Senate Bill No. 472
(By Senator Wiedebusch)
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[Introduced February 20, 1995; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section seventeen, article eighteen,
chapter five of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to prohibiting
added cost passed on to customers automatically in the event
a cable company adds channels.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section seventeen, article eighteen, chapter five of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 18. WEST VIRGINIA CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEMS ACT.
§5-18-17. Requirement for adequate service; terms and
conditions of service.
(a) Every cable operator shall provide safe, adequate and
reliable service in accordance with applicable laws, rules,
franchise requirements and its filed schedule of terms and
conditions of service.
(b) The board shall require each cable operator to submit a
schedule of all terms and conditions of service in the form and
with the notice that the board may prescribe.
(c) The board shall ensure that the terms and conditions
upon which cable service is provided are fair both to the public
and to the cable operator, taking into account the geographic,
topographic and economic characteristics of the service area and
the economics of providing cable service to subscribers in the
service area.
(d) The board shall promulgate rules to insure that cable
companies which add channels to enhance and expand offerings to
subscribers may not force subscribers to take the additional
channels for an increased fee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to protect cable
subscribers from companies who add channels to boost price.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.