Full Text of HB1317 94th General Assembly
HB1317 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB1317
Introduced 2/9/2005, by Rep. Julie Hamos - Joseph M. Lyons - Karen May SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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Amends the Telecommunications Article of the Public Utilities Act. Increases the service credit that must be provided to a customer by a basic local exchange carrier if the carrier fails to repair an out-of-service phone within a specified time, fails to install service within a specified time, or fails to keep a scheduled repair or installation appointment at which a customer is required to be present. Effective immediately.
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A BILL FOR
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HB1317 |
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LRB094 09068 MKM 39292 b |
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| AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Public Utilities Act is amended by changing | 5 |
| Section 13-712 as follows:
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| (220 ILCS 5/13-712)
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| (Section scheduled to be repealed on July 1, 2005)
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| Sec. 13-712. Basic local exchange service quality; | 9 |
| customer credits.
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| (a) It is the intent of the General Assembly that every | 11 |
| telecommunications
carrier meet
minimum service quality | 12 |
| standards in providing basic local exchange service on
a | 13 |
| non-discriminatory basis to all classes of customers.
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| (b) Definitions:
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| (1) "Alternative telephone service" means, except | 16 |
| where technically
impracticable, a
wireless telephone | 17 |
| capable of making local calls, and may also include, but is
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| not
limited to, call forwarding, voice mail, or paging | 19 |
| services.
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| (2) "Basic local exchange service" means residential | 21 |
| and business lines
used
for local
exchange | 22 |
| telecommunications service as defined in Section 13-204 of | 23 |
| this Act,
excluding:
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| (A) services that employ advanced | 25 |
| telecommunications capability as
defined
in Section | 26 |
| 706(c)(1) of the federal Telecommunications Act of | 27 |
| 1996;
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| (B) vertical services;
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| (C) company official lines; and
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| (D) records work only.
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| (3) "Link Up" refers to the Link Up Assistance program | 32 |
| defined and
established
at 47
C.F.R. Section 54.411 et seq. |
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HB1317 |
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LRB094 09068 MKM 39292 b |
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| as amended.
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| (c) The Commission shall promulgate service quality rules
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| for basic local exchange service, which may include fines, | 4 |
| penalties, customer
credits, and other enforcement mechanisms. | 5 |
| In developing such service quality
rules, the Commission shall | 6 |
| consider, at a minimum, the carrier's gross annual
intrastate | 7 |
| revenue; the frequency, duration, and recurrence of the | 8 |
| violation;
and the relative harm caused to the affected | 9 |
| customer or other users of the
network. In imposing fines, the | 10 |
| Commission shall take into account
compensation or credits paid | 11 |
| by the telecommunications carrier to its customers
pursuant to | 12 |
| this Section in compensation for the violation found pursuant | 13 |
| to
this Section. These rules shall become effective within one | 14 |
| year after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the | 15 |
| 92nd General Assembly.
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| (d) The rules shall, at a minimum, require each | 17 |
| telecommunications carrier
to do all of the following:
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| (1) Install basic local exchange service within 5 | 19 |
| business days after
receipt
of an
order from the customer | 20 |
| unless the customer requests an installation date that
is
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| beyond 5 business days after placing the order for basic | 22 |
| service and to inform
the customer of its duty to install | 23 |
| service within this timeframe. If
installation
of
service | 24 |
| is requested on or by a date more than 5 business days in | 25 |
| the future,
the
telecommunications carrier shall install | 26 |
| service by the date requested. A
telecommunications | 27 |
| carrier offering basic local exchange service utilizing | 28 |
| the
network or network elements of another carrier shall | 29 |
| install new lines for
basic local exchange service within 3 | 30 |
| business days after provisioning of the
line or lines by | 31 |
| the carrier whose network or network elements are being
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| utilized is complete. This
subdivision (d)(1) does not | 33 |
| apply to the migration of a customer between
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| telecommunications carriers, so long as the customer | 35 |
| maintains dial tone.
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| (2) Restore basic local exchange service for a customer |
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LRB094 09068 MKM 39292 b |
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| within 24 hours of
receiving
notice that a customer is out | 2 |
| of service. This provision applies to service
disruptions | 3 |
| that occur when a customer switches existing basic local | 4 |
| exchange
service from one carrier to another.
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| (3) Keep all repair and installation appointments for | 6 |
| basic local exchange
service,
when a customer premises | 7 |
| visit requires a customer to be present.
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| (4) Inform a customer when a repair or installation | 9 |
| appointment requires
the customer to be present.
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| (e) The rules shall include provisions for customers to be
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| credited by the
telecommunications carrier for violations of | 12 |
| basic local exchange service
quality
standards as described in | 13 |
| subsection (d).
The credits shall be applied on the statement | 14 |
| issued to the
customer for the next monthly billing cycle | 15 |
| following the violation or
following the discovery of the | 16 |
| violation.
The performance levels established in subsection | 17 |
| (c) are solely for the
purposes
of consumer credits and shall | 18 |
| not be used as performance levels for the
purposes of
assessing | 19 |
| penalties under Section 13-305.
At a minimum, the rules shall
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| include the following:
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| (1) If a carrier fails to repair an out-of-service | 22 |
| condition for basic
local
exchange service within 24 hours, | 23 |
| the carrier shall provide a credit to
the customer. If the | 24 |
| service disruption is for 48 hours or less, the
credit must | 25 |
| be equal to 33% of
a pro-rata portion of the monthly | 26 |
| recurring charges for
all
local services disrupted. If the | 27 |
| service disruption is for more than 48
hours, but not more | 28 |
| than 72 hours, the credit must be equal to at least
50%
33% | 29 |
| of one month's recurring charges for all local services | 30 |
| disrupted. If the
service disruption is for more than 72 | 31 |
| hours, but not more than 96
hours, the credit must be equal | 32 |
| to at least 75%
67% of one month's
recurring charges for | 33 |
| all local services disrupted. If the service disruption
is | 34 |
| for
more than 96 hours, but not more than 120 hours, the | 35 |
| credit must be equal to
one month's recurring charges for | 36 |
| all
local
services disrupted. For each day or portion |
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| thereof that the service
disruption continues beyond
the | 2 |
| initial 120-hour period, the carrier shall also provide | 3 |
| either alternative
telephone service or
an additional | 4 |
| credit of $30
$20 per day, at the customer's
customers | 5 |
| option.
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| (2) If a carrier fails to install basic local exchange | 7 |
| service as required
under subdivision (d)(1),
the carrier | 8 |
| shall waive 67%
50% of
any installation charges, or in the | 9 |
| absence of an installation charge or where
installation is | 10 |
| pursuant to the Link Up
program, the carrier shall provide | 11 |
| a credit of $25. If a carrier fails to
install service | 12 |
| within 10 business days after the service application is
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| placed, or fails to install service within 5 business days | 14 |
| after the customer's
requested installation date, if the | 15 |
| requested date was more than 5 business
days after the date | 16 |
| of the order, the carrier shall waive 100% of the
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| installation charge, or in the absence of an installation | 18 |
| charge or where
installation is provided pursuant to the | 19 |
| Link Up program, the carrier shall
provide a credit of $50. | 20 |
| For each day that the failure to install service
continues | 21 |
| beyond the initial 10 business days, or beyond 5 business | 22 |
| days after
the customer's requested installation date, if | 23 |
| the requested date was more than
5 business days after the | 24 |
| date of the order, the
carrier shall also provide either | 25 |
| alternative telephone service or an
additional credit of | 26 |
| $30
$20 per day, at the customer's option until service is
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| installed.
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| (3) If a carrier fails to keep a scheduled repair or | 29 |
| installation
appointment when a customer premises visit | 30 |
| requires a customer to be present,
the carrier shall credit | 31 |
| the customer $75
$50 per missed appointment.
A credit | 32 |
| required by this subsection does not apply when the carrier | 33 |
| provides
the customer with 24-hour notice of its inability | 34 |
| to keep the appointment.
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| (4) If the violation of a basic local exchange service | 36 |
| quality standard is
caused by a carrier other than the |
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| carrier providing retail
service to the customer, the
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| carrier providing retail service to the customer shall | 3 |
| credit the customer as
provided
in this Section. The | 4 |
| carrier causing the violation shall
reimburse the carrier | 5 |
| providing retail service the amount credited the
customer.
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| When applicable, an interconnection agreement shall govern | 7 |
| compensation between
the carrier causing the violation, in | 8 |
| whole or in part, and the retail carrier
providing the | 9 |
| credit to the customer.
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| (5) When alternative telephone service is appropriate, | 11 |
| the customer may
select one of the alternative telephone | 12 |
| services offered by the carrier. The
alternative telephone | 13 |
| service shall be provided at no
cost to the customer for | 14 |
| the provision of local service.
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| (6) Credits required by this subsection do not apply if | 16 |
| the violation of a
service
quality standard:
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| (i) occurs as a result of a negligent or willful | 18 |
| act on the part of the
customer;
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| (ii) occurs as a result of a malfunction of | 20 |
| customer-owned telephone
equipment or inside wiring;
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| (iii) occurs as a result of, or is extended by, an | 22 |
| emergency situation
as defined in
Commission rules;
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| (iv) is extended by the carrier's inability to gain | 24 |
| access to the
customer's
premises due to the customer | 25 |
| missing an appointment, provided that the
violation is | 26 |
| not further extended by the carrier;
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| (v) occurs as a result of a customer request to | 28 |
| change the scheduled
appointment, provided
that the | 29 |
| violation is not further extended by the carrier;
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| (vi) occurs as a result of a carrier's right to | 31 |
| refuse service to a
customer as provided in Commission | 32 |
| rules; or
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| (vii) occurs as a result of a lack of facilities | 34 |
| where a customer
requests service at a geographically
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| remote location, a customer requests service in a | 36 |
| geographic area where the
carrier is not currently |
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LRB094 09068 MKM 39292 b |
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| offering service, or there are insufficient facilities
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| to meet the customer's request for service, subject to | 3 |
| a carrier's obligation
for reasonable facilities | 4 |
| planning.
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| (7) The provisions of this subsection are cumulative | 6 |
| and shall not in any
way
diminish or replace other civil or | 7 |
| administrative remedies available to a
customer
or a class | 8 |
| of customers.
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| (f) The rules shall require each telecommunications | 10 |
| carrier to provide to
the Commission, on
a quarterly basis and | 11 |
| in a form suitable for posting on the Commission's
website, a | 12 |
| public
report that includes performance data for basic local | 13 |
| exchange service quality
of service.
The performance data shall | 14 |
| be disaggregated for each geographic area and each
customer | 15 |
| class of the
State for
which the telecommunications carrier | 16 |
| internally monitored performance data as
of a date
120 days | 17 |
| preceding the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 92nd
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| General Assembly. The report shall
include, at
a minimum, | 19 |
| performance data on basic local exchange service | 20 |
| installations,
lines out of
service for more than 24 hours, | 21 |
| carrier response to customer calls, trouble
reports, and
missed | 22 |
| repair and installation commitments.
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| (g) The Commission shall establish and implement carrier to | 24 |
| carrier
wholesale service
quality rules and establish remedies | 25 |
| to ensure enforcement of the rules.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-22, eff. 6-30-01.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 28 |
| becoming law.
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