(a) A cable operator or video service provider that has been granted a state franchise under this division may not discriminate against or deny access to service to any group of potential residential subscribers because of the income of the residents in the local area in which the group resides. (b) Holders or their affiliates with more than 1,000,000 telephone customers in California satisfy subdivision (a) if all of the following conditions are met: (1) Within three years after it begins providing video service under this division, at least 25 percent of households with access to the holderâs video service are low-income households. (2) Within five years after it begins providing video service under this division and continuing thereafter, at least 30 percent of the households with access to the holderâs video service are low-income households. (3) Holders provide service to community centers in underserved areas, as determined by the holder, without charge, at a ratio of one community center for every 10,000 video subscribers. The holder shall not be required to take its facilities beyond the appropriate demarcation point outside the community center building or perform any inside wiring. The community center may not receive service from more than one state franchise holder at a time under this section. For purposes of this section, âcommunity centerâ means any facility operated by an organization that has qualified for the California Teleconnect Fund, as established in Section 280 and that will make the holderâs service available to the community. (c) Holders or their affiliates with fewer than 1,000,000 telephone customers in California satisfy this section if they offer video service to all customers within their telephone service area within a reasonable time, as determined by the commission. However, the commission shall not require the holder to offer video service if the cost to provide video service is substantially above the average cost of providing video service in that telephone service area. (d) When a holder provides video service outside of its telephone service area, is not a telephone corporation, or offers video service in an area where no other video service is being offered, other than direct-to-home satellite service, there is a rebuttable presumption that discrimination in providing service has not occurred within those areas. The commission may review the holderâs proposed video service area to ensure that the area is not drawn in a discriminatory manner. (e) For holders or their affiliates with more than 1,000,000 telephone customers in California, either of the following shall apply: (1) If the holder is predominantly deploying fiber optic facilities to the customerâs premise, the holder shall provide access to its video service to a number of households at least equal to 25 percent of the customer households in the holderâs telephone service area within two years after it begins providing video service under this division, and to a number at least equal to 40 percent of those households within five years. (2) If the holder is not predominantly deploying fiber optic facilities to the customerâs premises, the holder shall provide access to its video service to a number of households at least equal to 35 percent of the households in the holderâs telephone service area within three years after it begins providing video service under this division, and to a number at least equal to 50 percent of these households within five years. (3) A holder shall not be required to meet the 40-percent requirement in paragraph (1) or the 50-percent requirement in paragraph (2) until two years after at least 30 percent of the households with access to the holderâs video service subscribe to it for six consecutive months. (4) If 30 percent of the households with access to the holderâs video service have not subscribed to the holderâs video service for six consecutive months within three years a
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