Title 48, Title 48: PUBLIC UTILITIES

48:5A-18 Hearings; conduct; notice; intervention by municipalities; fees; disposition of fees and charges. 18. a. Any hearing held pursuant to the provisions of section 16 or section 17 of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-16 or C.48:5A-17) shall be open to the public, and notice thereof …

48:5A-19 Certificate of approval, system-wide franchise; transferability; duration; renewal. 19. a. A certificate of approval issued by the board shall be nontransferable, except by consent of the board and shall specify the area to which it applies and the municipal consents upo…

48:5A-2 Legislative findings, determinations, and declarations. 2. The Legislature finds, determines and declares: a. That, after careful investigation, it appears that the rates, services and operations of cable television companies in this State are affected with a public inter…

48:5A-20 Highways and rights-of-way; use; joint use with other CATV company or public utility. 20. a. Upon obtaining the prior approval of the board, if necessary, a CATV company may construct and maintain the wires, cables, and conduits necessary to its business upon, under or o…

48:5A-20.1 Notice of development applications to CATV general manager, municipal registration. 7. Within 30 days after the effective date of P.L.2006, c.83 (C.48:5A-25.1 et al.), the board shall notify the general manager of every cable television company that, in order to receiv…

48:5A-21 Lease, rental of facilities, rights-of-way. 21. Upon the prior approval of the board, any person may lease or rent or otherwise make available facilities or rights-of-way, including pole space, to a CATV company for the redistribution of television signals to or toward t…

48:5A-22. Municipal consent; necessity for certificate of approval In any case where a CATV company operates or proposes to operate in a municipality or municipalities where facilities are to be placed in, along, beneath or over highways and other public places, no certificate of…

48:5A-23. Application; filing; fee; hearings; notices; additional applications; decision by municipality; report; conditions; fees; disposition a. Application for a municipal consent required under section 22 of this act shall be made by a CATV company by filing thereof, on forms…

48:5A-24. Issuance by ordinance; terms; acceptance by company Issuance of a municipal consent shall be by ordinance of the governing body, which shall have annexed thereto and incorporated therein the application filed therefor. All engagements and representations made by the CAT…

48:5A-25 Conformance of municipal consent with act. 25. A municipal consent issued pursuant to this act shall conform in form and substance to all requirements of this act and of rules, regulations and orders duly promulgated by the director. It shall specify with particularity t…

48:5A-25.1 Municipal consents, certificates of approval previously issued remain in effect, conversion to system-side franchise; conditions. 19. a. Municipal consents and certificates of approval for applications to provide cable television services in a municipality issued prior…

48:5A-25.2 Requirements for CATV system-wide franchise. 20. a. As part of any system-wide franchise issued by the board pursuant to P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.), a CATV company shall be required to: (1) begin providing cable television service on a commercial basis, within…

48:5A-26 Designation of municipal "complaint officer;" Office of CATV for system-wide franchises. 26. a. Any ordinance issuing a municipal consent pursuant to P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.) shall designate some officer, office, bureau or other agency of the municipal governm…

48:5A-26.1 Record of complaints, annual report. 8. a. In addition to the requirements as provided in section 26 of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-26), the board shall, upon notice, by order in writing require every CATV company to keep for at least a period of three years, a record of …

48:5A-27. Information on applicant's financial responsibility, technical competency and general fitness Whenever a CATV company shall apply to a municipality for the municipal consent required under this act, the municipal governing body may, before acting upon such application, …

48:5A-28 Contents of application, commitments by system-wide franchises. 28. Each application for a municipal consent or system-wide franchise shall contain: a. A description of the initial area to be served. b. A description of the proposed service in terms of the number of chan…

48:5A-28.1 Rules for dispute resolution between companies and municipalities. 24. The board shall adopt rules for procedures for resolving disputes between CATV companies and between CATV companies and municipalities concerning the provisions of subsections i. through m. of secti…

48:5A-28.2 Application requirements relevant to board's decision on applications; enforcement of commitments. 25. a. All of the elements required to be included in the franchise application pursuant to P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.) shall form, in part, the foundation for th…

48:5A-29 Conformance of proposals, representations to rules, regulations. 29. All proposals and representations included in an application for municipal consent or a system-wide franchise shall conform to applicable rules and regulations of the office; except that nothing in P.L.…

48:5A-3 Definitions. 3. As used in this act, except as the context may otherwise clearly require or indicate: a. "Board" means the Board of Public Utilities. b. "Office" means the Office of Cable Television established by the "Cable Television Act," P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et …

48:5A-30 Payment from CATV company to municipality; system-wide franchise fees, local and State. 30. a. Except as provided in subsection d. of this section, in consideration of a municipal consent issued under P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.), the CATV company to which the mun…

48:5A-31. Municipal officers and employees; interest in CATV company; prohibitions It is unlawful for a member of a municipal governing body or any other officer or employee of a municipality to acquire any interest, direct or indirect, in a CATV company which has applied for or …

48:5A-32. Annual assessment by office To enable the office to perform its lawful duties and responsibilities relating to the regulation of CATV companies, the director shall annually make an assessment against each CATV company, which shall be in lieu of all other fees and charge…

48:5A-33. Amount The assessment shall be equal to a percentage of the gross operating revenues of all CATV companies under the jurisdiction of the office derived from intrastate operations during the preceding calendar year at a rate to be determined annually by the office on or …

48:5A-34. Levy and payment; statement of amount; statement of gross operating revenues by companies; filing; objections; hearings; determination; failure to pay; collection; actions for recovery of amount paid a. Such assessment shall be levied not later than July 1, and shall be…

48:5A-35. Failure to pay amount; notice to state treasurer and company; collection by seizure and sale of goods or chattels a. If any CATV company to which a statement for the amount assessed against it as provided in this act has been rendered fails or refuses to pay the amount …

48:5A-36. Duties of CATV companies a. Each CATV company shall provide safe, adequate and proper service, equipment and facilities for the operation of its CATV system. b. No CATV company shall demand or receive a greater or less or different compensation for providing CATV servic…

48:5A-36.1 CATV service termination notices, designation of third parties to receive. 1. a. Every cable television company which provides cable television reception service shall permit a residential subscriber who receives such service to designate a third party to whom the cabl…

48:5A-37. Abandonment of property or discontinuance or temporary suspension of service; approval of board No CATV company shall abandon all or any part of its system or other property necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public, or discontinue or temporaril…

48:5A-38 Combinations, mergers, consolidations, acquisition of control, certain circumstances; approval of board. 38. a. Except as otherwise provided by subsection b. of this section, no CATV company shall combine, merge, or consolidate with, or acquire control of, another organi…

48:5A-39. Prohibited activities No CATV company shall: a. Adopt, maintain or enforce any regulation, practice or measurement which shall be unjust, unreasonable, unduly preferential, arbitrarily or unjustly discriminatory or otherwise in violation of law; b. Provide or maintain a…

48:5A-4 Office of Cable Television; establishment; inapplicability of Title 48 to cable television. 4. There is hereby established in the Board of Public Utilities an Office of Cable Television; but nothing in P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.) shall be construed as declaring or…

48:5A-40 Sale, mortgage, lease, disposition, encumbrance, merger, consolidation, certain circumstances, approval by board. 40. a. Except as otherwise provided by subsections b. and c. of this section, no CATV company shall, without the approval of the board, sell, lease, mortgage…

48:5A-41. Loan of money or property to owners or corporations owned by shareholders; approval of board Except with the approval in writing of the board first had and obtained, no CATV company shall loan any of its money or property to any other person owning, holding or controlli…

48:5A-42 Issuance, renewal of stocks, bonds, notes, other evidences of indebtedness, certain circumstances; review by board. 42. Except as otherwise provided by subsection c. of this section, no CATV company shall, unless it shall have first obtained authority from the board to d…

48:5A-43. Sale or transfer of stock to other CATV corporation or to corporation or person resulting in acquisition of majority in interest; authorization No CATV company incorporated under the laws of this State shall sell, nor shall any such CATV company permit to be made upon i…

48:5A-44. Requirements by board; notice; system of accounting; depreciation account; report of finances and operations; notice of accidents The board may, upon notice, by order in writing require every CATV company: a. To keep its books, records and accounts so as to afford an in…

48:5A-45. Records, books, accounts, documents and writings; keeping within state; consent for exemption; conditions; designation of agent as custodian; jurisdiction for enforcement of compliance a. Every CATV company shall at all times keep within this State all records, books, a…

48:5A-46. Inspection and examination of books, records, accounts, papers and memoranda The board and any officers or employees of the office under its direction may inspect and examine all books, records, accounts, papers and memoranda kept by any CATV company in respect of any m…

48:5A-47 Revocation, suspension, alteration of certificate, franchise. 47. The board may, after affording the holder an opportunity to be heard, revoke, suspend or alter any certificate of approval or franchise for the violation of any provisions of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et …

48:5A-48. Order to extend system, to repair, to improve or add to system The board may, after affording an opportunity for hearing, order a CATV company (1) to construct and operate any reasonable extension of its existing CATV system within the certified territory, (2) to make a…

48:5A-49. Landlords allowing cable television service reception by tenants; prohibition of charges and fees; indemnification of owners by installers; definitions a. No owner of any dwelling or his agent shall forbid or prevent any tenant of such dwelling from receiving cable tele…

48:5A-5. Director; qualifications; compensation; appointment; term The office shall be headed and administered by a director, who shall be a person qualified by training and experience to perform the duties of his office, and shall receive such salary as shall be provided by law.…

48:5A-50. Immunity from liability for use of facilities for CATV company No cable television company shall be liable to prosecution or for damages, directly or indirectly, arising out of any suit for libel, slander, defamation of character, indecency, invasion of privacy or any o…

48:5A-51 Penalties, enforcement. 51. a. Any person or any officer or agent thereof who shall knowingly violate any of the provisions of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-1 et seq.) or aid or advise in such violation, or who, as principal, manager, director, agent, servant or employee know…

48:5A-53. Severability If any provision of this act or the application of such provision is held invalid for any reason, the remainder of this act or the application of the provision to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby. L.1972, c. 186, s. 53.