Amendment SSA1-AB207

AB207-SSA1,34,23 7. Changes related to transmission of programming.

AB207-SSA1,34,24 8. Changes or increases in rates.

AB207-SSA1,34,25 9. The use and availability of parental control or lock-out devices.

AB207-SSA1,35,1 10. If applicable, the use and availability of an A/B switch.

AB207-SSA1,35,2 11. Complaint and bill dispute resolution procedures.

AB207-SSA1,35,4 12. Rights and remedies available to consumers if the video programming provider does not materially meet their customer service standards.

AB207-SSA1,35,5 13. Special services for customers with visual, hearing, or mobility disabilities.

AB207-SSA1,35,13 (b) Public availability. A video programming provider shall make available to the public, and display clearly and conspicuously on its Internet Web site, the video programming providers' rates for each level of service, rules, and regulations, and the standards established under par. (a). If a promotional price or a price for a specified period of time is offered, the programming video provider shall clearly and conspicuously display the promotional price or price for the specified period of time together with the price that applies at the end of the promotional period or specified period of time.

AB207-SSA1,35,17 (c) Notice. A video programming provider shall provide notice concerning its general customer service standards to all customers. The notice shall be offered when service is first activated and annually thereafter. The information in the notice shall include all of the standards established under par. (a) and all of the following:

AB207-SSA1,35,19 1. A listing of services offered by the video programming provider, which clearly describes programming for all services and all levels of service.

AB207-SSA1,35,20 2. The rates for all services and levels of service.

AB207-SSA1,35,22 3. Telephone numbers through which customers may subscribe to, change, or terminate service, request customer service, or seek general or billing information.

AB207-SSA1,35,23 4. Instructions on the use of the video services.

AB207-SSA1,36,3 5. A description of rights and remedies that the video programming provider shall make available to their customers if the video programming provider does not materially meet the general customer service standards described in this paragraph.

AB207-SSA1,36,7 (4) General customer service obligations. (a) A video programming provider shall render reasonably efficient service, promptly make repairs, and interrupt service only as necessary and for good cause, during periods of minimum use of the system and for no more than 24 hours.

AB207-SSA1,36,13 (b) All service representatives or any other person who contacts customers or potential customers on behalf of a video programming provider shall have a visible identification card with their name and photograph and shall orally identify themselves upon first contact with a customer. Customer service representatives shall orally identify themselves to callers immediately following the greeting during each telephone contact with the public.

AB207-SSA1,36,14 (c) A video programming provider shall do one of the following:

AB207-SSA1,36,20 1. Maintain a customer service facility that is located within a municipality in which the video programming provider provides video service and that is staffed by customer service representatives that have the capacity to accept payment; adjust bills; respond to repair, installation, reconnection, disconnection, or other service calls; and distribute or receive converter boxes, remote control units, digital stereo units, or other equipment related to the provision of video service.

AB207-SSA1,36,22 2. Provide customers with bill payment facilities through retail, financial, or other commercial institutions located within the boundaries of a municipality.

AB207-SSA1,37,2 3. Provide an address, toll-free telephone number, or electronic address to accept bill payments and correspondence, and provide secure collection boxes that receive bill payments and returned equipment and that provide a printed receipt when items are deposited.

AB207-SSA1,37,5 4. Provide an address, toll-free telephone number, or electronic address to accept bill payments and correspondence, and provide a method for customers to return equipment to the video programming provider at no cost to the customer.

AB207-SSA1,37,16 (5) Customer contacts. In each contact with a customer, the service representatives of a video programming provider, or any other person who contacts customers or potential customers on behalf of the video programming provider, shall state the estimated cost of the service, repair, or installation orally prior to delivery of the service or before any work is performed, and shall provide the customer with an oral statement of the total charges before terminating the telephone call or other contact in which a service is ordered, whether in person or over the Internet, and shall provide a written statement of the total charges before leaving the location at which the work was performed. If the cost of service is a promotional price or is for a limited period of time, the cost of service at the end of the promotion or limited period of time shall be disclosed.

AB207-SSA1,37,24 (6) Notices. A video programming provider shall provide customers a minimum of 30 days' written notice before increasing rates or eliminating transmission of programming and shall submit the notice to the municipality in advance of distribution to customers, except that if the elimination of transmission of programming is outside the control of the video programming provider, the video programming provider shall use reasonable efforts to provide as much notice as possible and any rate decrease related to the elimination of transmission of programming shall be applied as of the date of the elimination.

AB207-SSA1,38,5 (7) Reception. A video programming provider shall provide clear visual and audio reception that meets or exceeds applicable federal communications commission technical standards. If a customer experiences poor video or audio reception due to the equipment of the video programming provider, the video programming provider shall promptly repair the problem at its own expense.

AB207-SSA1,38,7 (8) Bills, payment and termination. (a) A video programming provider shall render monthly bills that are clear, accurate, and understandable.

AB207-SSA1,38,9 (b) Every residential customer who pays bills directly to a video programming provider shall have at least 28 days from the date of the bill to pay the listed charges.

AB207-SSA1,38,12 (c) A video programming provider shall promptly post customer payments. If payment is sent by United States mail, payment is considered paid on the date it is postmarked.

AB207-SSA1,38,22 (d) A video programming provider may not terminate residential service for nonpayment of a bill unless the video programming provider furnishes notice of the delinquency and impending termination at least 21 days prior to the proposed termination. Notice of proposed termination shall be mailed to the customer to whom service is billed. Notice of proposed termination shall not be mailed until the 29th day after the date of the bill for services. Notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement only if the notice is presented in a different color than the bill and is designed to be conspicuous. A video programming provider may not assess a late fee prior to the 29th day after the date of the bill for service.

AB207-SSA1,39,5 (e) A video programming provider shall include with every notice of impending termination the name and address of the customer; the amount of delinquency; the date on which payment is required to avoid termination; and the telephone number of the video programming provider's service representative to make payment arrangements and to provide additional information about any charges for failure to return equipment and for reconnection. No customer may be charged a fee for termination or disconnection of service, regardless of whether the customer or the video programming provider initiated termination or disconnection.

AB207-SSA1,39,8 (f) A video programming provider may terminate service only on those days when the customer is able to reach, in person or by telephone, a service representative of the video programming provider.

AB207-SSA1,39,13 (g) Any service terminated by a video programming provider without good cause shall be restored without any reconnection fee, charge, or penalty. Good cause for termination includes failure to pay a bill by the date specified in the notice of impending termination, payment by check for which there are insufficient funds, theft of service, abuse of equipment or personnel, or other similar customer actions.

AB207-SSA1,39,22 (h) A video programming provider shall cease charging a customer for any or all services within one business day after it receives a request to immediately terminate service or on the day requested by the customer if such a date is at least 5 days from the date requested by the customer. Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit a video programming provider from billing for charges that the customer incurs prior to the date of termination. A video programming provider shall issue a credit, a refund, or return a deposit within 10 business days after the close of the customer's billing cycle following the request for termination or the return of equipment, if any, whichever is later.

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.