Subd. 1. All systems.

The following requirements apply to all classes A, B, and C systems unless provided otherwise:

1. (a) a provision that the franchise complies with the Minnesota franchise standards contained in this section;
2. (b) a provision requiring the franchisee and the franchising authority to conform to state laws and rules regarding cable communications not later than one year after they become effective, unless otherwise stated, and to conform to federal laws and regulations regarding cable as they become effective;
3. (c) a provision limiting the initial and renewal franchise term to not more than 15 years each;
4. (d) a provision specifying that the franchise is nonexclusive;
5. (e) a provision prohibiting sale or transfer of the franchise or sale or transfer of stock so as to create a new controlling interest under section 238.083, except at the approval of the franchising authority, which approval must not be unreasonably withheld, and that the sale or transfer is completed pursuant to section 238.083;
6. (f) a provision granting the franchising authority collecting a franchise fee the authority to audit the franchisee's accounting and financial records upon reasonable notice, and requiring that the franchisee file with the franchising authority annually reports of gross subscriber revenues and other information as the franchising authority deems appropriate;

7. (g) provisions specifying:

   1. (1) current subscriber charges or that the current charges are available for public inspection in the municipality;
   2. (2) the length and terms of residential subscriber contracts, if they exist, or that the current length and terms of residential subscriber contracts are available for public inspection in the municipality; and
   3. (3) the procedure by which subscriber charges are established, unless such a provision is contrary to state or federal law;
8. (h) a provision indicating by title the office or officer of the franchising authority that is responsible for the continuing administration of the franchise;
9. (i) a provision requiring the franchisee to indemnify and hold harmless the franchising authority during the term of the franchise, and to maintain throughout the term of the franchise, liability insurance in an amount as the franchising authority may require insuring both the franchising authority and the franchisee with regard to damages and penalties which they may legally be required to pay as a result of the exercise of the franchise;
10. (j) a provision that at the time the franchise becomes effective and thereafter until the franchisee has liquidated all of its obligation with the franchising authority, the franchisee shall furnish a performance bond, certificate of deposit, or other type of instrument approved by the franchising authority in an amount as the franchising authority deems to be adequate compensation for damages resulting from the franchisee's nonperformance. The franchising authority may, from year to year and in its sole discretion, reduce the amount of the performance bond or instrument;
11. (k) a provision that nothing contained in the franchise relieves a person from liability arising out of the failure to exercise reasonable care to avoid injuring the franchisee's facilities while performing work connected with grading, regrading, or changing the line of a street or public place or with the construction or reconstruction of a sewer or water system;
12. (l) a provision that the franchisee's technical ability, financial condition, and legal qualification were considered and approved by the franchising authority in a full public proceeding that afforded reasonable notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard;
13. (m) a provision requiring the construction of a cable system with a channel capacity available for immediate or potential use, equal to a minimum of 72 MHz of bandwidth, the equivalent of 12 television broadcast channels. For purposes of this section, a cable system with a channel capacity, available for immediate or potential use, equal to a minimum of 72 MHz of bandwidth means: the provision of a distribution system designed and constructed so that a minimum of 72 MHz of bandwidth, the equivalent of 12 television broadcast channels, can be put into use with only the addition of the appropriate headend equipment;

14. (n) a provision in initial franchises that there be a full description of the system proposed for construction and a schedule showing:

    1. (1) that for franchise areas which will be served by a system proposed to have fewer than 100 plant miles of cable:

       1. (i) that within 90 days of the granting of the franchise, the franchisee shall apply for the necessary governmental permits, licenses, certificates, and authorizations;
       2. (ii) that energized trunk cable must be extended substantially throughout the authorized area within one year after receipt of the necessary governmental permits, licenses, certificates, and authorizations and that persons along the route of the energized cable will have individual "drops" as desired during the same period of time; and
       3. (iii) that the requirement of this section may be waived by the franchising authority only upon occurrence of unforeseen events or acts of God; or

    2. (2) that for franchise areas which will be served by a system proposed to have 100 plant miles of cable or more, a provision:

       1. (i) that within 90 days of the granting of the franchise, the franchisee shall apply for the necessary governmental permits, licenses, certificates, and authorizations;
       2. (ii) that engineering and design must be completed within one year after the granting of the franchise and that a significant amount of construction must be completed within one year after the franchisee's receipt of the necessary governmental permits, licenses, certificates, and authorizations;
       3. (iii) that energized trunk cable must be extended substantially throughout the authorized area within five years after commencement of construction and that persons along the route of the energized cable will have individual "drops" within the same period of time, if desired; and
       4. (iv) that the requirement of this section be waived by the franchising authority only upon occurrence of unforeseen events or acts of God;
15. (o) unless otherwise already provided for by local law, a provision that the franchisee shall obtain a permit from the proper municipal authority before commencing construction of a cable communications system, including the opening or disturbance of a street, sidewalk, driveway, or public place. The provision must specify remedies available to the franchising authority in cases where the franchisee fails to meet the conditions of the permit;
16. (p) unless otherwise already provided for by local law, a provision that wires, conduits, cable, and other property and facilities of the franchisee be located, constructed, installed, and maintained in compliance with applicable codes. The provision must also specify that the franchisee keep and maintain its property so as not to unnecessarily interfere with the usual and customary trade, traffic, or travel upon the streets and public places of the franchise area or endanger the life or property of any person;
17. (q) unless otherwise already provided for by local law, a provision that the franchising authority and the franchisee shall establish a procedure in the franchise for the relocation or removal of the franchisee's wires, conduits, cables, and other property located in the street, right-of-way, or public place whenever the franchising authority undertakes public improvements which affect the cable equipment;
18. (r) a provision incorporating by reference as a minimum the technical standards promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission relating to cable communications systems contained in subpart K of part 76 of the Federal Communications Commission's rules and regulations relating to cable communications systems and found in Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, sections 76.601 to 76.617. The results of tests required by the Federal Communications Commission must be filed within ten days of the conduct of the tests with the franchising authority;
19. (s) a provision establishing how the franchising authority and the cable communications company shall determine who is to bear the costs of required special testing;

20. (t) a provision pertaining to the franchisee's construction and maintenance of a cable communications system having the technical capacity for nonvoice return communications which, for purposes of this section, means the provision of appropriate system design techniques with the installation of cable and amplifiers suitable for the subsequent insertion of necessary nonvoice communications electronic modules.

    In cases where an initial franchise is granted, the franchisee shall provide a cable communications system having the technical capacity for nonvoice return communications.

    When a franchise is renewed, sold, or transferred and is served by a system that does not have the technical capacity for nonvoice return communications, the franchising authority shall determine when and if the technical capacity for nonvoice return communications is needed after appropriate public proceedings at the municipal level giving reasonable notice and a reasonable opportunity to be heard;

21. (u) a provision stating that no signals of a class IV cable communications channel may be transmitted from a subscriber terminal for purposes of monitoring individual viewing patterns or practices without the express written permission of the subscriber. The request for permission must be contained in a separate document with a prominent statement that the subscriber is authorizing the permission in full knowledge of its provisions. The written permission must be for a limited period of time not to exceed one year which is renewable at the option of the subscriber. No penalty may be invoked for a subscriber's failure to provide or renew the authorization. The authorization is revocable at any time by the subscriber without penalty of any kind. The permission must be required for each type or classification of class IV cable communications activity planned for the purpose;

    1. (1) No information or data obtained by monitoring transmission of a signal from a subscriber terminal, including but not limited to lists of the names and addresses of the subscribers or lists that identify the viewing habits of subscribers, may be sold or otherwise made available to any party other than to the company and its employees for internal business use, or to the subscriber who is the subject of that information, unless the company has received specific written authorization from the subscriber to make the data available;
    2. (2) Written permission from the subscriber must not be required for the systems conducting systemwide or individually addressed electronic sweeps for the purpose of verifying system integrity or monitoring for the purpose of billing. Confidentiality of this information is subject to clause (1);
    3. (3) For purposes of this provision, a "class IV cable communications channel" means a signaling path provided by a cable communications system to transmit signals of any type from a subscriber terminal to another point in the communications system;
22. (v) a provision specifying the procedure for the investigation and resolution by the franchisee of complaints regarding quality of service, equipment malfunction, billing disputes, and other matters;
23. (w) a provision requiring that at least a toll-free or collect telephone number for the reception of complaints be provided to the subscriber and that the franchisee maintain a repair service capable of responding to subscriber complaints or requests for service within 24 hours after receipt of the complaint or request. The provision must also state who will bear the costs included in making these repairs, adjustments, or installations;

24. (x) a provision granting the franchising authority the right to terminate and cancel the franchise and the rights and privileges of the franchise if the franchisee substantially violates a provision of the franchise ordinance, attempts to evade the provisions of the franchise ordinance, or practices fraud or deceit upon the franchising authority.

    The municipality shall provide the franchisee with a written notice of the cause for termination and its intention to terminate the franchise and shall allow the franchisee a minimum of 30 days after service of the notice in which to correct the violation.

    The franchisee must be provided with an opportunity to be heard at a public hearing before the governing body of the municipality before the termination of the franchise;

25. (y) a provision that no cable communications company, notwithstanding any provision in a franchise, may abandon a cable communications service or a portion of it without having given three months prior written notice to the franchising authority. No cable communications company may abandon a cable communications service or a portion of it without compensating the franchising authority for damages resulting to it from the abandonment;
26. (z) a provision requiring that upon termination or forfeiture of a franchise, the franchisee remove its cable, wires, and appliances from the streets, alleys, and other public places within the franchise area if the franchising authority so requests, and a procedure to be followed in the event the franchisee fails to remove its cable, wires, and appliances from the streets, alleys, and other public places within the franchise area;
27. (aa) a provision that when a franchise or cable system is offered for sale, the franchising authority shall have the right to purchase the system;

28. (bb) a provision establishing the minimum number of access channels that the franchisee shall make available. This provision must require that the franchisee shall provide to each of its subscribers who receive some or all of the services offered on the system, reception on at least one specially designated access channel. The specially designated access channel may be used by local educational authorities and local government on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis. During those hours that the specially designated access channel is not being used by the local educational authorities or local government, the franchisee shall lease time to commercial or noncommercial users on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis if the demand for that time arises. The franchisee may also use this specially designated access channel for local origination during those hours when the channel is not in use by local educational authorities, local government, or commercial or noncommercial users who have leased time. The VHF spectrum must be used for the specially designated access channel required in this paragraph.

    The provision must also require that the franchisee shall establish rules for the administration of the specially designated access channel.

    Franchisees providing only alarm services or only data transmission services for computer-operated functions do not need to provide access channel reception to alarm and data service subscribers.

Subd. 2. Required provisions for class B system.

Franchises for class B cable systems must contain statements and provisions consistent with subdivision 1, unless hereafter provided otherwise, and statements and provisions consistent with the following requirements:

1. (a) a provision establishing the minimum number of access channels that the franchisee shall make available. Franchisees subject to this provision are not subject to subdivision 1, paragraph (bb).

   1. (1) The provision must require that the franchisee provide to each of its subscribers who receive all or a part of the total services offered on the system, reception on at least one specially designated access channel available for use by the general public on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis. Channel time and playback of prerecorded programming on this specially designated access channel must be provided without charge to the general public, except that personnel, equipment, and production costs may be assessed for live studio presentations exceeding five minutes in length. Charges for production costs must be consistent with the goal of affording the public a low-cost means of television access. The specially designated access channel may be used by local education authorities and local government on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis during those hours when the channel is not in use by the general public. During those hours that the specially designated access channel is not being used by the general public, local educational authorities, or local government, the franchisee shall lease time to commercial or noncommercial users on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis if the demand for that time arises. The franchisee may also use this specially designated access channel for local origination during those hours when the channel is not in use by the general public, local educational authorities, local government, or commercial or noncommercial users who have leased time. The VHF spectrum must be used for the specially designated access channel required in this paragraph.
   2. (2) The provision must also require that the franchisee establish rules for the administration of the specially designated access channel.
   3. (3) The provision must require that whenever the specially designated access channel required in clause (1) is in use during 80 percent of the weekdays, Monday to Friday, for 80 percent of the time during a consecutive three-hour period for six weeks running, and there is a demand for use of an additional channel for the same purpose, the franchisee has six months in which to provide a new specially designated access channel for the same purpose, provided that provision of the additional channel or channels does not require the cable system to install converters. Nothing in this section precludes the installation of converters by the system on a voluntary basis, as a result of an agreement arrived at through negotiation between the parties to a franchise, or by a potential access user who wishes to install converters in order to make use of an additional channel or channels.
   4. (4) Franchisees providing only alarm services or only data transmission services for computer-operated functions do not need to provide access channel reception to alarm and data service subscribers.
2. (b) A provision establishing the minimum equipment that the franchisee shall make available for public use. The provision shall require that the franchisee make readily available for public use upon need being shown, at least the minimal equipment necessary to perform good quality playback of prerecorded programming, and to make it possible to record programs at remote locations with battery-operated portable equipment. Need within the meaning of this section must be determined by subscriber petition. The petition must contain the signatures of at least ten percent of the subscribers of the system, but in no case more than 350 nor fewer than 100 signatures.

Subd. 3. Required provisions for class C system.

Franchises for class C cable systems must contain statements and provisions consistent with subdivision 1, unless this section provides otherwise, and statements and provisions consistent with the following requirements:

1. (a) a provision establishing the minimum number of public, educational, governmental, and leased access channels that the franchisee shall make available. Franchisees subject to this provision are not subject to subdivision 1, paragraph (bb).

   1. (1) The provision must require that the franchisee shall, to the extent of the system's available channel capacity, provide to each of its subscribers who receives some or all of the services offered on the system, reception on at least one specially designated noncommercial public access channel available for use by the general public on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis; at least one specially designated access channel for use by local educational authorities; at least one specially designated access channel available for local government use; and at least one specially designated access channel available for lease on a first-come, first-served, nondiscriminatory basis by commercial and noncommercial users. The VHF spectrum must be used for at least one of the specially designated noncommercial public access channels required in this paragraph. The provision must require that no charges may be made for channel time or playback of prerecorded programming on at least one of the specially designated noncommercial public access channels required by this paragraph. Personnel, equipment, and production costs may be assessed, however, for live studio presentations exceeding five minutes in length. Charges for those production costs and fees for use of other public access channels must be consistent with the goal of affording the public a low-cost means of television access.
   2. (2) The provision must require that whenever the specially designated noncommercial public access channel, the specially designated education access channel, the specially designated local government access channel, or the specially designated leased access channel required in clause (1) is in use during 80 percent of the weekdays, Monday to Friday, for 80 percent of the time during any consecutive three-hour period for six weeks running, and there is demand for use of an additional channel for the same purpose, the franchisee shall then have six months in which to provide a new specially designated access channel for the same purpose, provided that provision of the additional channel or channels must not require the cable system to install converters. However, nothing in this section precludes the installation of converters by the system on a voluntary basis, or as a result of an agreement arrived at through negotiation between the parties to a franchise, or by a potential access user who wishes to install converters in order to make use of an additional channel or channels.
   3. (3) The provision must also require that the franchisee establish rules pertaining to the administration of the specially designated noncommercial public access channel, the specially designated educational access channel, and the specially designated leased access channel required in this section.
   4. (4) Those systems which offer subscribers the option of receiving programs on one or more special service channels without also receiving the regular subscriber services may comply with this section by providing the subscribers who receive the special service only, at least one specially designated composite access channel composed of the programming on the specially designated noncommercial public access channel, the specially designated education access channel, and the specially designated local government access channel required in this section.
   5. (5) On those systems without sufficient available channel capacity to allow for activation of all specially designated access channels required in this section, or when demand for use of the channels does not warrant activation of all specially designated access channels required in this section, public, educational, governmental, and leased access channel programming may be combined on one or more cable channels. To the extent time is available, access channels may also be used for other broadcast and nonbroadcast services, provided that these services are subject to immediate displacement if there is demand to use the channel for its specially designated purpose. The system shall, in any case, provide at least one full channel on the VHF spectrum for shared access programming.
   6. (6) Franchisees providing only alarm services or only data transmission services for computer-operated functions do not need to provide access channel reception to alarm and data service subscribers.
2. (b) a provision establishing the minimum equipment that the franchisee shall make available for public use. The provision shall require that the franchisee shall make readily available for public use at least the minimal equipment necessary for the production of programming and playback of prerecorded programs for the specially designated noncommercial public access channel required by paragraph (a), clause (1). The franchisee shall also make readily available, upon need being shown, the minimum equipment necessary to make it possible to record programs at remote locations with battery-operated portable equipment. Need within the meaning of this section must be determined by subscriber petition. The petition must contain the signatures of at least ten percent of the subscribers of the system, but in no case more than 500 nor fewer than 100 signatures.

3. (c) a provision establishing the minimum systemwide channel capacity that the franchisee shall make available. Franchisees subject to the requirement of this provision are not subject to the requirements of subdivision 1, paragraph (bb).

   1. (1) The provision must require the construction of a cable system with a channel capacity, available for immediate or potential use, equal to a minimum of 120 MHz of bandwidth, the equivalent of 20 television broadcast channels.
   2. (2) Systems that are already constructed pursuant to a preexisting franchise requiring fewer than 120 MHz of bandwidth, the equivalent of fewer than 20 television broadcast channels, shall have until June 21, 1986, to increase the system's channel capacity to a minimum of 120 MHz of bandwidth. However, nothing in this section precludes the parties to a franchise from negotiating an agreement calling for an increase to a minimum of 120 MHz of bandwidth before June 21, 1986.
   3. (3) For purposes of this section, a cable system with a channel capacity, available for immediate or potential use, equal to a minimum of 120 MHz of bandwidth means: the provision of a distribution system designed and constructed so that a minimum of 120 MHz of bandwidth, the equivalent of 20 television broadcast channels, can be put into use with only the addition of the appropriate headend and subscriber terminal equipment.
4. (d) In Twin Cities metropolitan area franchises, a provision designating the standard VHF channel 6 for uniform regional channel usage as required in section 238.43.

Subd. 4. Additional terms and conditions permitted.

A franchise may contain additional terms and conditions as the municipality and the franchisee deem appropriate, provided the additional terms and conditions are consistent with federal and state law.

Subd. 5. Reclassification of systems.

A franchise must be amended by the franchising authority when the number of subscribers served by the cable communications system in the franchise area changes so as to result in reclassification of the system under this section. Amendments must include provisions consistent with the requirements of that class of cable communications systems.