Wis. Stat. § 66.0420 — WI Code / Chapter 66 / Section 66.0420
Video service.
Status: in_force

(1) Legislative findings. The legislature finds all of the following:

(a) Video service brings important daily benefits to state residents by providing news, education, and entertainment.

(b) Uniform regulation of all video service providers by this state is necessary to ensure that state residents receive adequate and efficient video service and to protect and promote the public health, safety, and welfare.

(c) Fair competition in the provision of video service will result in new and more video programming choices for consumers in this state, and a number of providers have stated their desire to provide that service.

(d) Timely entry into the market is critical for new entrants seeking to compete with existing providers.

(e) This state’s economy would be enhanced by additional investment in communications and video programming infrastructure by existing and new providers of video service.

(f) Minimal regulation of all providers of video service within a uniform framework will promote the investment described in par. (e) .

(g) Ensuring that existing providers of video service are subject to the same regulatory requirements and procedures as new entrants will ensure fair competition among all providers.

(h) This section is an enactment of statewide concern for the purpose of providing uniform regulation of video service that promotes investment in communications and video infrastructures and the continued development of this state’s video service marketplace within a framework that is fair and equitable to all providers.

(2) Definitions. In this section:

(a) “Affiliate,” when used in relation to any person, means another person who owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with such person.

(b) “Basic local exchange service area” means the area on file with the public service commission in which a telecommunications video service provider provides basic local exchange service, as defined in s. 196.01 (1g) .

(c) “Cable franchise” means a franchise granted under s. 66.0419 (3) (b) , 2005 stats.

(d) “Cable operator” has the meaning given in 47 USC 522 (5).

(e) “Cable service” has the meaning given in 47 USC 522 (6).

(f) “Cable system” has the meaning given in 47 USC 522 (7).

(g) Except as provided in sub. (8) (ag) , “department” means the department of financial institutions.

(h) “FCC” means the federal communications commission.

(i) “Franchise fee” has the meaning given in 47 USC 542 (g), and includes any compensation required under s. 66.0425 .

(j)

1. “Gross receipts” means all revenues received by and paid to a video service provider by subscribers residing within a municipality for video service, or received from advertisers, including all of the following:

a. Recurring charges for video service.

b. Event-based charges for video service, including pay-per-view and video-on-demand charges.

c. Rental of set top boxes and other video service equipment.

d. Service charges related to the provision of video service, including activation, installation, repair, and maintenance charges.

e. Administrative charges related to the provision of video service, including service order and service termination charges.

f. Revenues received from the provision of home shopping or similar programming.

g. All revenue, except for refunds, rebates, and discounts, derived by the video service provider for advertising over its video service network to subscribers within a municipality. If such revenue is derived under a regional or national compensation contract or arrangement between the video service provider and one or more advertisers or advertising representatives, the amount of revenue derived for a municipality shall be determined by multiplying the total revenue derived under the contract or arrangement by the percentage resulting from dividing the number of subscribers in the municipality by the total number of regional or national subscribers that potentially receive the advertising under the contract or arrangement.

2. Notwithstanding subd. 1. , “gross receipts” does not include any of the following:

a. Discounts, refunds, and other price adjustments that reduce the amount of compensation received by a video service provider.

b. Uncollectible fees, except that any uncollectible fees that are written off as bad debt but subsequently collected shall be included as gross receipts in the period collected, less the expenses of collection.

c. Late payment charges.

e. Amounts billed to video service subscribers to recover taxes, fees, surcharges or assessments of general applicability or otherwise collected by a video service provider from video service subscribers for pass through to any federal, state, or local government agency, including video service provider fees and regulatory fees paid to the FCC under 47 USC 159 .

f. Revenue from the sale of capital assets or surplus equipment not used by the purchaser to receive video service from the seller of those assets or surplus equipment.

g. Charges, other than those described in subd. 1. , that are aggregated or bundled with amounts described in subd. 1. , including but not limited to any revenues received by a video service provider or its affiliates for telecommunications services, information services, or the provision of directory or Internet advertising, including yellow pages, white pages, banner advertisement, and electronic publishing, if a video service provider can reasonably identify such charges on books and records kept in the regular course of business or by other reasonable means.

h. Reimbursement by programmers of marketing costs actually incurred by a video service provider.

(k) “Household” means a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room that is intended for occupancy as separate living quarters. For purposes of this paragraph, “separate living quarters” are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall.

(L) “Incumbent cable operator” means a person who, immediately before January 9, 2008, was providing cable service under a cable franchise, expired cable franchise, or cable franchise extension, or under an ordinance or resolution adopted or enacted by a municipality.

(m) “Institutional network” means a network that connects governmental, educational, and community institutions.

(n) “Interim cable operator” means an incumbent cable operator that elects to continue to provide cable service under a cable franchise as specified in sub. (3) (b) 2. a.

(p) “Large telecommunications video service provider” means a telecommunications video service provider that, on January 1, 2007, had more than 500,000 basic local exchange access lines in this state or an affiliate of such a telecommunication video service provider.

(r) “Municipality” means a city, village, or town.

(s) “PEG channel” means a channel designated for public, educational, or governmental use.

(sm) “Qualified cable operator” means any of the following:

1. A cable operator that has been providing cable service in this state for at least 3 years prior to applying for a video service franchise and that has never had a cable franchise revoked by a municipality.

2. An affiliate of a cable operator specified in subd. 1.

3. A cable operator that, on the date that it applies for a video service franchise, individually or together with its affiliates or parent company, is one of the 10 largest cable operators in the United States as determined by data collected and reported by the FCC or determined by information available to the public through a national trade association representing cable operators.

(t) “Service tier” means a category of video service for which a separate rate is charged.

(u) “State agency” means any board, commission, department, or office in the state government.

(um) “Telecommunications utility” has the meaning given in s. 196.01 (10) .

(v) “Telecommunications video service provider” means a video service provider that uses facilities for providing telecommunications service, as defined in s. 196.01 (9m) , also to provide video service.

(w) “Video franchise area” means the area or areas described in an application for a video service franchise under sub. (3) (d) 2.

(x) “Video programming” means programming provided by, or generally considered comparable to programming provided by, a television broadcast station.

(y) “Video service” means any video programming service, cable service, or service provided via an open video system that complies with 47 USC 573 , that is provided through facilities located at least in part in public rights-of-way, without regard to delivery technology, including Internet protocol technology or any other technology. “Video service” does not include any of the following:

1. Video programming provided by a commercial mobile radio service provider, as defined in s. 196.01 (2g) .

2. Video programming provided solely as part of and via a service that enables users to access content, information, electronic mail, or any other service offered over the public Internet.

(z) “Video service franchise” means a franchise issued under sub. (3) (f) 2.

(zb) “Video service network” means wireline facilities, or any component thereof, located at least in part in the public right-of-way that deliver video service, without regard to delivery technology, including Internet protocol technology or any other technology. “Video service network” includes a cable system.

(zg) “Video service provider” means a person, including an incumbent cable operator, who is issued a video service franchise or a successor or assign of such a person.