Enacts the "NY broadband resiliency, public safety and quality act" to provide for oversight of the resiliency, public safety and quality of broadband and voice over internet protocol service.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A455
SPONSOR: Rozic
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to enacting the "NY
broadband resiliency, public safety and quality act"
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To authorize the Public Service Commission to exercise oversight,
promulgate rules and regulations, and conduct evaluations regarding the
resiliency, public safety, and quality of broadband and VoIP service in
New York State.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 2 of the bill fmds and declares that access to high-speed broad-
band service is a necessity and essential to participation in the econo-
my, education and civic life.
Section 3 of the bill amends the public service law by adding article
12, which authorizes the Public Service Commission to exercise oversight
regarding broadband and VoIP service, authorizes the public service
commission to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement
effective oversight, and authorizes the public service commission to
require internet service providers to report data on the pricing and
adoption of VoIP and broadband service.
Section 4 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Closing gaps in broadband availability is a matter of deployment,
affordability and ensuring networks are resilient, high quality and
facilitate public safety. Voice over internet protocol has replaced
traditional voice telephone service for a large segment of the popu-
lation, thus ensuring its reliability is in the public interest and
consistent with public safety goals. State regulators require unambig-
uous authority and a clear mandate to establish and enforce appropriate
oversight and regulation of broadband and voice-over internet protocol
service in order to meet the state's goals of universal, high-quality
and affordable access.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A7412 (Rozic) - Ways and Means
2021: A7412 (Rozic) - Ways and Means
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
455
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, RAMOS, WALLACE, FAHY, THIELE, STERN,
KELLES, JEAN-PIERRE, JACOBSON, LUNSFORD, McMAHON, BURKE, OTIS, GANDOL-
FO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corporations, Author-
ities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to enacting the "NY
broadband resiliency, public safety and quality act"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "NY broadband resiliency, public safety and quality act".
3 § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and declares
4 that access to high-speed broadband service is a necessity and essential
5 to participation in the economy, education and civic life. Closing gaps
6 in broadband availability is a matter of deployment, affordability and
7 ensuring networks are resilient, high quality and facilitate public
8 safety. Because voice over internet protocol has replaced traditional
9 voice telephone service for a large segment of the population, ensuring
10 its reliability is in the public interest and consistent with public
11 safety goals. State regulators require unambiguous authority and a clear
12 mandate to establish and enforce appropriate oversight and regulation of
13 broadband and voice over internet protocol service in order to meet the
14 state's goals of universal, high-quality and affordable access.
15 § 3. The public service law is amended by adding a new article 12 to
16 read as follows:
17 ARTICLE 12
18 BROADBAND RESILIENCY, PUBLIC SAFETY AND QUALITY ACT
19 Section 250. Definitions.
20 251. Oversight of broadband and VoIP service.
21 § 250. Definitions. For the purposes of this article the following
22 terms shall have the following meanings:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02746-01-3
A. 455 2
1 1. "Broadband service" shall mean a mass-market retail service that
2 provides the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or
3 substantially all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that
4 are incidental to and enable the operation of the communications
5 service, but shall not include dial-up service.
6 2. "Internet service provider" shall mean any person, business or
7 organization qualified to do business in this state that provides indi-
8 viduals, corporations or other entities with the ability to connect to
9 the internet with a broadband service.
10 3. "Voice over Internet Protocol" or "VoIP" shall mean an intercon-
11 nected voice over internet protocol service that:
12 (a) Enables real-time, two-way voice communications;
13 (b) Requires a broadband connection from the user's location;
14 (c) Requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment;
15 and
16 (d) Permits users to receive calls that originate on the public
17 switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched
18 telephone network.
19 § 251. Oversight of broadband and VoIP service. 1. The public service
20 commission shall be authorized to exercise oversight regarding broadband
21 and VoIP service.
22 2. The public service commission shall promulgate rules and regu-
23 lations necessary to implement effective oversight of broadband and VoIP
24 service, including but not limited to the following:
25 (a) Ensuring the resiliency and reliability of broadband infrastruc-
26 ture and requiring internet service providers to submit information
27 related to network reliability.
28 (b) Ensuring the public safety and adequacy of networks by exercising
29 oversight of internet service providers' emergency preparedness and
30 plans for post-emergency network restoration, including establishing
31 minimum power back-up requirements and requiring all internet service
32 providers to maintain networks sufficiently to ensure reliable and safe
33 communications services.
34 (c) Requiring internet service providers to report data on the pricing
35 and adoption of VoIP and broadband service.
36 3. The public service commission shall conduct evaluations and audits
37 of facilities and infrastructure used to provide high-speed internet
38 service and evaluate facilities and infrastructure in regards to areas
39 of public safety, resiliency, broadband and anything else the commission
40 deems relevant to achieving goals of resiliency, quality and public
41 safety in broadband service, as well as the overall goals of universal
42 access and affordability of broadband service.
43 4. The public service commission shall report annually to the legisla-
44 ture on progress towards achieving goals of resiliency, public safety
45 and quality of broadband and VoIP service.
46 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.