75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 3058
House Bill 3036
Sponsored by COMMITTEE ON SUSTAINABILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Provides that rates, terms, conditions, charges and fees for
telecommunications services provided by telecommunications
utility electing to be regulated under Act are not subject to
regulation by Public Utility Commission.
Provides for transition period during which rates charged by
telecommunications utility for primary line basic local exchange
service are subject to price caps.
Requires commission to exempt telecommunications utility from
providing certain measures of service quality in required report
if telecommunications utility petitions commission and has met
service quality levels in previous 12 months.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to telecommunications service.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + Sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act are added to
and made a part of ORS chapter 759. + }
SECTION 2. { + As used in sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act:
(1) 'Electing telecommunications utility' means a
telecommunications utility that has made an election to be
regulated under the terms of sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act.
(2) 'IntraLATA' means within a local access and transport area,
as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153.
(3) 'Primary line basic local exchange service' means the first
line only of retail telecommunications service to an individual
customer location that is not included in a package of services,
that is single party, that has voice grade or equivalent
transmission parameters and tone-dialing capability, that
provides local exchange telecommunications service and that
provides access to, but does not include:
(a) Extended area service;
(b) Long distance service;
(c) Telecommunications relay service for persons who are hard
of hearing or speech impaired;
(d) Operator service such as call completion assistance,
special billing arrangements, service and trouble assistance and
billing inquiry;
(e) Directory assistance; and
(f) Emergency 9-1-1 service, including enhanced 9-1-1 telephone
service, as defined in ORS 401.710, where available.
(4)(a) 'Retail telecommunications service' means a
telecommunications service provided for a fee to a retail
customer.
(b) 'Retail telecommunications service' does not include:
(A) A service that one telecommunications utility provides to a
telecommunications carrier, as defined in ORS 759.400, unless the
telecommunications carrier is the end user of the service; or
(B) Switched access service.
(5) 'Switched access service' means a service that a
telecommunications utility provides to an interexchange carrier
for its use in furnishing intraLATA, interexchange
telecommunications service to its retail customers. Switched
access service provides a connection between the
telecommunications utility's retail customers and the network of
an interexchange carrier.
(6) 'Transition period' means a three-year period that begins
on the effective date of this 2009 Act. + }
SECTION 3. { + (1) A telecommunications utility may elect to
be regulated under the terms of sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act
by filing a written notice of an election with the Public Utility
Commission. Upon filing of the written notice, retail
telecommunications services provided by an electing
telecommunications utility are subject only to the requirements
of:
(a) Sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act;
(b) ORS 759.005, 759.015, 759.016, 759.020, 759.025, 759.027,
759.060, 759.075, 759.080, 759.425 (1), (3)(a) and (b) and (4) to
(6), 759.445, 759.450, 759.455, 759.500, 759.506, 759.535,
759.560, 759.565, 759.570, 759.580, 759.585, 759.590, 759.595,
759.650 to 759.675, 759.690, 759.715, 759.720, 759.730, 759.900
and 759.990;
(c) Sections 2 to 8 and 16, chapter 290, Oregon Laws 1987; and
(d) Sections 1 and 2, chapter 204, Oregon Laws 2005.
(2) Notwithstanding an order or rule that the commission issued
before the effective date of this 2009 Act, an electing
telecommunications utility's rates, terms, conditions, charges
and fees for or in connection with retail telecommunications
services are not subject to regulation by the commission except
as otherwise provided in sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act.
(3) If before the effective date of this 2009 Act an electing
telecommunications utility elected to be subject to price cap
regulation under ORS 759.410 or petitioned for a price plan as
described in ORS 759.255, the utility's rates are governed by
sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act and not by ORS 759.410 or the
price plan.
(4) Sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act do not affect an electing
telecommunications utility's ability to maintain a tariff or
price list with the commission that describes the rates or the
details of the telecommunications services the utility provides.
(5) Sections 2 to 6 of this 2009 Act do not affect the
commission's authority to regulate service quality standards or
the provision of access to interexchange carriers. Requirements
that the commission imposes to regulate service quality standards
and the provision of access to interexchange carriers must be
technologically and competitively neutral. + }
SECTION 4. { + (1) During the transition period:
(a) The rate that an electing telecommunications utility may
charge for primary line basic local exchange service is subject
to the price caps described in this section;
(b) An electing telecommunications utility may adjust rates for
primary line basic local exchange service, provided that the
rates do not exceed the price caps established in this section;
and
(c) An electing telecommunications utility may not charge a
rate for primary line basic local exchange service that is more
than 10 percent above:
(A) The rate that was in effect for the utility on January 1,
2009, during the first year of the transition period;
(B) The highest rate that was in effect for the utility in the
preceding year, during the second year of the transition period;
and
(C) The highest rate that was in effect for the utility in the
preceding year, during the third year of the transition period.
(2) During the transition period, an electing
telecommunications utility shall provide written notice to the
Public Utility Commission of changes to the prices the electing
telecommunications utility charges for primary line basic local
exchange service. The electing telecommunications utility shall
provide the notice not later than 30 days after the effective
date of the change.
(3) The commission may not regulate the rates, terms or
conditions of primary line basic local exchange service that an
electing telecommunications utility provides after the transition
period expires.
(4) For purposes of calculating the price caps imposed under
this section, the rate for primary line basic local exchange
service does not include charges that result from action by a
federal agency or taxes, fees or surcharges authorized or imposed
by a governmental body that the electing telecommunications
utility separately itemizes and bills to the utility's retail
customers.
(5) An electing telecommunications utility may not require a
retail customer to purchase or subscribe to a telecommunications
service other than a single access line as a condition of
providing primary line basic local exchange service to the retail
customer. This subsection does not affect an existing requirement
for a retail customer to purchase extended area service on a flat
rate or measured basis in connection with obtaining local
exchange service. + }
SECTION 5. { + (1) During the transition period, an electing
telecommunications utility shall continue to provide extended
area service on both a flat rate and a measured service rate
basis for the routes authorized by the Public Utility Commission
on January 1, 2009.
(2) The commission may not require an expanded or new extended
area service route for an electing telecommunications utility
after the effective date of this 2009 Act.
(3) An electing telecommunications utility may, without the
commission's approval, incorporate the utility's extended area
service flat rate for a local exchange telecommunications service
area in effect on January 1, 2009, into the flat rate for primary
line basic local exchange service.
(4) Whether or not an electing telecommunications utility
incorporates the utility's extended area service flat rate into
the utility's flat rate for primary line basic local exchange
service under subsection (3) of this section, the rate that an
electing telecommunications utility may charge for extended area
service during the transition period may not exceed the rate that
was in effect for the utility on January 1, 2009.
(5) The commission may not regulate the rates, terms or
conditions of extended area service that an electing
telecommunications utility provides after the transition period
expires. + }
SECTION 6. { + If the Public Utility Commission requires an
electing telecommunications utility to submit reports on service
quality levels, the utility may petition the commission to exempt
the utility from having to include one or more measures of
service quality in the reports. The commission shall grant the
petition for each measure of service quality for which an
electing telecommunications utility met the service quality level
objective set by the commission in the 12 months preceding the
month in which the commission received the petition. + }
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