50-3010. DESIGNATION AND USE OF CHANNEL CAPACITY FOR PUBLIC, EDUCATIONAL OR GOVERNMENTAL USE. (1) On, or within a reasonable period of time after, the date on which a system operator first provides video service to a subscriber within the service area of a political subdivision, a system operator shall designate a sufficient amount of capacity on its video service network to allow the provision of public, educational and governmental access channels or their functional equivalents, hereinafter referred to in this section as PEG channels, for noncommercial programming, as follows:

(a) Designate a sufficient amount of capacity on its network to allow the provision of PEG channels equal in number to those that have been activated by an incumbent cable service provider on the date on which the system operator first provides video service to a subscriber within such political subdivision.

(b) If there is no incumbent cable service provider or no PEG channels have been activated within the jurisdictional limits of the political subdivision located within the system operator’s service area on the date on which the system operator first provides video service to a subscriber within such service area, the system operator shall, upon request, provide a maximum of two (2), in total, PEG channels for a political subdivision with a population of at least fifty thousand (50,000), and one (1), in total, PEG channel for a political subdivision with a population of less than fifty thousand (50,000). Provided however, a request by a political subdivision for the provision of PEG channels by a system operator, or a waiver of the requirement to provide PEG channels, shall be uniformly applied to all system operators providing video service within the political subdivision.

(c) The number of PEG channels set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall constitute the total number of PEG channels that a system operator may be required to designate on any single head-end or hub office, or on all commonly owned video service networks that share a common head-end or hub office, regardless of the number of political subdivisions served from such head-end or hub office. If more than one (1) political subdivision is served by a single or common head-end or hub office, the populations within the jurisdictions of all those political subdivisions shall be aggregated to determine the total number of PEG channels under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection.

(d) PEG channels provided by a system operator may be located by the system operator on any service tier subscribed to by more than fifty percent (50%) of a system operator’s subscribers. PEG channels shall be of similar quality and functionality to that offered by commercial channels on such tier of service unless the signal is provided to the system operator at a lower quality or with less functionality.

(e) A system operator shall not change a channel location assigned to any PEG channel without written notice to the affected political subdivision at least sixty (60) days before the date on which the change is to become effective.

(f) The PEG agency producing the PEG programming and transmitting it to the system operator shall ensure that all transmissions, content or programming to be transmitted to the system operator are provided or submitted in a manner or form that is capable of being accepted and transmitted by the system operator over its video service network without alteration or change in the content or transmission signal and is compatible with the technology or protocol utilized by the system operator to deliver its video service. If the PEG agency cannot produce or maintain PEG programming in that manner or form, the agency shall do so in a manner that conforms to the then existing industry standards. If a change by the PEG agency in the manner or form of the content or programming is required, and such change conforms to the then existing industry standards, the system operator shall accept such programming for transmission over its video service network in the manner that is most economical to the system operator.

(2) The production and content of any programming aired on any channel provided for PEG use shall be solely the responsibility of the public, educational and governmental agencies receiving the benefit of such capacity. The system operator shall bear the responsibility for the transmission of such content only to the extent that such content complies with the requirements of subsection (1)(f) of this section.

(3) Governmental entities utilizing channels for PEG use shall make the programming available to all video service providers providing service within such governmental entity’s jurisdiction in a nondiscriminatory manner. Each system operator shall be responsible for providing one (1) point of connectivity to the governmental entity’s PEG channel distribution point within the jurisdiction to be served. The governmental entity providing programming for use on a channel designated for PEG use may request a change of the point of connectivity but shall pay the system operator for all costs associated with the change of the point of connectivity.

(4) No franchising entity may require a video service provider to provide any institutional network or equivalent capacity on its video service network.

(5) Where technically feasible, a system operator shall use reasonable efforts to interconnect its video network for the purposes of sharing PEG programming with other video service providers. Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable, microwave link, satellite or other reasonable method of connection. System operators shall negotiate in good faith to provide interconnection of PEG channels. The video service provider requesting interconnection shall pay all costs for such interconnection.

(6) The operation of any PEG channel provided pursuant to this section and the production of any programming that appears on each such channel shall be the sole responsibility of the governmental entity receiving the benefit of such channel, and the system operator shall bear only the responsibility for the transmission of the programming on each such channel to subscribers and the initial cost of connecting to existing and obligated PEG access channels.

History:

[50-3010, added 2012, ch. 207, sec. 1, p. 560.]