| 1 | The Commerce Council recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 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 |
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| 36 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 37 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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. |