Construction and technical standards.
Greensboro Code of Ordinances § 7-64
in effectSec. 7-64. - Construction and technical standards.
(a) Compliance with construction and technical standards. The grantee shall construct, rebuild, install, operate and maintain its system in a manner consistent with all laws, ordinances, construction standards or guidelines, governmental requirements, FCC technical standards, and detailed technical standards provided for in the franchise. The grantee, through the system, shall provide uniform, strong signals which are free from any significant distortion and interference. The system shall be designed, constructed, operated and maintained for twenty-four-hours-a-day continuous operation. The system shall produce for reception on subscribers' receivers which are in good working order either monochrome or color pictures (providing the receiver is color capable) which are free from any noticeable interference or distortion which would cause any material degradation of video or audio quality.
(b) State of the art. The grantee shall construct, install operate and maintain its system in accordance with the highest standards of the art of cable communications, such standards to include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) The system will be spaced to permit a minimum of 750 MHz operation and will be compatible with cable ready television sets.
(2) The grantee shall maintain its system facilities in a manner which will continue to enable it to add new services and associated equipment as they are developed, available, and proved marketable to subscribers. The new services and associated equipment will be added to the system facilities when they are provided in any other similar sized market and proved economically viable, and are owned by the grantee or parent company and/or owned by other operators in the State of North Carolina and Virginia, excluding experimental and pilot projects, and such services and associated equipment can be offered on the grantees system in an economically viable manner (that is, grantee will be able to earn a profit over the remaining term of the franchise from the provision of such service or equipment).
(c) City approval of construction plans. Prior to the erection of any towers, poles or conduits or the upgrade or rebuild of the cable communications system under the provisions of this chapter, the grantee shall first submit to the city and other designated parties for approval a concise description of the facilities proposed to be erected or installed, including engineering drawings, if required, together with a map and plans indicating the proposed location of all such facilities. No erection or installation of any tower, pole, underground conduit, or fixture or any rebuilds or upgrading of the cable communications system shall be commenced by any person until approval therefor has been received from the city, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(d) Contractor qualifications. Any contractor proposed for work of construction, installation, operation, maintenance, and repair of system equipment must be properly licensed under laws of the state, and all local ordinances.
(e) Minimum interference. The grantee's system and associated equipment erected by the grantee within the city shall be so located as to cause minimum interference with the proper use of streets, alleys, and other public ways and places, and to cause minimum interference with the rights and reasonable convenience of property owners who adjoin any of the said streets, alleys or other public ways and places. No pole or other fixtures placed in any public ways by the grantee shall be placed in such a manner as to interfere with normal travel on such public way.
(f) City maps. The city does not guarantee the accuracy of any maps showing the horizontal or vertical location of existing substructures. In public rights-of-way, where necessary, the location shall be verified by excavation.
(g) Quality of construction. Construction, installation, operation, and maintenance of the cable communications system shall be performed in an orderly and workmanlike manner, in accordance with then current technological standards. All cables and wires shall be installed, where possible, parallel with electric and telephone lines. Multiple cable configurations shall be arranged in parallel and bundled with due respect for aesthetic and engineering considerations.
(h) Construction standards. The construction, installation, operation, maintenance, and/or removal of the cable communications system shall meet all of the following safety, construction, and technical specifications and codes and standards:
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations (OSHA);
National Electrical Code;
National Electrical Safety Code (NESC);
National Cable Television Association Standard Code;
AT&T Manual of Construction Procedures (Blue Book);
All federal, state and municipal construction requirements, including FCC Rules and Regulations;
All building and zoning codes, and all land use restrictions as the same exist or may be amended hereafter.
(i) Right to inspection of construction. The city or its designee shall have the right to inspect at any time all construction or installation work performed subject to the provisions of this chapter and the franchise and to make such tests as it shall deem necessary to ensure compliance with the terms of this chapter, the franchise and all other applicable law. The grantee shall cooperate fully with the city during all inspections and tests and shall provide access to all equipment, records, and other materials and information necessary for such inspections and tests. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the franchise, law, regulation or ordinance, all inspections and tests performed by the city shall be initially at the city's sole cost and expense. If the grantee is found not to be in compliance with the terms of this chapter and all other applicable law, then the grantee must reimburse the city for the costs of such inspections and tests. This reimbursement is not to be considered a part of the franchise fee.
(j) Antennas. Any antenna structure used in the cable communications system shall comply with construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structure standards as required by federal and state law or regulation.
(k) OSHA. All worker facilities, conditions, and procedures that are used during construction, installation, operation and maintenance of the cable system shall comply with the standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
(l) RF leakage. RF leakage shall be checked at reception location for emergency radio services to prove measurable interference signal combinations are possible. Stray radiation shall be measured adjacent to and proposed aeronautical navigation radio sites to prove no measurable interference to airborne navigational reception in the normal flight pattern. FCC Rules and Regulations shall govern. The system shall cause no measurable interference in TV signal reception to any operating receiver not connected to and serviced by the system.
(m) Standby power. The grantee shall maintain equipment capable of providing standby power for a minimum of eight (8) hours for the headend and two and one-half (2½) hours for the distribution system.
(Ord. No. 94-109, § 1, 10-24-94)
Source: City of Greensboro, North Carolina, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nc/greensboro/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH7CACO_ARTVDECOPR_S7-64COTESTFetched: 11/1/2026