SECTION 1. Chapter 166A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 22 the following new section:-
Section 23.
(a) No transfer, renewal or amendment of any license, or any transfer of control of a license or of facilities constituting a significant part of any CATV system shall be effective without the prior approval of the department. Such approval shall be required in addition to any approval required by an issuing authority under this chapter. For the purposes of this section, a merger or consolidation of two or more cable television companies or CATV Operators shall be deemed to be a transfer of a license.
(b) A person wishing to transfer, renew or amend a license, or to transfer control of a license or of a substantial part of the facilities thereof shall file with the department an application for approval of such change, in such form and containing such information and supporting documents as the department may require. The application shall be accompanied by proof of service thereof upon the licensee, if any, and by such fee as the department may set. The department shall hold a public hearing on any such application.
(c) The department shall approve the application unless it finds that approval would be in violation of the public interest.
(d) The department may approve the application contingent upon compliance with standards, terms or conditions set by the department which it determines would not have been met by the proposed transfer, renewal or amendment.
(e) In the event the department refuses to approve the application, it shall set forth in writing the reasons for its decision.
(f) Approval of a transfer, renewal or amendment under this section shall not preclude invalidation of a license illegally obtained.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect or modify the powers and duties of issuing authorities under this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 11E of Chapter 12 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “involving”, on line 5, the following:-
license transfers,
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