Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 2.djvu/603

 PUBLIC LAW 102-385—OCT. 5, 1992 106 STAT. 1483 the right to grsmt retransmission consent under this subsection and the right to signal carriage under section 614. If there is more than one cable system which services the same geographic area, a station's election shall apply to all such cable systems. "(4) If an originating television station elects under paragraph (3)(B) to exercise its right to grant retransmission consent under this subsection with respect to a cable system, the provisions of section 614 shall not apply to the carriage of the signal of such station by such cable system. "(5) The exercise by a television broadcast station of the right to grant retransmission consent under this subsection shall not interfere with or supersede the rights under section 614 or 615 of any station electing to assert the right to signal carriage under that section. "(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed as modifying the compulsory cop3ndght license established in section 111 of title 17, United States Code, or as affecting existing or future video programming licensing agreements between broadcasting stations and video progrsimmers.". SEC. 7. AWARD OF FRANCHISES; PROMOTION OF COMPETITION. (a) ADDITIONAL COMPETITIVE FRANCHISES. — (1) AMENDMENT. — Section 621(a)(1) of the Commimications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541(a)(1)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: "; except that a franchising authority may not grant an exclusive franchise and may not unreasonably reftise to awsird an additional competitive franchise. Any applicant whose apphcation for a second franchise has been denied by a final decision of the franchising authority may appeal such final decision pursuant to the provisions of section 635 for failure to comply with this subsection". (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT. —Section 635(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 555(a)) is amended by inserting "621(a)(1)," after "section". (b) FRANCHISE REQUIREMENTS. —Section 621(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: "(4) In awarding a franchise, thefrginchisingauthority— "(A) shall allow the applicant's cable system a reasonable period of time to become capable of providing cable service to all households in the franchise area; "(B) may require adequate assurance that the cable operator will provide adequate public, educational, and governmental access channel capacity, facilities, or financial support; and "(C) may require adequate assurance that the cable operator has the financial, technical, or legal qualifications to provide cable service.". (c) MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES PERMITTED TO OPERATE SYS- TEMS. —Section 621 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 541) is amended— (1) by inserting "and subsection (f)" before the comma in subsection (b)(1); and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: "(f) No provision of this Act shall be construed to— "(1) prohibit a local or municipal authority that is also, or is affiliated with, a franchising authority from operating as a multichannel video programming distributor in the fran-

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