§ 66-352. Award of franchise and commencement of service.
§ 66‑352. Award offranchise and commencement of service.
(a) Notice ofFranchise. A person who intends to provide cable service over a cable systemin an area must file a notice of franchise with the Secretary before providingthe service. A person who files a notice of franchise must pay a fee in theamount set in G.S. 57C‑1‑22 for filing articles of organization.
A notice of franchise iseffective when it is filed with the Secretary. The notice of franchise mustinclude all of the following:
(1) The applicant'sname, principal place of business, mailing address, physical address, telephonenumber, and e‑mail address.
(2) A description andmap of the area to be served. If the description includes the area within theboundaries of a city, the area to be served is considered to include any areathat is subsequently annexed to the city unless the notice limits the area tobe served to the boundaries of the city on the effective date of the notice.
(3) A list of eachcounty and city in which the described service area is located, in whole or inpart.
(4) A scheduleindicating when service is expected to be offered in the service area.
(b) Commencement ofService. A person who files a notice of franchise under subsection (a) ofthis section must begin providing cable service in the service area describedin the notice within 120 days after the notice is filed. If cable service doesnot begin within this period, the notice of franchise terminates 130 days afterit was filed. If cable service begins within this period, the holder of theState‑issued franchise must file a notice of service with the Secretarywithin 10 days after the cable service begins. Cable service begins when itpasses one or more households in the described service area. This subsectiondoes not apply to a cable service provider who terminates an existing agreementwhose franchise area includes all of the service area described in a notice offranchise filed by the provider under subsection (a) of this section.
A notice of service for aservice area must include all of the following:
(1) The effective dateof a notice of franchise for that area.
(2) A description andmap of the service area.
(3) A statement thatcable service has begun in the service area.
(c) Extension. Aperson who intends to provide cable service over a cable system in an area thatis contiguous with but outside the service area described in a notice offranchise on file with the Secretary must file a notice of franchise undersubsection (a) of this section that includes the proposed area. The initialservice requirements in subsection (b) of this section apply to the proposedarea. If the map of the area to be served includes any area that is part of theservice area of another State‑issued franchise, the termination of a noticeof franchise for the proposed area for failure to begin service within therequired time does not affect the status of the other State‑issuedfranchise.
(d) Withdrawal. Aperson may withdraw a notice of franchise by filing a notice of withdrawal withthe Secretary. The notice of withdrawal must be filed at least 90 days beforethe service is withdrawn. (2006‑151, s. 1; 2008‑148, s. 5.)