 and Consumer Services shall make recommendations to the 8 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 9 Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of the 10 Senate and House of Representatives regarding the workload and 11 staffing requirements associated with consumer complaints 12 related to video and cable certificateholders. The Department 13 of State shall provide to the Department of Agriculture and 14 Consumer Services, for inclusion in the report, the workload 15 requirements for processing the certificates of franchise 16 authority. In addition, the Department of State shall provide 17 the number of applications filed for cable and video 18 certificates of franchise authority and the number of 19 amendments received to original applications for franchise 20 certificate authority. 21 610.120 Severability.--If any provision of ss. 22 610.102-610.118 or the application thereof to any person or 23 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect 24 other provisions or application of ss. 610.102-610.118 which 25 can be given effect without the invalid provision or 26 application, and to this end the provisions of ss. 27 610.102-610.118 are severable. 28 29 30 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T =============== 31 And the title is amended as follows: 11 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03
Florida Senate - 2007 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS/CS/HB 529 (c2) Barcode 403840 1 On page 2, line 52, through 2 page 3, line 81, delete those lines 3 4 and insert: 5 their functional equivalent; providing 6 criteria, requirements, and procedures; 7 providing exceptions; providing 8 responsibilities of municipalities and counties 9 relating to such channels; providing for cable 10 or video services for certain public 11 facilities; providing requirements for and 12 limitations on counties and municipalities 13 relating to access to public right-of-way; 14 prohibiting counties and municipalities from 15 imposing additional requirements on 16 certificateholders; authorizing counties and 17 municipalities to require permits of 18 certificateholders relating to public 19 right-of-way; providing permit criteria and 20 requirements; prohibiting discrimination among 21 cable and video service subscribers; providing 22 for enforcement; clarifying local government 23 and department authority over communications 24 services; providing for enforcement of 25 compliance by certificateholders; providing for 26 court-ordered operation under existing 27 franchise agreements; providing requirements 28 for cable service providers under certain court 29 orders; 30 31 12 1:40 PM 04/26/07 h0529c3c-22-c03