Sec. 16-333e. Credit or refund for interrupted service.
Sec. 16-333e. Credit or refund for interrupted service. (a) As used in this
section:
(1) "Basic service" means all signals of domestic television broadcast stations provided to any subscriber, except a signal secondarily transmitted by satellite carrier beyond the local service area of such station, regardless of how such signal is ultimately
received by the cable system, any public, educational, and governmental programming
and any additional video programming signals or service added to the basic tier by the
cable operator;
(2) "Cable programming service" means any video programming provided over a
cable system, regardless of service tier, including installation or rental of equipment
used for the receipt of such video programming, other than (A) video programming
carried on the basic service tier as defined in this section, (B) video programming offered
on a pay-per-channel or pay-per-program basis, or (C) a combination of multiple channels of pay-per-channel or pay-per-program video programming offered on a multiplexed or time-shifted basis as long as the combined service (i) consists of commonly-identified video programming, and (ii) is not bundled with any regulated tier of service;
(3) "Premium service" means pay-per-channel or pay-per-program services for
which a subscriber pays a fee in addition to the fees for basic service and cable programming service; and
(4) "Video programming" means programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station.
(b) If premium, cable programming or basic service to a subscriber is interrupted
for more than twenty-four continuous hours, such subscriber shall receive a credit or
refund from the community antenna television company in an amount that represents
the proportionate share of such service not received in a billing period, provided such
interruption is not caused by the subscriber.
(c) The Department of Public Utility Control shall adopt regulations in accordance
with the provisions of chapter 54, establishing a viewing time reliability standard for
community antenna television companies and requiring such companies to file with the
department information on premium, cable programming and basic service interruptions
not caused by subscribers. The department shall approve a service interruption adjustment clause to be superimposed on the existing rate schedules of such companies. Such
a clause shall provide for a credit or refund from a company to its subscribers if the
level of service during a month falls below the company's reliability standard due to
interruptions of twenty-four hours or less.
(P.A. 79-548; P.A. 80-85; 80-482, S. 4, 40, 345, 348; P.A. 84-240, S. 3, 4; P.A. 91-244, S. 4; P.A. 95-150, S. 3; P.A.
98-121, S. 8; P.A. 06-196, S. 202.)
History: P.A. 80-85 inserted new Subsec. (c) re annual report and relettered former Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d); P.A. 80-482 made division of public utility control an independent department; P.A. 84-240 limited applicability of Subsec. (a)(1)
to interrupted service instead of interrupted or terminated service and added Subdiv. (2) re interruptions of 24 hours or
less; P.A. 91-244 deleted Subsec. (b) re monthly listing provided to subscribers and relettered the remaining Subsecs; P.A.
95-150 inserted new provisions defining applicable terms as Subsec. (a), designated prior provisions as Subsecs. (b) to
(d), inclusive, and added reference to cable programming and deleted former Subsec. (c) defining "premium service"; P.A.
98-121 amended Subsec. (a)(1) by deleting "required by the franchise to be carried on the basic tier", amended Subsec.
(c) by deleting "January 1, 1985" and deleted former Subsec. (d) re annual report; P.A. 06-196 made a technical change
in Subsec. (a)(2), effective June 7, 2006.