House File 73 



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  L. MILLER


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act requiring an incumbent cable provider applying for a
  2    certificate of franchise authority to maintain or honor
  3    concessions made by the company when entering into the
  4    company's original franchise agreement with the municipality.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  6 TLSB 1319YH 83
  7 rn/nh/8

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 477A.2, subsection 6, Code 2009, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    6.  a.  If a competitive cable service provider or a
  1  4 competitive video service provider applies for a certificate
  1  5 of franchise authority to operate within a municipality, the
  1  6 incumbent cable provider may, at its discretion, apply for a
  1  7 certificate of franchise authority for that same municipality.
  1  8 Such application shall be automatically granted on the same
  1  9 day as a competitive cable service provider or competitive
  1 10 video service provider files a thirty days' notice of offering
  1 11 service as required pursuant to subsection 4.  The franchise
  1 12 agreement with the municipality is terminated on the date the
  1 13 board issues the certificate of franchise authority to an
  1 14 incumbent cable provider.  The terms and conditions of the
  1 15 certificate of franchise authority shall be the same as the
  1 16 terms and conditions of a competitive cable service provider
  1 17 or a competitive video service provider pursuant to this
  1 18 chapter and shall replace the terms and conditions of the
  1 19 franchise agreement previously granted by the municipality.
  1 20    b.  Notwithstanding paragraph "a", the terms and conditions
  1 21 of a certificate of franchise authority issued to an incumbent
  1 22 cable provider shall reflect and maintain any agreements or
  1 23 concessions made by the provider as an incentive to the
  1 24 municipality to enter into the terminated franchise agreement.
  1 25                           EXPLANATION
  1 26    This bill provides that the terms and conditions of a
  1 27 certificate of franchise authority issued to an incumbent
  1 28 cable provider shall reflect and maintain any agreements or
  1 29 concessions made by the provider as an incentive to a
  1 30 municipality to originally enter into the now=terminated
  1 31 franchise agreement with the provider.
  1 32 LSB 1319YH 83
  1 33 rn/nh/8