Tennessee § 7-59-314 - Duties of department — Report.

§ 7-59-314. Duties of department — Report.

Beginning on March 1, 2009, the department shall file a report on March 1 of each year until 2011 with the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the governor, the chair of the commerce and labor committee of the senate and the chair of the commerce committee of the house of representatives. The report shall be compiled by the department. The report shall contain the following information: The number of applications made for state-issued certificates of franchise authority and amendments to the applications during the prior year; The number of applications or amendments approved; The number of applications or amendments denied and the reason for the denials; The service areas covered by each holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise authority; The number of customer complaints and a description of the efficacy of the department's complaint resolution process; The number of municipalities or counties in which two (2) or more cable or video service providers are serving customers; and The department's aggregated summary of low-income households' access reports submitted by holders of state-issued certificates of franchise authority. In preparing this report, the department shall rely on information filed with the department or available as public information, but the department shall not issue mandatory data requests or subpoenas to collect the information. The department may invite all cable or video service providers to submit voluntary reports supplying information relating to the services and products offered in this state, and any other information the cable or video services providers volunteer regarding future plans for deployment, new services, new technology, or the impact of competition. All such reports received shall be appended to the department's report. Upon receipt of an application to obtain a state-issued certificate of franchise authority, the department shall notify all municipalities or counties identified as part of the applicant's service area to obtain the following information: The number of activated PEG channels for the municipality or county; and The terms of any PEG support being provided by the incumbent cable provider. The department shall compile and keep current the information for the use of holders of state-issued certificates of franchise authority. If a municipality or county fails to provide this information after being requested to do so by the department, the holder of a state-issued certificate of franchise authority shall not be held in violation or noncompliance with § 7-59-309 with regard to the municipality or county until such time as the department has received the information and the holder has been given adequate time to comply with § 7-59-309. Acts 2008, ch. 932, § 15.