SB 306

Under current law, until April 30, 2013, a telecommunications provider who is

an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) under federal law was required to make

basic voice service available to all residential customers within the local exchange

area in which the telecommunications provider operated as an ILEC, and allowed an

ILEC to satisfy that requirement through an affiliate or through the use of any

available technology or mode. However, an ILEC was allowed to apply to the Public

Service Commission (PSC) for a waiver from compliance with that requirement and

the PSC was required to grant the waiver if certain requirements were satisfied.

Also, if the PSC failed to act on the application within specified deadlines, the waiver

was considered granted by operation of law. Current law specifies a sunset date of

April 30, 2013, on which all of the foregoing no longer apply.

This bill eliminates that sunset date. As a result, under the bill, except as

described as follows, the foregoing requirements continue to apply to an ILEC. The

bill also makes the following changes to those requirements. First, instead of

requiring an ILEC to make basic voice service available to residential customers

within a local exchange area, the bill requires an ILEC to make such service

effectively available to such customers. Second, the bill eliminates the PSC's

authority to grant new waivers, and provides that no new waivers may be considered

granted by operation of law. However, the bill does not affect waivers granted or

considered granted by operation of law before the bill's effective date. Finally, the bill

allows the PSC to investigate whether an ILEC has complied with the requirements

and allows the PSC to order an ILEC to comply through the use of any technology

or mode that the PSC determines is necessary to ensure that basic voice service is

effectively available to all residential customers in a local exchange area.