1 | The Commerce Council recommends the following: |
2 |
|
3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
5 | A bill to be entitled |
6 | An act relating to telecommunications services; amending |
7 | s. 364.025, F.S.; providing definitions; providing that a |
8 | local exchange telecommunications company obligated to |
9 | serve as the carrier of last resort is not obligated to |
10 | provide basic local telecommunications service to |
11 | customers in a multitenant business or residential |
12 | property under certain circumstances; requiring the local |
13 | exchange telecommunications company to notify the Public |
14 | Service Commission when it is relieved of the obligation |
15 | to provide service; providing for the local exchange |
16 | telecommunications company to request a waiver of its |
17 | carrier of last resort obligation from the commission; |
18 | providing for carrier of last resort obligation to apply |
19 | when specified conditions cease to exist; providing for |
20 | effect of the act on the commission's jurisdiction; |
21 | amending s. 364.051, F.S., relating to price regulation; |
22 | allowing certain local exchange telecommunications |
23 | companies to publish terms, conditions, and rates for |
24 | nonbasic services in lieu of maintaining tariffs with the |
25 | Public Service Commission; revising the notice requirement |
26 | for price changes to nonbasic services; removing a |
27 | provision that allows a company to elect that its basic |
28 | services be subject to the same regulatory treatment as |
29 | its nonbasic services; providing for a request from a |
30 | company to the Public Service Commission to make certain |
31 | reductions in its retail service quality requirements; |
32 | revising criteria for granting a petition to change |
33 | regulatory treatment of retail services; providing |
34 | effective dates. |
35 |
|
36 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
37 |
|
38 | Section 1. Subsection (6) is added to section 364.025, |
39 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
40 | 364.025 Universal service.-- |
41 | (6)(a) For purposes of this subsection: |
42 | 1. "Owner or developer" means the owner or developer of a |
43 | multitenant business or residential property, any condominium |
44 | association or homeowners' association thereof, or any other |
45 | person or entity having ownership in or control over the |
46 | property. |
47 | 2. "Communications service provider" means any person or |
48 | entity providing communications services, any person or entity |
49 | allowing another person or entity to use its communications |
50 | facilities to provide communications services, or any person or |
51 | entity securing rights to select communications service |
52 | providers for a property owner or developer. |
53 | 3. "Communications service" means voice service or voice |
54 | replacement service through the use of any technology. |
55 | (b) A local exchange telecommunications company obligated |
56 | by this section to serve as the carrier of last resort is not |
57 | obligated to provide basic local telecommunications service to |
58 | any customers in a multitenant business or residential property, |
59 | including, but not limited to, apartments, condominiums, |
60 | subdivisions, office buildings, or office parks, when the owner |
61 | or developer thereof: |
62 | 1. Permits only one communications service provider to |
63 | install its communications service-related facilities or |
64 | equipment, to the exclusion of the local exchange |
65 | telecommunications company, during the construction phase of the |
66 | property; |
67 | 2. Accepts or agrees to accept incentives or rewards from |
68 | a communications service provider that are contingent upon the |
69 | provision of any or all communications services by one or more |
70 | communications service providers to the exclusion of the local |
71 | exchange telecommunications company; |
72 | 3. Collects from the occupants or residents of the |
73 | property charges for the provision of any communications |
74 | service, provided by a communications service provider other |
75 | than the local exchange telecommunications company, to the |
76 | occupants or residents in any manner, including, but not limited |
77 | to, collection through rent, fees, or dues; or |
78 | 4. Enters into an agreement with a communications service |
79 | provider that grants incentives or rewards to such owner or |
80 | developer contingent upon restriction or limitation of the local |
81 | exchange telecommunications company's access to the property. |
82 | (c) The local exchange telecommunications company relieved |
83 | of its carrier of last resort obligation to provide basic local |
84 | telecommunications service to the occupants or residents of a |
85 | multitenant business or residential property pursuant to |
86 | paragraph (b) shall notify the commission of that fact in a |
87 | timely manner. |
88 | (d) A local exchange telecommunications company that is |
89 | not automatically relieved of its carrier-of-last-resort |
90 | obligation pursuant to subparagraphs (b)1.-4. may seek a waiver |
91 | of its carrier of last resort obligation from the commission for |
92 | good cause shown based on the facts and circumstances of |
93 | provision of service to the multitenant business or residential |
94 | property. Upon petition for such relief, notice shall be given |
95 | by the company at the same time to the relevant building owner |
96 | or developer. The commission shall have 90 days to act on the |
97 | petition. The commission shall implement this paragraph through |
98 | rulemaking. |
99 | (e) If all conditions described in subparagraphs (b)1.-4. |
100 | cease to exist at a property, the owner or developer requests in |
101 | writing that the local exchange telecommunications company make |
102 | service available to customers at the property and confirms in |
103 | writing that all conditions described in subparagraphs (b)1.-4. |
104 | have ceased to exist at the property, and the owner or developer |
105 | has not arranged and does not intend to arrange with another |
106 | communications service provider to make communications service |
107 | available to customers at the property, then the carrier of last |
108 | resort obligation under this section shall again apply to the |
109 | local exchange telecommunications company at the property; |
110 | however, the local exchange telecommunications company may |
111 | require that the owner or developer pay to the company in |
112 | advance a reasonable fee to recover costs that exceed the costs |
113 | that would have been incurred to construct or acquire facilities |
114 | to serve customers at the property initially, and the company |
115 | shall have a reasonable period of time following the request |
116 | from the owner or developer to make arrangements for service |
117 | availability. If any conditions described in subparagraphs |
118 | (b)1.-4. again exist at the property, then paragraph (b) shall |
119 | again apply. |
120 | (f) Nothing in this subsection affects the limitations on |
121 | commission jurisdiction imposed by s. 364.011 or s. 364.013. |
122 | Section 2. Effective upon this act becoming a law, |
123 | subsections (5), (6), and (7) of section 364.051, Florida |
124 | Statutes, are amended to read: |
125 | 364.051 Price regulation.-- |
126 | (5) NONBASIC SERVICES.--Price regulation of nonbasic |
127 | services shall consist of the following: |
128 | (a) Each company subject to this section shall, at its |
129 | option, maintain tariffs with the commission or otherwise |
130 | publicly publish containing the terms, conditions, and rates for |
131 | each of its nonbasic services, and may set or change, on 1 day's |
132 | 15 days' notice, the rate for each of its nonbasic services, |
133 | except that a price increase for any nonbasic service category |
134 | shall not exceed 6 percent within a 12-month period until there |
135 | is another provider providing local telecommunications service |
136 | in an exchange area at which time the price for any nonbasic |
137 | service category may be increased in an amount not to exceed 20 |
138 | percent within a 12-month period, and the rate shall be |
139 | presumptively valid. However, for purposes of this subsection, |
140 | the prices of: |
141 | 1. A voice-grade, flat-rate, multi-line business local |
142 | exchange service, including multiple individual lines, centrex |
143 | lines, private branch exchange trunks, and any associated |
144 | hunting services, that provides dial tone and local usage |
145 | necessary to place a call within a local exchange calling area; |
146 | and |
147 | 2. Telecommunications services provided under contract |
148 | service arrangements to the SUNCOM Network, as defined in |
149 | chapter 282, |
150 |
|
151 | shall be capped at the rates in effect on July 1, 1995, and such |
152 | rates shall not be increased prior to January 1, 2000; provided, |
153 | however, that a petition to increase such rates may be filed |
154 | pursuant to subsection (4) utilizing the standards set forth |
155 | therein. There shall be a flat-rate pricing option for multi- |
156 | line business local exchange service, and mandatory measured |
157 | service for multi-line business local exchange service shall not |
158 | be imposed. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the |
159 | local exchange telecommunications company from meeting offerings |
160 | by any competitive provider of the same, or functionally |
161 | equivalent, nonbasic services in a specific geographic market or |
162 | to a specific customer by deaveraging the price of any nonbasic |
163 | service, packaging nonbasic services together or with basic |
164 | services, using volume discounts and term discounts, and |
165 | offering individual contracts. However, the local exchange |
166 | telecommunications company shall not engage in any |
167 | anticompetitive act or practice, nor unreasonably discriminate |
168 | among similarly situated customers. |
169 | (b) The commission shall have continuing regulatory |
170 | oversight of nonbasic services for purposes of ensuring |
171 | resolution of service complaints, preventing cross-subsidization |
172 | of nonbasic services with revenues from basic services, and |
173 | ensuring that all providers are treated fairly in the |
174 | telecommunications market. The cost standard for determining |
175 | cross-subsidization is whether the total revenue from a nonbasic |
176 | service is less than the total long-run incremental cost of the |
177 | service. Total long-run incremental cost means service-specific |
178 | volume and nonvolume-sensitive costs. |
179 | (c) The price charged to a consumer for a nonbasic service |
180 | shall cover the direct costs of providing the service and shall, |
181 | to the extent a cost is not included in the direct cost, include |
182 | as an imputed cost the price charged by the company to |
183 | competitors for any monopoly component used by a competitor in |
184 | the provision of its same or functionally equivalent service. |
185 | (6) After a local exchange telecommunications company that |
186 | has more than 1 million access lines in service has reduced its |
187 | intrastate switched network access rates to parity, as defined |
188 | in s. 364.164(5), the local exchange telecommunications |
189 | company's basic local telecommunications service may, at the |
190 | company's election, be subject to the same regulatory treatment |
191 | as its nonbasic services. The company's retail service quality |
192 | requirements that are not already equal to the service quality |
193 | requirements imposed upon the competitive local exchange |
194 | telecommunications companies shall at the company's request to |
195 | the commission thereafter be no greater than those imposed upon |
196 | competitive local exchange telecommunications companies unless |
197 | the commission, within 120 days after the company's request |
198 | election, determines otherwise. In such event, the commission |
199 | may grant some reductions in service quality requirements in |
200 | some or all of the company's local calling areas. The commission |
201 | may not impose retail service quality requirements on |
202 | competitive local exchange telecommunications companies greater |
203 | than those existing on January 1, 2003. |
204 | (7) After If a local exchange telecommunications company |
205 | that has more than 1 million access lines in service has reduced |
206 | its intrastate switched network access rates to parity, as |
207 | defined in s. 364.164(5) elects, pursuant to subsection (6), to |
208 | subject its retail basic local telecommunications services to |
209 | the same regulatory treatment as its nonbasic services, the |
210 | local exchange telecommunications company may petition the |
211 | commission for regulatory treatment of its retail services at a |
212 | level no greater than that imposed by the commission upon |
213 | competitive local exchange telecommunications companies. The |
214 | local exchange telecommunications company shall: |
215 | (a) Show that granting the petition is in the public |
216 | interest; |
217 | (b) Demonstrate that the competition faced by the company |
218 | is sufficient and sustainable to allow such competition to |
219 | supplant regulation by the commission; and |
220 | (c)(b) Reduce its intrastate switched network access rates |
221 | to its local reciprocal interconnection rate upon the grant of |
222 | the petition. |
223 |
|
224 | The commission shall act upon such a petition within 9 months |
225 | after its filing with the commission. In making its |
226 | determination to either grant or deny the petition, the |
227 | commission shall determine the extent to which the level of |
228 | competition faced by the local exchange telecommunications |
229 | company permits and will continue to permit the company to have |
230 | its retail services regulated no differently than the |
231 | competitive local exchange telecommunications companies are then |
232 | being regulated. The commission may not increase the level of |
233 | regulation for competitive local exchange telecommunications |
234 | companies to a level greater than that which exists on the date |
235 | the local exchange telecommunications company files its |
236 | petition. |
237 | Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this |
238 | act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |