Amendment SSA1-AB207

AB207-SSA1,40,5 (i) A video programming provider shall allow its customers to disconnect their service at any time within the first 60 days after subscribing to or upgrading the service. Within such 60-day period, a video programming provider shall not charge or impose any fees or penalties on the customer for disconnecting service, including any installation charge or early termination charge, except that a video programming provider may impose a charge or fee to offset any rebates or credits received by the customer, and may impose monthly service or maintenance charges, including pay-per-view and premium services charges, during such 60-day period.

AB207-SSA1,40,11 (j) A video programming provider shall guarantee customer satisfaction for new or upgraded service and the customer shall receive a pro rata credit in an amount equal to the pro rata charge for the remaining days of service being disconnected or replaced upon the customers request if the customer is dissatisfied with the service and requests to discontinue the service within the first 60 days after subscribing to the upgraded service.

AB207-SSA1,41,2 (9) Response to customer inquiries. (a) A video programming provider shall maintain a toll-free telephone access line that is available to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to accept calls regarding installation, termination, service, and complaints. Trained, knowledgeable, and qualified service representatives of a video programming provider shall be available to respond to customer telephone inquiries during normal business hours. Customer service representatives shall be able to provide credits, waive fees, schedule appointments, and change billing cycles. Any difficulties that cannot be resolved by the customer service representatives shall be referred to a supervisor who shall make best efforts to resolve the issue immediately. If the supervisor does not resolve the issue to the customer's satisfaction, the customer shall be informed of the video programming provider's complaint procedures and procedures for billing dispute resolutions and given a description of the rights and remedies available to customers to enforce the terms of this section, including the customer's rights to have the complaint reviewed by the municipality to request mediation, and to review in a court.

AB207-SSA1,41,8 (b) After normal business hours, the toll-free telephone access line specified in par. (a) may be answered by a service or an automated response system, including an answering machine. Inquiries received by telephone or electronic mail after normal business hours shall be responded to by a trained service representative on the next business day. A video programming provider shall respond to a written billing inquiry within 10 days of receipt of the inquiry.

AB207-SSA1,41,12 (c) A video programming provider shall provide customers seeking nonstandard installations with a total installation cost estimate and an estimated date of completion. The actual charge to the customer may not exceed 110 percent of the estimated cost without the written consent of the customer.

AB207-SSA1,41,19 (d) If a video programming provider receives notice that an unsafe condition exists with respect to its equipment, the video programming provider shall investigate such condition immediately, and shall take such measures as are necessary to remove or eliminate the unsafe condition. The video programming provider shall promptly inform the municipality in which the unsafe condition exists, but no later than 2 hours after it receives notification of an unsafe condition that it has not remedied.

AB207-SSA1,41,24 (e) 1. Except as provided in subd. 2., under normal operating conditions, telephone answer time by a video programming provider's customer representative, including wait time, may not exceed 30 seconds when the connection is made. Except as provided in subd. 2., if the call needs to be transferred, transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds.

AB207-SSA1,42,2 2. The standards under subd. 1. shall be met no less than 90 percent of the time under normal operating conditions, measured on a quarterly basis.

AB207-SSA1,42,4 (f) Under normal operating conditions, a video programming provider's customers may not receive a busy signal more than 3 percent of the time.

AB207-SSA1,42,7 (10) Installations, outages, and service calls. Under normal operating conditions, a video programming provider shall meet each of the following standards no less than 95 percent of the time measured on a quarterly basis:

AB207-SSA1,42,11 (a) Standard installations shall be performed within 7 business days after an order has been placed. For purposes of this paragraph, "standard installations" means those installations that are located no more than 125 feet away from the video programming provider's existing distribution system.

AB207-SSA1,42,13 (b) Excluding conditions beyond the control of the video programming provider, the video programming provider shall do all of the following:

AB207-SSA1,42,16 1. Begin working on service interruptions promptly and in no event later than 24 hours after the service interruption is reported by the customer or otherwise becomes known to the video programming provider.

AB207-SSA1,42,18 2. Begin actions to correct other service problems the next business day after notification of the service problem.

AB207-SSA1,42,20 3. Correct service interruptions and other service problems within 48 hours after service interruptions and other service problems are reported by customers.

AB207-SSA1,42,25 (c) A video programming provider shall schedule appointments with customers for installations, service calls, and other installation activities for a specific time, or within a time block that does not exceed 4 hours, except that a video programming provider may otherwise schedule such appointments as specified by the customer for the customer's convenience.

AB207-SSA1,43,7 (d) A video programming provider may not cancel an appointment with a customer after 5:00 p.m. on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment. If a video programming provider's representative is running late for an appointment with a customer and is not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the video programming provider shall contact the customer and, as necessary, reschedule the appointment at a time that is convenient for the customer, even if the rescheduled appointment is not within normal business hours.

AB207-SSA1,43,10 (11) Public benefit obligation. (a) In this subsection, "eligible building" means a building used by a municipality for governmental purposes; a public library; or a public primary or secondary school, including a charter school.

AB207-SSA1,43,13 (b) 1. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a video programming provider shall provide a free service line drop and free basic video service to all current and future eligible buildings within one of the following:

AB207-SSA1,43,15 a. If the cable or video provider is a municipally regulated cable operator, the municipality that grants a cable franchise to the cable or video provider.

AB207-SSA1,43,17 b. If the cable or video provider is a video service franchisee, the video service area of the cable or video provider.

AB207-SSA1,43,19 2. Service provided under subd. 1. shall be used in a manner consistent with the governmental purpose of the eligible building and shall not be resold.

AB207-SSA1,43,23 (c) Paragraph (b) only applies to those cable or video providers whose video service networks are located in a manner that is capable of providing video service to eligible buildings and whose video service is generally available to residential customers in the municipality in which the eligible building is located.

AB207-SSA1,44,9 (d) The burden of providing service required under par. (b) at an eligible building shall be shared by all cable and video providers whose video service networks are located in a manner that is capable of providing video service to the eligible buildings and shall be shared in an equitable and competitively neutral manner. The cable or video providers operating in a municipality shall determine amongst themselves who will provide the service to an eligible building required under par. (b). If the cable or video providers are unable to reach agreement on the determination, the municipality in which the eligible building is located shall determine which cable or video providers must serve the eligible building. A municipality may not require duplicative installations by more than one cable or video provider at an eligible building.

AB207-SSA1,44,14 (e) A municipality shall bear the costs of any inside wiring, or video equipment costs, that are incurred in providing service required under par. (b) at an eligible building, if the cable or video provider does not ordinarily provide the wiring or equipment at no cost to customer's of the video programming provider's basic video service.

AB207-SSA1,44,22 (12) Reports. (a) A video programming provider shall make an annual report to the department, the municipality in which the video programming provider provides video service, and the public service commission regarding its compliance with this section. The report shall include documentation that is sufficient to demonstrate compliance with subs. (9) (e) and (f) and (10) (a) and (b). The report shall also identify the number of complaints the video programming provider received during the prior year in the state and specify the number of such complaints related to each of the following:

AB207-SSA1,44,23 1. Billing, charges, refunds, or credits.

AB207-SSA1,44,24 2. Installation or termination of service.

AB207-SSA1,44,25 3. Quality of service and repair.

AB207-SSA1,45,1 4. Programming.

AB207-SSA1,45,2 5. Other complaints not specified in subds. 1. to 4.

AB207-SSA1,45,5 (b) Information in the report under par. (a) shall be broken down for each municipality or telephone exchange in which the cable or video provider has customers.

AB207-SSA1,45,8 (c) The report under par. (a) is first due one year after a video programming provider begins to offer video service or on the first day of the 12th month beginning after the effective date of this paragraph .... [revisor inserts date], whichever is later.

AB207-SSA1,45,9 (13) Rates; charges; contracts. (a) To the extent consistent with federal law:

AB207-SSA1,45,18 1. A video programming provider shall offer the lowest-cost basic video service as a stand-alone service to residential customers at reasonable rates. A video programming provider shall not require the subscription to any service other than the lowest-cost basic service or to any telecommunications or information service, as a condition of access to video service, including programming offered on a per channel or per program basis. A video programming provider shall not discriminate between customers of the lowest-cost basic service, customers of other video services, and other customers with regard to the rates charged for video programming offered on a per channel or per program basis.

AB207-SSA1,45,23 2. A video programming provider shall ensure that charges for changes in a customer's selection of services or equipment shall be based on the cost of such change and shall not exceed nominal amounts if the system's configuration permits changes in service tier selection to be effected solely by coded entry on a computer terminal or by other similarly simple method.

AB207-SSA1,46,3 3. A video programming provider shall have a rate structure for the provision of video service that is uniform throughout the area within the boundaries of a municipality, except that a video programming provider may provide bulk discounts to multiple dwelling units or reasonable discounts to senior citizens or other economically disadvantaged groups.

AB207-SSA1,46,8 4. A video programming provider may not charge a customer for any service or equipment that the customer has not explicitly requested. For purposes of this subdivision, a customer's failure to refuse a video programming provider's proposal to provide service or equipment is not an explicit request for such service or equipment.

AB207-SSA1,46,12 (b) No contract or service offering video services or any bundle including such services may be for a term longer than one year. If a contract or service offering is made for a specified term at a discounted price, no termination fee may exceed the amount of the discount from which the customer benefited.

AB207-SSA1,46,19 (14) Impaired customers. A video programming provider may not discriminate in the provision of services for the hearing and visually impaired and shall comply with 47 USC 613. A video programming provider shall deliver and pick up, or provide customers with prepaid shipping and packaging for the return of, converters and other necessary equipment at the home of customers with disabilities. A video programming provider shall provide free use of a converter or remote control unit to mobility impaired customers.

AB207-SSA1,47,8 (15) Obscene or indecent programming. (a) To the extent consistent with federal law, a video programming provider shall comply with 47 USC 532 (h) and (j). A video programming provider may not exercise any editorial control over any programming or in any other way consider the content of programming in determining whether to transmit programming, except that a video programming provider may refuse to transmit any leased access program or portion of a leased access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity and may consider such content to the minimum extent necessary to establish a reasonable price for the commercial use of designated channel capacity by a person that is not an affiliate of the video programming provider. A video programming provider may enforce prospectively a written and published policy of prohibiting programming that the video programming provider reasonably believes describes or depicts sexual or excretory activities or organs in a patently offensive manner as measured by contemporary community standards.

AB207-SSA1,47,11 (b) A video programming provider shall, without charge, fully scramble or otherwise fully block the audio and video programming of any channel requested by the customer.

AB207-SSA1,47,17 (c) In providing sexually explicit adult programming or other programming that is indecent on any channel of a video programming provider's service that is primarily dedicated to sexually oriented programming, the video programming provider shall fully scramble or otherwise fully block the video and audio portion of such channel so that a nonsubscriber to such channel or programming does not receive it.

AB207-SSA1,47,20 (d) For purposes of pars. (b) and (c), "scramble" means to rearrange the content of the signal of programming so that the programming cannot be viewed or heard in an understandable manner.

AB207-SSA1,47,25 (16) Service availability listing. A video programming provider shall maintain a listing, specific to the level of street address, of the areas where its video services are available. A video programming provider shall inform customers who inquire about purchasing video service about whether the service is currently available to them at their specific location.

AB207-SSA1,48,13 (17) Privacy protections. A video programming provider may not disclose the name, address, telephone number, or other personally identifying information of a video service customer to be used in mailing lists or to be used for other commercial purposes not reasonably related to the conduct of its business, unless the video programming provider has provided to the customer a notice, separately or included in any other customer service notice, that clearly and conspicuously describes the customer's ability to prohibit the disclosure. A video programming provider shall provide an address and telephone number for a customer to use without toll charge to prevent disclosure of the customer's name and address in mailing lists or for other commercial purposes not reasonably related to the conduct of its business to other businesses or affiliates of the video programming provider. A video programming provider shall comply with all other privacy laws, including 47 USC 551, that are in effect on the effective date of this subsection .... [revisor inserts date].

AB207-SSA1,48,23 (18) Consumer complaints; mediation. A video programming provider shall implement an informal process for handling inquiries from municipalities and customers concerning billing issues, service issues, privacy concerns, and other consumer complaints. If an issue is not resolved through such informal process, a municipality or customer may request nonbinding mediation with the video programming provider, with each party bearing its own costs of such mediation. Selection of a mediator shall be by mutual agreement and preference shall be given to mediation services that do not charge a consumer for their services. If the informal process does not produce a satisfactory result to the customer or municipality, enforcement may be pursued as provided in sub. (19) (f).

AB207-SSA1,48,24 (19) Enforcement. (a) The department may do any of the following:

AB207-SSA1,49,2 1. Exercise its authority under ss. 93.14, 93.15, and 93.16 to investigate violations of this section.

AB207-SSA1,49,6 2. Commence an action in the name of the state to restrain by temporary injunction a violation of this section. Before entry of a final judgment, the court may make any necessary orders to restore to a person any pecuniary loss suffered by the person because of the violation.

AB207-SSA1,49,9 3. Except as provided in subd. 4., commence an action in the name of the state to recover a forfeiture to the state of not less than $100 nor more than $10,000 for each violation of this section.

AB207-SSA1,49,12 4. Commence an action in the name of the state to recover a forfeiture to the state of not more than $50,000 for a person's first violation of sub. (17) and of not more than $100,000 for each 2nd or subsequent violation of sub. (17) by a person.

AB207-SSA1,49,16 5. After public hearing, issue a special order under s. 93.18 against a video programming provider enjoining the provider from employing practices that violate this section and requiring the provider to employ practices or take actions that are determined by the department to be in compliance with this section.

AB207-SSA1,49,20 (b) A municipality may enforce this section with respect to complaints received from residents within the municipality, but the municipality may not impose or require compliance with any additional or different customer service or performance standards than those specified in this section.

AB207-SSA1,49,23 (c) A municipality may enact an ordinance that provides a schedule of forfeitures for any material violation of this section by video programming providers that are in addition to the penalties provided under this chapter, except as follows:

AB207-SSA1,49,25 1. No forfeitures may be assessed for a material violation if it is out of the reasonable control of a video programming provider or its affiliate.

AB207-SSA1,50,2 2. The forfeitures shall apply on a competitively neutral basis to all providers of video service within the municipality.

AB207-SSA1,50,4 3. The forfeitures may not exceed $750 for each day of the material violation, and may not exceed $25,000 for each occurrence of a material violation per customer.

AB207-SSA1,50,8 (d) The department or a municipality shall give a video programming provider written notice of any alleged material violations of this section and allow such provider at least 30 days from receipt of the notice to remedy the specified material violation.

AB207-SSA1,50,13 (e) For purposes of this subsection, "material violation" means any substantial failure of a video programming provider to comply with this section and, for purposes of assessing forfeitures, a material violation is considered to have occurred for each day that a material violation has not been remedied by a video programming provider after the expiration of the period specified in par. (d).

AB207-SSA1,50,24 (f) The department and, subject to sub. (18), a municipality or customer may bring an action against a video programming provider for violation of this section, except that a municipality may bring an action only if a customer residing in the municipality is adversely affected by the violation and a customer may bring an action only if the customer is adversely affected by the violation. A video programming provider may bring an action to review a municipality's assessment of forfeitures against the video programming provider. A municipality is immune from civil liability for its acts or omissions related to the enforcement or review of any terms, conditions, or rights under this section, except that a court may require the return of any forfeiture that the municipality incorrectly assessed against a video programming provider.

AB207-SSA1,51,13 (20) Credits. (a) A video programming provider shall credit customers for violations of this section in the amounts specified in par. (b). The credits shall be applied on the statement issued to the customer for the next monthly billing cycle following the violation or following the discovery of the violation. A video programming provider is responsible for providing the credits and a customer is not required to request the credit. If a customer is no longer taking service from a video programming provider, the video programming provider shall refund the credit amount to the customer by check within 30 days of the termination of service. A municipality may enact an ordinance that requires a video programming provider to give credits directly to customers for violating this section, if the ordnance applies on a competitively neutral basis to all video programming providers in the municipality, and except that the credits may not exceed the credits specified in par. (b).

AB207-SSA1,51,15 (b) A video programming provider shall give customers the following credits for the following violations of this section:

AB207-SSA1,51,17 1. Failure to provide notice of customer service standards upon initiation of service, $25.

AB207-SSA1,51,20 2. Failure to install service within 7 days, waiver of 50 percent of the installation fee or the monthly fee for the lowest-cost basic service, whichever is greater.

AB207-SSA1,51,23 3. Failure to install service within 14 days, waiver of 100 percent of the installation fee or the monthly fee for the lowest-cost basic service, whichever is greater.

AB207-SSA1,52,3 4. Failure to remedy service interruptions or poor video or audio service quality within 48 hours, a pro rata credit of total regular monthly charges equal to the number of days of the service interruption.

AB207-SSA1,52,5 5. Failure to keep an appointment or to notify the customer prior to the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment, $25.

AB207-SSA1,52,6 6. Violation of privacy protections, $150.

AB207-SSA1,52,7 7. Failure to comply with scrambling requirements, $50 per month.

AB207-SSA1,52,9 8. Violation of customer service and billing standards in sub. (8) or (9), $25 per violation.

AB207-SSA1,52,11 9. Violation of the prohibition under sub. (13) (a) 1. against requiring subscription to other services as a condition of access to video service, $25 per month.

AB207-SSA1, s. 31 Section 31. 100.261 (3) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB207-SSA1,52,14 100.261 (3) (c) The amount credited under par. (b) to the appropriation account under s. 20.115 (1) (jb) may not exceed $185,000 in each fiscal year.

AB207-SSA1, s. 32 Section 32. 134.43 of the statutes, as affected by 2007 Wisconsin Act 20, is repealed.

AB207-SSA1, s. 33 Section 33. 182.017 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB207-SSA1,53,10 182.017 (1) Right-of-way for. Any domestic corporation organized to furnish telegraph or telecommunications service or transmit heat, power or electric current to the public or for public purposes, an any independent system operator, as defined in s. 196.485 (1) (d), an any independent transmission owner, as defined in s. 196.485 (1) (dm), or a any cooperative association organized under ch. 185 or 193 to furnish telegraph or telecommunications service or a , any cooperative organized under ch. 185 to transmit heat, power or electric current to its members, any municipally regulated cable operator, as defined in s. 66.0420 (2) (o), and any video service franchisee, as defined in s. 66.0420 (2) (y) may, subject to ss. 30.44 (3m), 30.45, 86.16 and 196.491 (3) (d) 3m. and to reasonable regulations made by any city, village or town through which its transmission lines or systems may pass, construct and maintain such lines or systems with all necessary appurtenances in, across or beneath any public highway or bridge or any stream or body of water, or upon any lands of any owner consenting thereto, and for such purpose may acquire lands or the necessary easements; and may connect and operate its lines or system with other lines or systems devoted to like business, within or without this state, and charge reasonable rates for the transmission and delivery of messages or the furnishing of heat, power or electric light.

AB207-SSA1, s. 34 Section 34. 196.01 (1g) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB207-SSA1,53,20 196.01 (1g) "Basic local exchange service" means the provision to residential customers of an access facility, whether by wire, cable, fiber optics or radio, and essential usage within a local calling area for the transmission of high-quality 2-way interactive switched voice or data communication. "Basic local exchange service" includes extended community calling and extended area service. "Basic local exchange service" does not include additional access facilities or any discretionary or optional services that may be provided to a residential customer. "Basic local exchange service" does not include cable television service or services provided by a commercial mobile radio service provider.

AB207-SSA1, s. 35 Section 35. 196.01 (1p) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:

AB207-SSA1,53,22 196.01 (1p) "Cable service" has the meaning given in 47 USC 522 (6).

AB207-SSA1, s. 36 Section 36. 196.01 (9m) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB207-SSA1,54,4 196.01 (9m) "Telecommunications service" means the offering for sale of the conveyance of voice, data or other information at any frequency over any part of the electromagnetic spectrum, including the sale of service for collection, storage, forwarding, switching and delivery incidental to such communication and including the regulated sale of customer premises equipment. "Telecommunications service" does not include cable television service or broadcast service.

AB207-SSA1, s. 37 Section 37. 196.01 (12g) of the statutes is created to read:

AB207-SSA1,54,6 196.01 (12g) "Video service" has the meaning given in s. 66.0420 (2) (v).

AB207-SSA1, s. 38 Section 38. 196.01 (12m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB207-SSA1,54,9 196.01 (12m) "Video service franchisee" has the meaning given in s. 66.0420 (2) (y).

AB207-SSA1, s. 39 Section 39. 196.01 (12r) of the statutes is created to read:

AB207-SSA1,54,12 196.01 (12r) "Video service provider" means a municipality regulated cable operator, as defined in s. 66.0420 (2) (o), or a video service franchisee.