§ 21-1502 — Renewal upon repeal of Article

This Section shall apply only to holders who received their State-issued authorization as a cable operator. In the event this Article 21 is repealed, the cable operator may seek a renewal under 47 U.S.C. 546 subject to the following: (1) Each municipality or county in which a cable operator provided service under the State-issued authorization shall be the franchising authority with respect to any right of renewal under 47 U.S.C. 546 and the provisions of this Section shall apply during the renewal process. (2) If the cable operator was an incumbent cable operator in the local unit of government immediately prior to obtaining a State-issued authorization, then the terms of the local franchise agreement under which the incumbent cable operator operated shall be effective until the later of: (A) the expiration of what would have been the remaining term of the agreement at the time of the termination of the local franchise agreement pursuant to subsection (c) of Section 21-301 of this Act or (B) the expiration of the renewal process under 47 U.S.C. 546. (3) If the cable operator was not an incumbent cable operator in the service territory immediately prior to the issuance of the State-issued authorization, then the State-issued authorization shall continue in effect until the expiration of the renewal process under 47 U.S.C. 546. (4) In seeking a renewal under this Section, the cable operator must provide the following information to the local franchising authority: (A) the number of subscribers within the franchise area; (B) the number of eligible local government buildings that have access to cable services; (C) the statistical records of performance under the standards established by the Cable and Video Customer Protection Law; (D) cable system improvement and construction plans during the term of the proposed franchise; and (E) the proposed level of support for public, educational, and governmental access programming.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 100-20, eff. 7-1-17 .)