Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-331

Current with legislation from the 2024 Regular and Special Sessions.

Section 16-331 - Certificate of public convenience and necessity. Advisory councils. Franchise terms. Regulations. Community needs assessment

(a) No person, association or corporation, or a municipality which owns or operates one or more plants for the manufacture or distribution of electricity pursuant to section 7-213, shall construct or operate a community antenna television system without having first obtained a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority certifying that the person, firm or corporation is qualified pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section to operate such a service within the territory specified in such certificate. The authority may issue more than one such certificate for any franchise area or portion of a franchise area. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33-645, any such certificate shall authorize the holder thereof to occupy public highways to the extent required to provide community antenna television system service. A certificate shall be issued only after written application for the same has been made to the authority, accompanied by a fee of fifty dollars, and public hearing has been held thereon. No certificate shall be sold or transferred without the approval of the authority. For due cause shown, the authority may amend, suspend or revoke any such certificate. If a certificate is not exercised within two years from the date of issue, the authority may revoke the certificate. The authority may specify in the certificate at the time of issue and from time to time thereafter such terms and conditions as the public interest may require.

(b) In determining whether a new certificate shall be issued or an existing certificate transferred, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall only take into consideration the suitability of the applicant or, if the applicant is a corporation, of its management, the financial responsibility of the applicant and the ability of the applicant to perform efficiently the service for which authority is requested. In the case of an application filed on or after October 1, 1981, (1) if the applicant or an affiliate thereof is the holder of one or more other certificates in the state, the authority shall also consider the possible adverse effects of increasing the concentration of ownership of community antenna television systems and related services, which would result from granting the application, and (2) suitability of the applicant shall include consideration of participating owners resident in the proposed service area as well as involvement in local civic and community activities. In considering concentration of ownership, the authority shall only take into account the following factors:

(A) Federal and state antitrust and unfair trade practices laws, regulations and policies, and

(B) the reduced ability of the authority to make comparisons with other certificate holders. In the case of an application filed on or after January 1, 1983, for the approval of the transfer of an existing certificate, the authority shall also (i) consult with the advisory council established by regulation for the franchise area specified in the certificate, and (ii) if the applicant or an affiliate thereof is the holder of one or more other certificates in the state, consider the adequacy of the service provided by such holder in the franchise areas specified in such certificate or certificates. The authority may adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this subsection.

(c)

(1) A representative of a community antenna television company issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity in accordance with this section shall, twice a year, arrange for and hold a meeting with the advisory council established, in accordance with regulations adopted by the authority in accordance with chapter 54, for the franchise area served by such company.

(2) The authority shall designate an advisory council as an intervenor in any contested case before the authority involving the community antenna television company which the council is advising. Such company shall provide to the chairperson of its advisory council a copy of any report, notice or other document it files with the authority. If a community antenna television company fails or refuses to furnish adequate service to any customer, the advisory council for the franchise area served by the company may file a written petition with the authority alleging the failure or refusal. The authority shall hold a hearing on such petition and, not later than one hundred fifty days after receiving the petition, shall issue a written decision on the petition. The company shall thereafter furnish service to the customer in accordance with the conditions prescribed under the authority's decision.

(3) Each community antenna television company shall, every six months, provide on bills, bill inserts or letters to subscribers, and shall prominently post in the company's primary subscriber service area and community access facility, a notice indicating the name and an address of the chairperson of the company's advisory council and describing the responsibilities of the advisory council. Each such company shall provide its advisory council with an opportunity to review such notice prior to distributing or posting the notice.

(d)

(1) An initial certificate issued prior to June 1, 1988, shall grant a franchise for fifteen years, provided that for certificates issued prior to January 1, 1975, the initial franchise term shall be deemed to end for four such companies each year, starting in 1989, in order of those companies having the highest gross revenues under chapter 211 or 212a during the calendar year ending December 31, 1982. An initial, renewal or transfer certificate issued on or after June 1, 1988, shall grant a franchise for a term of not less than five years and not more than ten years, except that under special circumstances, as described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, a franchise may be granted for a term of more than ten years but not more than fifteen years. The authority shall have the discretion to determine the appropriate length of a franchise term, initial, renewal or transfer, and in making its decision shall consider the following without limitation:

(A) The operator's past performance in terms of meeting the needs of the cable-related community;

(B) the operator's past performance in terms of complying with the material terms of the existing franchise;

(C) the operator's compliance with authority regulations and the general statutes;

(D) the ability of the operator's management to properly operate the franchise;

(E) the operator's effectiveness in dealing with consumer requests, complaints and billing questions or disputes;

(F) the operator's effectiveness in dealing with the advisory council;

(G) the quality and diversity of the operator's programming;

(H) the quality of the operator's community access programming, including public access, educational access and governmental access programming, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (3) of this subsection;

(I) the quality of the operator's equipment and facilities;

(J) the operator's proposals for future extensions and upgrading to technologically advanced equipment, facilities and systems;

(K) the operator's past performance in terms of meeting the needs of the cable-related community by providing African-American and Hispanic programming;

(L) the operator's good faith efforts, as determined by the authority, to provide service, when practicable, to all customers within the service area;

(M) the operator's past performance in making available addressable converters, traps or other devices or services which enable subscribers to voluntarily block transmission of specific programming to their homes or places of business; and

(N) the applicant's provision of innovative services, including audio services, information services, electronic publishing and information concerning the proceedings of the General Assembly and legislative committees.

(2) Under special circumstances, the authority in its discretion, may issue, renew or transfer a franchise for a term of not more than fifteen years if the franchisee has committed itself, as outlined in the franchise agreement, to provide or maintain technologically advanced equipment, facilities and systems, as determined by the authority, to enhance and promote technologically advanced educational programming and to comply with specific quality of service standards, including, but not limited to, the time between installation and repair following a subscriber request, the response time to consumer complaints and the quality of the operator's customer service policies and practices.

(3) In evaluating the quality of community access programming the authority shall consider, without limitation, (A) compliance with federal laws governing noncommercial educational broadcast stations and public broadcast stations, and state laws governing community access, including, but not limited to, sections 16-333-31 to 16-333-36, inclusive, of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies; (B) compliance with the terms of the franchise certificate, which apply to community access; and (C) compliance with requirements involving community access contained in any order of the authority which applies to the community antenna television system.

(4) If the authority, on or after June 1, 1988, approves the transfer of a certificate, the franchise term of such transferred certificate shall be the remaining duration of the franchise term originally granted unless the authority grants a different term, the appropriate length of which shall be determined by the authority under this subsection. A certificate may be renewed for an additional term, the appropriate length of which shall be determined by the authority under this subsection, if the authority finds that the holder of the certificate has complied with the provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 546.

(5) The authority shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, establishing procedures and standards for the renewal of certificates issued to community antenna television companies. Such regulations shall, without limitation, (A) incorporate the provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 546, (B) require the authority to consult with the advisory council for the franchise area served by the certificate holder before making a decision concerning the renewal of the certificate, (C) require any holder of a certificate which is not renewed by the authority to continue to operate the franchise for one year after the end of its term or until a successor is chosen and ready to assume control of the franchise, whichever is sooner, (D) establish standards for the content of notices sent to cable subscribers concerning public hearings for franchise renewal proceedings which standards shall include, without limitation, the requirements specified in subdivision (6) of this subsection, (E) establish standards to ensure that the costs and expenses of a municipality constructing, purchasing or operating a community antenna television company are accurately attributed to such company, and (F) establish quality standards for the instructional and educational channels. The authority shall adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision in conjunction with the Commission for Educational Technology.

(6) Any community antenna television company which applies to the authority for the renewal of a franchise shall:

(A) Make available for public inspection a copy of the company's proposal for renewal at the town hall, each public library and the primary senior center, as determined by the chief executive official of each municipality of its franchise area and at the company's primary customer service center and community access facility, and

(B) notify each subscriber of any public hearing for a franchise renewal, which notices shall be mailed by first class mail to each subscriber not less than fourteen days in advance of any public hearing and shall state in plain language the time, place, date, address and subject matter of the hearing, and in boldface print shall state that public participation is encouraged. The notice shall also provide information concerning the locations where the company's proposal for renewal may be reviewed, and shall not contain any billing, promotional or extraneous information.

(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, if at any time after the grant of an initial or renewal term of a franchise, the community antenna television company and the third-party nonprofit community access provider reach an agreement that the community antenna television company will provide a capital contribution to such provider in a mutually agreeable amount solely for the purpose of the upgrade or replacement of capital equipment, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall grant a two-year extension of such franchise term, provided the community antenna television company commits to not pass through said capital contribution in subscriber rates or community access fees. In a franchise area with more than one community access provider, an agreement shall be deemed to be reached when two-thirds or more of the community access providers within that franchise independently reach agreement with the community antenna television company. Only those community access providers reaching agreement shall receive the funding mutually agreed upon pursuant to this subdivision. Such extension shall not be a contested case proceeding and shall be applicable to no more than one time per franchise term.

(e) No certificate issued by the authority under this section for the construction or operation of a community antenna television system shall be construed to authorize the provision of noncable communications service. For the purposes of section 16-247c, noncable communications service shall not be deemed to be service which is provided by a community antenna television company pursuant to a special charter or pursuant to a certificate of public convenience or necessity issued pursuant to this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect service which is both authorized and preempted pursuant to federal law.

(f) Each applicant for a certificate shall finance the reasonable costs of a community needs assessment, conducted by an independent consultant and developed jointly by the authority, the Office of Consumer Counsel, the local advisory council and the applicant, which assessment shall analyze a community's future cable-related needs and, if applicable, shall provide the authority with assistance in analyzing an operator's past performance, as defined in subsection (d) of this section. The authority shall supervise the assessment and provide the independent consultant with the date upon which the assessment shall be completed and filed with the authority. Such community needs assessment shall be conducted in lieu of the requirement in subdivision (12) of subsection (c) of section 16-333-39 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies. In its final decision on the application for a certificate, the authority shall state the reasons for not implementing any key recommendations made in any such needs assessment. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a franchise area which is subject to effective competition, as defined in 47 USC 543, as from time to time amended, at the time the application is received by the authority.

(g) Each certificate of public convenience and necessity for a franchise issued pursuant to this section shall be nonexclusive, and each such certificate issued for a franchise in any area of the state where an existing franchise is currently operating shall not contain more favorable terms or conditions than those imposed on the existing franchise. This subsection shall not apply to the length of the term of such certification as may be determined pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. A certificate may require a franchise to enter into good faith negotiations to facilitate community access television interconnection with an existing or potential competitor franchise.

(h) Each person, firm or corporation issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority pursuant to this section shall provide financial and infrastructure information to the authority as it requests.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (b) and (d) of this section, the authority shall not renew a franchise for a term of more than five years if the authority determines that the person, association or corporation, during the term of the prior franchise, has substantially failed to (1) deal effectively with consumer requests, complaints and billing or service questions and disputes; (2) provide quality and diversity of programming; (3) maintain fair and reasonable rates for basic and extended basic service, and associated equipment, taking into consideration the quality of service and programming provided to consumers; (4) provide quality community access programming, including public access, educational access, governmental access programming and the Connecticut Television Network or its successor; or (5) meet commitments for service extension to customers within the franchise area. Nothing in this subsection shall authorize the authority to set specific rates for service or associated equipment.

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-331

(1963, P.A. 425, S. 2, 3; P.A. 75-486, S. 1, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 610; P.A. 79-533, S. 2, 4; P.A. 80-482, S. 160, 348; P.A. 81-393, S. 1; 81-472, S. 157; P.A. 82-221, S. 2, 3; P.A. 83-49; 83-149; 83-584, S. 2; P.A. 85-292, S. 1; 85-509, S. 6, 11; P.A. 87-415, S. 8, 13; 87-454, S. 1, 3; 87-580, S. 2, 4; P.A. 88-202, S. 1, 10; P.A. 90-12; 90-79, S. 1; P.A. 91-244, S. 1; P.A. 92-137, S. 3 -5; 92-146, S. 1, 5; P.A. 94-22, S. 1; 94-83, S. 15, 16; 94-229, S. 2, 4; P.A. 95-17; 95-150, S. 1; P.A. 96-271, S. 162, 254; P.A. 98-121, S. 2, 3; P.A. 00-187, S. 51, 52, 75; P.A. 03-135, S. 23; P.A. 07-253, S. 36 -38; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

The circumstance of common ownership is a proper consideration in determining the suitability of the applicant by commission; other things being equal, the public interest would best be served by the grant of franchises to independent CATV operators rather than to those financially affiliated with broadcasters. 159 C. 317. Cited. 192 Conn. 506; 235 Conn. 334; 242 C. 152. Subsec. (a): The public at large is the beneficiary of Subsec., not incumbent franchisees. 247 C. 95. Subsec. (g): Enacted to protect interests of incumbent cable operators and creates in them a vested interest to be free from unfair competition and does not afford an incumbent standing to claim that it was aggrieved by department's alleged violations of other Subsecs. of section; creates a statutory exception to general rule that creation of competition does not constitute aggrievement to an existing competitor which is limited to analysis of whether terms and conditions of the competing franchise are more favorable than those of the incumbent franchise; a market specific inquiry of each term within incumbent's certificate is not required; department's sole duty is to ensure that specific terms of a competitor's certificate are not more favorable than those of incumbents. 247 Conn. 95.