The extraordinarily rapid growth in the cable television industry brought with it unhappy customers as a result of the industry's inability to adequately service the millions of new subscribers. In response to this situation. Congress required the Federal Communication Commission ("FCC") to adopt customer service standards relating to "(1) cable system office hours and telephone availability, (2) installation, outages, and service calls, and (3) communications between the cable operator and the subscriber, including standards governing bills and refunds."¹

The standards adopted by the FCC are "self-executing" and cable operators are expected to comply with the standards by July 1, 1993. Municipalities may establish and enforce these service requirements if they provide the cable operator with 90 days' written notice by certified mail of their intent to enforce the standards. The first step in initiating enforcement is for the municipality to adopt an ordinance. Municipalities may determine their own specific enforcement mechanisms and procedures or alternatively may adopt those set forth by the FCC.² These enforcement procedures preempt any franchise agreement provisions to the contrary. Customer service standards which are more stringent than FCC standards are allowable.³

The minimum standards set forth by the FCC are relatively straight forward. During normal business hours, the cable operator must provide non-automated answering of its telephone system. In addition, during normal business hours and under normal operating conditions, the time from when the connection is made until the phone is answered must not exceed 30 seconds, including wait time. Transfer time shall not exceed 30 seconds. These standards must be met 90% of the time. Also a caller may receive a busy signal only three percent of the time during normal operating conditions. Unless the number of complaints indicates a clear failure to comply with the FCC standards, the operator does not need to perform special surveys or require special equipment to comply with these standards, but only needs to use its best efforts to document compliance.

Bill payment and customer service locations must be open during normal business hours and be conveniently located. Further, under normal operating conditions, a cable operator is required to meet the following four standards at least 95% of the time: (i) Standard installations are required to be performed within seven business days after the order is received; (ii) The FCC now requires the operator to give a customer a four-hour window of time during the day when service will be provided; (iii) A cable operator must begin working on "service interruptions" no later than 24 hours after learning of the outage. Work on other service problems must begin the next business day; and (iv) Cancellation of appointments must be made prior to the close of business before the scheduled appointment. Where the cable operator is late, he is obligated to contact the customer and reschedule the appointment at a time convenient for the customer.

The FCC now requires that subscribers be notified through announcements on the cable system and in writing of any changes in rates, programming services or channel positions as soon as possible. Where possible, this must be a 30-day notice. Bills must be fully itemized and note all activity during the billing period. Refunds are required to be issued within 30 days of the next billing cycle after resolution of a refund request.

The FCC has not established customer service enforcement guidelines regarding reporting requirements, refunds or penalties. Therefore, local governments are free to establish "reasonable remedies to assure the compliance and fairness to all parties." Municipality imposed remedies could include refunds, credits and court actions.

1. The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (the "Act"), §6,32.
2. §632(c)(l) of the Act.
3. §632(c)(2) of the Act.

January 1994 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 9