the filing of such certification, authorized 
to provide cable service under section 621 
or any other law (including this section); 
or 
‘‘(ii) a contiguous geographic area 
that covers the entirety of the jurisdiction 
of a unit of general local government, ex-
cept that— 
‘‘(I) if the geographic area within 
the jurisdiction of such unit of general 
local government contains a franchise 
area in which a cable operator is, on 
such date, authorized to provide cable 
service under section 621 or any other 
law, the contiguous geographic area 
identified in the certification under 
this clause as a franchise area shall 
not include the area contained in the 
franchise area of such cable operator; 
and 
‘‘(II) if such contiguous geo-
graphic area includes areas that are, 
respectively, within the jurisdiction of 
different franchising authorities, the 
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cchase on PROD1PC60 with BILLS
certification shall specify each such 
area as a separate franchise area; 
‘‘(G) a declaration that such person or 
group transmitted, or will transmit on the day 
of filing such declaration, a copy of such certifi-
cation to the franchising authority for each 
franchise area for which such person or group 
is filing a certification to offer cable service 
under this section; 
‘‘(H) a declaration by the person or group 
that the person or group will comply with the 
rights-of-way requirements of the franchising 
authority under subsection (f); and 
‘‘(I) a declaration by the person or group 
that— 
‘‘(i) the person or group will comply 
with all Commission consumer protection 
and customer service rules under section 
632(b) and subsection (g) of this section; 
and 
‘‘(ii) the person or group agrees that 
such standards may be enforced by the 
Commission or by the franchising author-
ity in accordance with subsection (g) of 
this section. 
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‘‘(4) LOCAL NOTIFICATION; PRESERVATION OF 
OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE.— 
‘‘(A) COPY
TO
FRANCHISING
AUTHOR-
ITY.—On the day of filing any certification 
under paragraph (2)(A) or (B) for a franchise 
area, the person or group shall transmit a copy 
of such certification to the franchising authority 
for such area. 
‘‘(B) NEGOTIATED
FRANCHISE
AGREE-
MENTS
PERMITTED.—Nothing in this section 
shall prevent a person or group from negoti-
ating a franchise agreement or any other au-
thority to provide cable service in a franchise 
area under section 621 or any other law. Upon 
entry into any such negotiated franchise agree-
ment, such negotiated franchise agreement shall 
apply in lieu of any national franchise held by 
that person or group under this section for such 
franchise area. 
‘‘(5) UPDATING OF CERTIFICATIONS.—A person 
or group that files a certification under this section 
shall update any information contained in such cer-
tification that is no longer accurate and correct. 
‘‘(6) 
PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY
OF
CERTIFI-
CATIONS.—The Commission shall provide for the 
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public availability on the Commission’s Internet 
website or other electronic facility of all current cer-
tifications filed under this section. 
‘‘(b) EFFECTIVENESS; DURATION.— 
‘‘(1) EFFECTIVENESS.—A national franchise 
under this section shall be effective with respect to 
any franchise area 30 days after the date of the fil-
ing of a completed certification under subsection 
(a)(2)(A) or (B) that applies to such franchise area. 
‘‘(2) DURATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A franchise under this 
section that applies to a franchise area shall be 
effective for that franchise area for a term of 
10 years. 
‘‘(B) RENEWAL.—A franchise under this 
section for a franchise area shall be renewed 
automatically upon expiration of the 10-year 
period described in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) PUBLIC HEARING.—At the request of 
a franchising authority in a franchise area, a 
cable operator authorized under this section to 
provide cable service in such franchise area 
shall, within the last year of the 10-year period 
applicable under subparagraph (A) to the cable 
operator’s franchise for such franchise area, 
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