CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.Senate Bill 0252
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 252
By Senator Brown-Waite
10-272-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to telecommunications; amending
3 s. 364.163, F.S.; requiring certain local
4 telecommunications companies to reduce their
5 intrastate switched access rates; providing an
6 effective date for the reductions; authorizing
7 a local exchange telecommunications company to
8 petition the Florida Public Service Commission
9 if it believes a reduction in intrastate
10 switched access rates will impair its financial
11 viability; providing for a hearing; providing
12 for determining the company's achieved rate of
13 return; authorizing the commission to examine
14 books and records of the petitioning company
15 and its affiliated companies; providing an
16 effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Subsections (6) and (7) of section 364.163,
21 Florida Statutes, are amended, present subsection (9) of that
22 section is redesignated as subsection (10), and a new
23 subsection (9) is added to that section, to read:
24 364.163 Network access services.--For purposes of this
25 section, "network access service" is defined as any service
26 provided by a local exchange telecommunications company to a
27 telecommunications company certificated under this chapter or
28 licensed by the Federal Communications Commission to access
29 the local exchange telecommunications network, excluding the
30 local interconnection arrangements in s. 364.16 and the resale
31 arrangements in s. 364.161. Each local exchange
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 252
10-272-98
1 telecommunications company subject to s. 364.051 shall
2 maintain tariffs with the commission containing the terms,
3 conditions, and rates for each of its network access services.
4 (6) Any local telecommunications company with more
5 than 100,000 but fewer than 3 million basic local
6 telecommunications service access lines in service on July 1,
7 1995, shall reduce its intrastate switched access rates to the
8 level in effect on March 1, 1998, for those local
9 telecommunications companies with more than 3 million basic
10 local telecommunications service access lines in service on
11 July 1, 1995. Any local exchange telecommunications company
12 whose current intrastate switched access rates are higher than
13 its interstate switched access rates in effect on December 31,
14 1994, shall reduce its intrastate switched access rates by 5
15 percent annually beginning October 1, 1996. Any such company
16 shall be relieved of this requirement if it reduces such rates
17 by a greater percentage by the relevant date or earlier,
18 taking into account any reduction made pursuant to Florida
19 Public Service Commission Order No. PSC 94-0172-FOF-TL. Upon
20 reaching parity between intrastate and 1994 interstate
21 switched access rates, no further reductions shall be
22 required. Any telecommunications company whose intrastate
23 switched access rate is reduced by this subsection shall
24 decrease its customer long distance rates by the amount
25 necessary to return the benefits of such reduction to its
26 customers. These reductions shall be made to the rates for
27 each customer class based on the share of the total volume of
28 long distance traffic for each customer class.
29 (7) Telecommunications company intrastate switched
30 access and customer long distance rate reductions pursuant to
31 subsection (6) shall become effective on July 1, 1998 October
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 252
10-272-98
1 1 of each relevant year. Rate decreases proposed in tariff
2 revisions filed by the telecommunications companies with the
3 commission shall be presumed valid and become effective on
4 July 1, 1998 October 1 of each relevant year.
5 (9) Any local exchange telecommunications company that
6 believes a reduction in its intrastate switched access rates
7 to the level required by subsection (6) will impair its
8 financial viability may petition the commission for a smaller
9 reduction in its intrastate access rates. The commission shall
10 consider such a petition in a proceeding conducted in
11 accordance with ss. 120.569 and 120.57(1). The scope of the
12 proceeding shall be limited to a determination of the ability
13 of the local exchange company to reduce its switched access
14 rates without impairing its financial viability. At the
15 conclusion of the proceeding, the commission shall reduce the
16 petitioning company's intrastate switched access rates to the
17 level required by subsection (6) if doing so will not cause
18 the company's achieved rate of return to fall below the
19 minimum of the range of its last authorized rate of return on
20 equity, or reduce the petitioning company's intrastate access
21 rates to a level that will cause the company to earn a rate of
22 return at the minimum of the range of the last authorized rate
23 of return on equity as determined by the commission in the
24 company's most recent individual rate proceeding. In
25 determining the company's achieved rate of return, the
26 commission shall consider all revenues and expenses of the
27 local exchange company, including each of its affiliates
28 involved in the provision within this state of
29 telecommunications service, cable television or other video
30 entertainment service, yellow page advertising, inside wire
31 maintenance, and sales of customer premises equipment. In
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1998 SB 252
10-272-98
1 determining the achieved rate of return, the commission may
2 use actual revenues and expenses for the most recent 12-month
3 period or projected revenues and expenses for the 1998
4 calendar year, or a combination thereof. The commission shall,
5 upon petition or upon its own motion, exclude from the
6 calculation any extraordinary or imprudently incurred
7 expenditures, including any imprudent transactions of the
8 local exchange with any of its affiliates. The burden of
9 proving that the reduction of intrastate switched access rates
10 required by subsection (6) will impair the company's financial
11 viability by reducing its achieved rate of return below the
12 minimum of the range established in the most recent individual
13 rate proceeding shall be upon the petitioning local exchange
14 telecommunications company. The commission may examine all
15 books and records of the petitioning company and its
16 affiliated companies, including its parent company, which are
17 reasonably necessary for the disposition of any proceeding
18 conducted pursuant to this subsection. The commission shall
19 make its determination regarding any petition filed pursuant
20 to this subsection within 180 days after the petition is
21 filed.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.
23
24 *****************************************
25 SENATE SUMMARY
26 Requires local telecommunications companies with more
than 100,000 but fewer than 3 million basic local
27 telecommunications service access lines in service on
July 1, 1995, to reduce their intrastate switched access
28 rates effective July 1, 1998. Establishes a procedure by
which a local exchange telecommunications company may
29 petition the Public Service Commission for partial relief
from the reduction in rates based on a showing of
30 financial hardship.
31
4