1.1 The Grantee shall provide Subscribers a toll-free or local telephone number for installation, service, and complaint calls.

1.2 The Grantee must have telephone lines, either adequately staffed or with answering capability, providing at least emergency referral information, which are operational twenty-four (24) hours a day, every day, including weekends and holidays.

1.3 Under "Normal Operating Conditions" and when phones are staffed, Subscriber calls to the Grantee will be answered on average within thirty (30) seconds ninety percent (90%) of the time measured on a quarterly basis; and Subscribers will receive a busy signal three percent (3%) of the time or less. Failure to meet these standards, within a reasonable time, after notice of failure to do so, shall subject Grantee to appropriate enforcement actions.

1.4.01 On weekdays, during normal business hours the Grantee must have telephone lines and its office(s) located within the Service Area open and adequately staffed to respond to Subscribers in at least four ways:

1.4.02 On Saturdays, Grantee must have telephone lines and adequate staff available: to accept equipment, such as Converters, at the option of the Grantee either at its office or in the field to schedule and perform emergency service or emergency technician calls; must have the capability to accept payments (this may be done through arrangements with unaffiliated retailers); and to answer Subscriber inquiries which may be answered by advising the caller when and to what number to call back during weekdays.

1.4.03 The Grantee shall notify the Manager of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs as promptly as possible, by any available means including accessing telephones away from the Grantee's premises, whenever there is a total interruption of telephone service which affects the Grantee's Subscriber Service phone lines.

1.5 Grantee shall have an office located within the Service Area at which they shall be able to respond to Subscribers a minimum of forty-eight (48) hours a week, with a minimum of eight (8) hours per day, on weekdays.

2.1 The Grantee shall comply with all rules and regulations pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

3.1 All personnel of the Grantee contacting Subscribers or potential Subscribers outside the office of the Grantee must be clearly identified as associated with the Grantee.

4.1.01 Standard installation charges will apply to those installations which are within serviceable addresses and consists of an aerial or underground drop of no more than 125 feet in length running from the nearest feeder cable of the System to the terminal of the Subscriber, utilizing exposed wiring inside the Subscriber's premises. Installations requiring materials or procedures which exceed those minimum lengths, or in the case of any underground drop which involves unforeseen or extraordinary conditions, could be subject to additional charges, as determined by the Grantee, provided that such additional charges shall be fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory, to the extent applicable law and regulations provide.

4.1.02 All installations will be in accordance with FCC rules, including but not limited to, appropriate grounding, adjustment of the television set in order to receive Service, and the provision of required consumer information and literature to instruct the Subscriber in the utilization of the Services.

4.2 Under normal operating conditions, if the Grantee cannot perform standard installations as defined above within five (5) business days of request by a Subscriber (provided that the schedule or preferences of the person requesting installation have not been responsible for the delay), the Subscriber may request and is entitled to receive a free standard installation. If the Grantee fails to provide this free standard installation and the request was made by the Subscriber within thirty (30) days of the installation request, the City may direct the Grantee to issue a credit for the installation. Failure to comply with the City directive will subject Grantee to appropriate enforcement actions. This section does not apply to the introduction of new products and services when Grantee is utilizing a phased introduction.

5.1 The Grantee shall make repairs promptly, and interrupt Service only if necessary and for the shortest period possible.

5.2 The Grantee shall promptly notify the City of any "Significant Service Interruption" in the operation of the System. For the purposes of this Section, a "Significant Service Interruption in the operation of the System "shall mean any outage a duration of at least four (4) continuous hours between the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and eight (8) continuous hours between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. to at least 3,000 of the Subscribers in the area served by Grantee.

5.3 The Grantee shall exercise its best efforts to limit any Significant Service Interruption for the purpose of maintaining, repairing, or construction of the System. Except in an emergency or other situation necessitating a more expedited or alternative notification procedure, the Grantee may schedule a Significant Service Interruption only after the City has been given reasonable prior notice of the proposed interruption.

5.4 Technicians employed by the Grantee and capable of performing service-related emergency repairs and maintenance must be available twenty-four (24) hours a day, including weekends and holidays.

5.501 The Grantee shall provide a monthly summary of service calls received by category to the Manager of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs. The definitions used to classify service calls shall be agreed to by the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs and the Grantee. If possible, report shall be compiled for the Austin franchise area, otherwise, report may be compiled on a system-wide basis and reduced by the Allocation Percentage.

5.5.02 Under normal operating conditions, the Grantee will begin repairing Service Interruptions promptly and in no event later than twenty-four (24) hours after the interruption becomes known (including weekends and holidays) unless the Consumer requests an appointment later than 24 hours after the interruption.

5.5.03 Under normal operating conditions, the Grantee must begin actions to correct Service problems other than Service Interruptions the next business day after notification by a Subscriber of the Service problem unless the Consumer requests an appointment at a later date

5.5.04 Under normal operating conditions, service-related Subscriber complaints, if possible, must be resolved within forty-eight (48) hours (provided that the schedule or preferences of the person requesting service have not been responsible for the delay) and in any event, resolution must occur within one (1) week. A complaint shall be considered to be resolved when signals received by the subscriber have been brought into compliance with applicable FCC standards. Those matters requiring additional maintenance, repair, or technical adjustments that necessitate an excess of one (1) week to reasonably complete, must be finally resolved, if technically feasible, within thirty (30) days of the initial complaint if the complaint has been determined to be the fault of the Grantee. The Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs may require reasonable documentation to be provided by the Grantee to substantiate the additional time to resolve a complaint. The foregoing does not apply to service interruptions which occur on an intermittent basis.

5.6.01 Under normal operating conditions, upon request by the Subscriber, the Grantee shall provide a credit to Subscriber when there is an Outage of all channels for a period of twenty four (24) consecutive hours or more which affects the discrete definable service area. The credit for such an Outage shall equal, at a minimum, the value of one-thirtieth (1/30) of Subscriber's current monthly bill, excluding premium, pay-per-view and special events, for the first twenty-four (24) consecutive-hour period and prorated for each additional 4-hour period or portion thereof that the Outage continues.

5.6.02 Under normal operating conditions, upon request by the Subscriber, the Grantee shall provide a credit to Subscriber when there is an Outage of any premium Service for a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours or more which affects a discrete, definable service area. The credit shall equal, at a minimum, the value of one-thirtieth (1/30) of Subscribers current monthly bill, for affected premium services, for the first twenty-four (24) consecutive-hour period and prorated for each additional (4) hour period or portion thereof that the Outage continues.

5.6.03 Under normal operating conditions, upon request of the Subscriber, the Grantee shall provide a credit to the Subscriber whenever an Outage for a period of twenty four (24) consecutive hours or more has affected fewer than all of the non-premium channels received by the affected Subscriber as part of their Service. The credit shall equal the value of one-thirtieth (1/30) of the prorated portion of the rate per affected channel times the number of affected channels.

5.6.04 The Grantee shall, upon request, provide information to the Manager of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs, regarding the amount of credits that were issued to subscribers for loss or degradation of service. If possible, report shall be compiled on the Austin franchise area, otherwise, report may be compiled on a system-wide basis and reduced by the Allocation Percentage.

5.6.05 Repeated failure to provide the proper credit for Outages shall be grounds for enforcement as provided by this Franchise.

6.l The "appointment window" alternatives for installations and service calls which require Subscriber presence, will be either a specific time or, at maximum, a four-hour scheduled time block during normal business hours. The schedule time block may be longer if the Subscriber consents. (The Grantee may schedule service calls and other installation activities outside of normal business hours for the express convenience of the Customer). This provision does not apply to disconnects, service upgrades or downgrades which do not require access to the Subscriber’s premises or to special request orders.

6.2 Under normal operating conditions, if the Grantee does not arrive for installations or service calls by appointment within the scheduled four-hour time frame agreed to by the Subscriber, the Subscriber may request and is entitled to receive a free standard installation, or $20.00 credit respectively. If the Grantee fails to provide such free standard installation, and the request was made by the Subscriber within thirty (30) days of the missed appointment, the City may direct the Grantee to issue the credit. Failure to comply with the City's directive will subject Grantee to appropriate enforcement actions.

6.3 Under Normal Operating Conditions, the Grantee may not cancel an appointment with a Subscriber after the close of business on the business day prior to the scheduled appointment without the Subscriber’s consent.

6.4 If the Grantee's representative is running late for an appointment with a Subscriber and will not be able to keep the appointment as scheduled, the Grantee will make an effort to contact the Subscriber directly. If, however, the Subscriber is unavailable at the time the contact attempt is made, the Grantee will attempt a second contact at least one more time during the previously agreed upon appointment window. The appointment will be rescheduled, as necessary, at a time which is convenient to the Subscriber. Contacting the Subscriber will not necessarily negate the requirement for a free standard installation.

7.1 An opportunity for review and comment by the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs required under this section shall not imply that prior approval of the Office of Cable and Regulatory Affairs is required. However, in the event of an error concerning City information, the Grantee shall not be in compliance with notification requirements.

7.2 The Grantee shall send annually, written notice to all Subscribers informing them that any complaints or inquiries not satisfactorily handled by the Grantee may be referred to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs. Such notification shall be either:

The Grantee’s telephone number for Service and the telephone number for the Consumer Services section of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs shall be contained in the notice. This notice shall also fully describe the Grantee’s telephone hours and, when applicable, the lobby hours and shall include the telephone number(s) available to Subscribers after the Grantee's normal business hours through which Subscribers can obtain, at a minimum, emergency referral information. No promotional material may be included on the separate document or the portion of the bill containing this notice. When practicable, a draft of this notice shall be forwarded to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs, for review and comment, after which the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs shall respond with comments within 3 business days. The annual notice may be combined with the notice delineated in Section 7.3.

7.3 The Grantee shall notify affected Subscribers of any pricing changes or additional charges (excluding temporary marketing and sales discounts or offers) and/or any changes in programming services (including the scrambling or descrambling of channels - except the descrambling of a channel(s) for promotional purposes).

7.4 The Grantee shall provide written information to Subscribers on each of the following areas at the time of installation of Service, at least annually to all affected Subscribers, at any time upon request, and for affected Subscribers, at least ten (10) days prior to making significant changes in the information required by this Section:

In all Subscriber communications, the Grantee shall be as clear and precise as possible.

7.5.01 Whenever practicable, all required Subscriber notices shall be submitted for review and comment to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs.

7.5.02 Notices of changes in rates shall indicate the new rate and the amount the rate has increased or decreased from the current rate. Specific words such as "Increase" or "Decrease" must be used to describe the changes (as opposed to less specific terms, such as "adjustment").

7.5.03 Notices of changes of programming services and/or channel locations shall include a concise description of the new programming service and the specific dial location, of that programming service. In addition, should the dial location, be affected by the introduction of a new service, such information must also be included in the notice.

7.6.01 In order that Subscribers are fully apprised of the charges they may incur, Companies will generally be required to note that advertised rates are subject to additional taxes and fees.

7.6.02 In order that Subscribers are fully apprised of the charges they may incur, telephone communications with Subscribers that quote rates, fees, and/or other charges shall inform Subscribers that the rates, fees, and/or charges are subject to additional taxes and fees.

7.7 Every notice of termination of Service shall include all of the following information:

7.8 For informational purposes only, a listing of the Grantee closings or holidays will be provided to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs annually, by no later than January 1 and by no later than every anniversary thereafter.

8.1 Bills must be itemized, in accordance with service or services purchased by subscribers and related equipment charges as provided by law and regulations. If, on bills, a Grantee chooses to itemize as a separate line item franchise fees and/or other governmentally imposed fees attributable to the total bill, such fees must be shown in accordance with any applicable law concerning the Grantee's ability to itemize such fees.

8.2 Every residential Subscriber sending payment directly to the Grantee shall have at least ten (ten) business days from the postmarked date of the initial bill for the delinquent amount for Services to pay the listed charges prior to disconnect for non-payment.

8.3 A specific due date shall be indicated on every Subscriber bill. This provision applies only to active accounts not those accounts pending disconnect.

8.4 Any Subscriber who, in good faith, disputes all or part of any bill has the option of withholding the disputed amount without disconnection until Grantee has investigated the dispute and has made a determination that the amount is owed provided that:

8.5 Subscriber bills from Grantee shall include the name, address and telephone number of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs. The Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs will provide the required information to Grantee on an annual basis by January 1, or as needed.

8.6 The Grantee shall forward, on a monthly basis, a sample bill for the current billing period to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs.

8.7 The Grantee shall forward all regulatory billing inserts and copies of all other mailings required by governmental authorities to Subscribers to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs prior to or at the same time that they are provided to Subscribers. (Copies of notices to Subscribers must be forwarded to the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs pursuant to the applicable sections of these Consumer Service Standards.)

9.1 The Grantee shall not terminate residential Service for nonpayment of a delinquent account unless the Grantee provides initial notice of the delinquency and impending termination at least ten (10) days prior to the proposed termination. The notice shall be mailed, postage prepaid, to the Subscriber to whom the Service is billed. This notice shall not be sent until the twenty-eighth (28th) day after the initial bill for Services was mailed to the Subscriber. The notice of delinquency and impending termination may be part of a billing statement. This section does not apply to Subscribers disconnected due to NSF checks.

9.2 The Grantee shall only terminate Service on days when the Subscriber can reach a representative of the Grantee either in person or by telephone. Service terminated without good cause must be restored without charge for the Service restoration. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, signal leakage, failure to pay, payment by check for which there are insufficient funds, theft of Service, abuse of equipment or System personnel, or other similar Subscriber actions.

9.3 Subject to provisions of the franchise agreement, the Grantee shall furnish and maintain Services to each person, in the franchise areas, who qualify for service, who makes a request to receive any programming service. Nothing is these Standards shall limit the right of the Grantee to deny Service to any household or individual which has a negative credit or service history with the Grantee, which may include non-payment of bills or theft or damage to the Grantee’s equipment, or who has threatened or assaulted employees of the Grantee in the course of their employment. Provided that in the event Service is denied, the Grantee will give notice to the Subscriber of the right to contact the appropriate regulatory authority, providing name, address, and phone number as directed by the Office of Cable and Regulatory Affairs.

10.1 The Grantee may require refundable deposits for service or equipment. Upon termination of Service for any reason, Subscribers will be entitled to receive a refund or credit against amounts owed by the Grantee equal to the deposit.

On all deposits, Grantee shall be required to pay simple interest at a rate of one-half percent (1/2%) per month (6% per year). Such interest shall be accrued and payable upon termination of Service. Upon termination of Service for any reason, Subscribers will be entitled to receive a refund or credit against amounts owed the Grantee equal to the deposit plus accumulated interest. The rate may be modified to reflect prevailing market rates upon approval by the City which shall not be unreasonably withheld.

Such interest shall be accrued on deposits charged to Subscribers after the effective date of the franchise. Grantee will not be required to pay simple interest on deposits received prior to such effective date.

10.2.01 Refund checks will be issued promptly following the resolution of the event giving rise to the refund within forty-five (45) days.

10.2.02 In addition to a refund, if the Grantee fails to mail a check for a refund to any Subscriber disconnecting Service with an outstanding credit of $3.00 or more within 45 days of the date Service is ended, and the Subscriber has returned all Grantee-owned equipment, the Subscriber is entitled to receive a $10.00 penalty payment, in addition to the total refund due. Failure to comply with the $10.00 penalty provision shall be grounds for appropriate enforcement actions, as part of the Office of Cable & Regulatory Affairs. Refunds will be provided to Subscribers with outstanding credits of less than $3.00 upon request.

10.3 Credits for Service will be issued no later than the Subscribers next billing cycle following the determination that a credit is warranted.

11.1 The Grantee shall not, except to the extent permitted by law, impose any fee or charge on any Subscriber for service calls to said Subscriber's premises to perform any repair or maintenance work related to Grantee-installed equipment necessary to receive Service, except any such work which was necessitated by a negligent or wrongful act of said Subscriber.

11.2 Where the actions of the Grantee, its agent(s) or subcontractor(s) can be shown upon a reasonable demonstration of evidence to have contributed to the theft, loss or damage of a converter or other equipment lawfully used by a Subscriber, the Subscriber’s liability with respect to said converter or other equipment shall be reduced to the extent of such contributing actions.

11.3 All charges for residential Services must be applied on a nondiscriminatory basis as provided by law, allowing however, for reasonable discounts to senior citizens and/or the economically disadvantaged and that the Grantee may conduct promotional campaigns in which rates are discounted or waived, and may offer commercial rates or bulk rate discounts for multiple dwelling units, hotels, motels and similar institutions.

11.4 The Grantee shall not assess late fees until at least 30 days after the initial bill for current services has been mailed.

11.5 The Grantee shall be entitled to recover a fee for all checks returned due to non-sufficient funds.

12.1 The Grantee shall comply fully with all applicable State and federal laws relating to the protection of Subscriber privacy. The Grantee shall not disclose the telephone number of any Subscriber for any purpose that is not directly related to the provision of services offered by Grantee.

12.2 The Grantee shall not require more personally-identifiable information than is necessary to confirm the identity of a Subscriber and any past due amounts owed the Grantee. The type of information considered to be necessary, may vary depending on the individual Subscriber. The Grantee may deny service if a Subscriber fails to produce any verifiable personally-identifiable information after being requested to do so.

13.1 The City may seek injunctive relief or any other Judicial remedy available pursuant to state or federal law in order to enforce compliance with these standards.

14.1 The City reserves the right to establish additional, reasonable consumer service standards from time to time, as may be necessary, after making a finding of need and after notice and opportunity to be heard from the Grantee and Grantee has agreed to said changes.

14.2 The City reserves the right to regulate rates for video Service to the fullest extent permitted by law.