[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 47, Volume 4]

[Revised as of October 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 47CFR76.1603]



[Page 714-715]

 

                       TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION

 

                    CHAPTER I--FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS

                         COMMISSION (CONTINUED)

 

PART 76_MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE--Table of Contents

 

                            Subpart T_Notices

 

Sec. 76.1603  Customer service--rate and service changes.



    (a) A cable franchise authority may enforce the customer service 

standards set forth in paragraph (b) of this section against cable 

operators. The franchise authority must provide affected cable operators 

90 days written notice of its intent to enforce standards.

    (b) Customers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming 

services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing. Notice 

must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of 

such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator. 

In addition, the cable operator shall notify subscribers 30 days in 

advance of any significant changes in the other information required by 

Sec. 76.1602.

    (c) In addition to the requirement of paragraph (b) of this section 

regarding advance notification to customers of any changes in rates, 

programming services or channel positions, cable systems shall give 30 

days written notice to both subscribers and local franchising 

authorities before implementing any rate or service change. Such notice 

shall state the precise amount of any rate change and briefly explain in 

readily understandable fashion the cause of the rate change (e.g., 

inflation, change in external costs or the addition/deletion of 

channels). When the change involves the addition or deletion of 

channels, each channel added or deleted must be separately identified. 

For purposes of the carriage of digital broadcast signals, the operator 

need only identify for subscribers, the television signal added and not 

whether that signal may be multiplexed during certain dayparts.

    (d) A cable operator shall provide written notice to a subscriber of 

any increase in the price to be charged for the basic service tier or 

associated equipment at least 30 days before any proposed increase is 

effective. The notice should include the name and address of the local 

franchising authority.

    (e) To the extent the operator is required to provide notice of 

service and rate changes to subscribers, the operator may provide such 

notice using any reasonable written means at its sole discretion.

    (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of part 76 of this chapter, 

a cable operator shall not be required to provide prior notice of any 

rate change that is the result of a regulatory fee, franchise fee, or 

any other fee, tax, assessment, or charge of any kind imposed by any 

Federal agency, State, or franchising authority on the transaction 

between the operator and the subscriber.



    Note 1 to Sec. 76.1603: Section 624(h) of the Communications Act, 

47 U.S.C. 544(h), contains additional notification requirements which a 

franchising authority may enforce.



[[Page 715]]



    Note 2 to Sec. 76.1603: Section 624(d)(3) of the Communications 

Act, 47 U.S.C. 544(d)(3), contains additional notification provisions 

pertaining to cable operators who offer a premium channel without charge 

to cable subscribers who do not subscribe to such premium channel.

    Note 3 to Sec. 76.1603: Section 631 of the Communications Act, 47 

U.S.C. 551, contains additional notification requirements pertaining to 

the protection of subscriber privacy.



[65 FR 53617, Sept. 5, 2000, as amended at 66 FR 16554, Mar. 26, 2001]