S05590 Summary:

BILL NOS05590A
 
SAME ASSAME AS A08229-A
 
SPONSORMAZIARZ
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd SS5, 2 & 90, add S92-g, Pub Serv L
 
Relates to implementing a new framework for the regulation of telecommunications and cable services.
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S05590 Actions:

BILL NOS05590A
 
06/03/2011REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
11/16/2011AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
11/16/2011PRINT NUMBER 5590A
01/04/2012REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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S05590 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
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S05590 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         5590--A
 
                               2011-2012 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                      June 3, 2011
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen. MAZIARZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations  --  committee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
          amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation  to  implementing  a

          new  framework  for  the  regulation  of  telecommunications and cable
          services
 
          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 "Telecommunications modernization act of 2012".
     3    § 2. Section 5 of the public service law is amended by adding four new
     4  subdivisions 7, 8, 9 and 10 to read as follows:
     5    7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no  provision  of  this
     6  chapter, and no regulation, order or settlement adopted pursuant to this
     7  chapter,  shall apply to any telephone corporation in any wire center in
     8  which the corporation certifies to the commission there are at least two

     9  providers offering voice services to retail residential customers  using
    10  any  technology,  including  but  not limited to providers of commercial
    11  mobile services as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 332(d) and providers of  Voice
    12  over  Internet Protocol service; provided, however, that nothing in this
    13  section shall be interpreted to grant the commission any authority  that
    14  it  did  not  have  prior to the effective date of this subdivision; and
    15  provided further that nothing in this section affects the applicability,
    16  implementation, or enforcement in such areas of:
    17    (a) the rights or obligations of any cable television  companies  with
    18  respect  to their operation of any cable television system under article
    19  eleven of this chapter;

    20    (b) any duties imposed upon the commission by the federal law;
    21    (c) any entity's rights, duties or obligations under 47 U.S.C. §§  251
    22  and 252;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11933-02-1

        S. 5590--A                          2
 
     1    (d)  requirements  relating to the level of intrastate switched access
     2  rates charged by a local exchange telecommunications company;
     3    (e) requirements related to telephone relay service or emergency call-
     4  ing (911/E911) service;
     5    (f)  requirements  related to changes in a customer's service provider

     6  without the customer's consent;
     7    (g) requirements related to telephone relay service;
     8    (h) requirements related to the offering  of  Lifeline  service  at  a
     9  discount,  provided  further  that any technology may be used to satisfy
    10  Lifeline obligations without otherwise subjecting Lifeline  services  to
    11  any  greater  regulation  than non-Lifeline services provided using that
    12  technology;
    13    (i) consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade  practices  laws
    14  that apply generally to the conduct of business in the state; or
    15    (j)  the  corporation's  status  and rights as a telephone corporation
    16  under the transportation corporations law.
    17    8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no  provision  of  this

    18  chapter, and no regulation, order or settlement adopted pursuant to this
    19  chapter, shall apply to any telephone corporation in any wire center not
    20  covered  by  subdivision  seven of this section; provided, however, that
    21  nothing in this section shall be interpreted to grant the commission any
    22  authority that it did not have prior  to  the  effective  date  of  this
    23  subdivision;  and  provided further that nothing in this section affects
    24  the applicability, implementation, or enforcement in such areas of:
    25    (a)  the  rights,  obligations,  duties,  and  requirements  that  are
    26  referred  to  in paragraphs (a) through (j) of subdivision seven of this
    27  section; or
    28    (b) any requirement that the corporation provide a stand alone  offer-

    29  ing  of  a basic local exchange access line plus local usage to residen-
    30  tial customers in the wire center on reasonable terms and conditions.
    31    9. Notwithstanding any other provision of law,  the  commission  shall
    32  have  no  authority  over  any service, class of services, or technology
    33  offered or used by a telephone corporation as defined in section two  of
    34  this article, or by a cable television company under section two hundred
    35  twelve  of this chapter, or any other provider of voice communication or
    36  video programming distribution services, that it did not actively  regu-
    37  late as of January first, two thousand twelve. The commission shall have
    38  no  authority  to  prohibit,  require  or  otherwise direct any entity's

    39  choice of technology for any purpose.
    40    10. The commission shall have no authority to  require  any  telephone
    41  corporation  to  use,  or  to  prohibit such corporation from using, any
    42  particular transport, distribution, switching, or other  technology  for
    43  the  provision  of  its  services.  The selection of appropriate network
    44  technologies shall lie solely within the  discretion  of  the  telephone
    45  corporation.
    46    §  3. Section 2 of the public service law is amended by adding two new
    47  subdivisions 19-a and 19-b to read as follows:
    48    19-a. The  term  "Voice  over  Internet  Protocol  service"  or  "VoIP
    49  service"  when  used in this chapter means any service that: (a) enables
    50  real-time two-way voice communications that originate from or  terminate

    51  to the user's location in Internet Protocol (IP) or any successor proto-
    52  col;  (b)  uses a broadband connection from the user's location; and (c)
    53  permits users generally to receive calls that originate  on  the  public
    54  switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the public switched
    55  telephone network.

        S. 5590--A                          3
 
     1    19-b.  The  term  "Internet  protocol-enabled  service" or "IP-enabled
     2  service" when used in this chapter means,  except  as  provided  in  the
     3  definition  of  "Voice-over-Internet  Protocol  service"  in subdivision
     4  nineteen-a of this section any service,  capability,  functionality,  or
     5  application  provided  using  Internet  Protocol  (IP), or any successor

     6  protocol, that enables an end user to send or receive a communication in
     7  IP format, or any successor format, regardless of whether  the  communi-
     8  cation is voice, data or video.
     9    §  4.  Paragraph d of subdivision 1 of section 5 of the public service
    10  law, as amended by chapter 155 of the laws of 1970, is amended  to  read
    11  as follows:
    12    d. To every telephone line which lies wholly within the state and that
    13  part  within  the  state  of New York of every telephone line which lies
    14  partly within and partly without the state and to the persons or  corpo-
    15  rations  owning, leasing or operating any such telephone line.  Notwith-
    16  standing any other provision of law to the contrary, neither the commis-
    17  sion, the department, nor any other department or agency of this  state,

    18  or  any  political subdivision thereof, shall have authority to regulate
    19  the entry, rates or other terms of service of voice over internet proto-
    20  col service or IP-enabled service. Provided, however,  that  nothing  in
    21  this section shall be construed to divest the commission of its authori-
    22  ty  with respect to the rates, terms or conditions of any local exchange
    23  telephone service over which the commission exercised its lawful  juris-
    24  diction  prior to January first, two thousand twelve. Provided, further,
    25  that nothing in this section shall affect the authority of the state  or
    26  its  agencies  to  enforce  such requirements as are otherwise expressly
    27  provided for by federal law, including, but not limited  to,  connection

    28  to  911  facilities,  the  collection of enhanced 911 fees, telecommuni-
    29  cations relay service fees, or federal universal service  fund  fees  on
    30  voice  over  internet protocol services that may be determined to apply,
    31  or be construed to (a) modify  or  affect  the  rights,  obligations  or
    32  authority of any entity, including but not limited to the department, to
    33  act  pursuant  to, or enforce the provisions of 47 U.S.C. 251, 47 U.S.C.
    34  252, any applicable tariff, or any state law, rule, regulation or  order
    35  related  to  wholesale  rights,  duties  and  obligations, including the
    36  rights, duties, and obligations of local exchange carriers to  intercon-
    37  nect  and  exchange voice traffic; (b) modify or affect the authority of

    38  the department to implement, carry out,  and  enforce  such  provisions,
    39  rights, duties, obligations or tariff through arbitration proceedings or
    40  other  available mechanisms and procedures; or (c) affect the payment of
    41  switched network access rates or other intercarrier compensation  rates,
    42  as  applicable. Nothing herein shall be construed to affect the applica-
    43  tion or enforcement of other statues or regulations that apply generally
    44  to the conduct of business in the state, including consumer  protection,
    45  or  unfair  or deceptive trade practices rules of general applicability.
    46  Nothing in this section shall affect the  authority  of  the  commission
    47  over  cable  television  companies  or  any other entity that operates a

    48  cable television system pursuant to article eleven of this chapter.
    49    § 5. Subdivision 1 of section 90 of the public service law, as amended
    50  by chapter 414 of the laws of 1981, is amended to read as follows:
    51    1. The provisions of this article  shall  apply  to  communication  by
    52  telegraph or telephone between one point and another within the state of
    53  New  York  and to every telegraph corporation and telephone corporation.
    54  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, neither  the
    55  commission,  the  department, nor any other department or agency of this
    56  state, or any political subdivision thereof,  shall  have  authority  to

        S. 5590--A                          4
 
     1  regulate the entry, rates or other terms of service of voice over inter-

     2  net  protocol  service  or  IP-enabled  service. Provided, however, that
     3  nothing in this section shall be construed to divest the  commission  of
     4  its  authority  with  respect  to  the rates, terms or conditions of any
     5  local exchange telephone service over which the commission exercised its
     6  lawful  jurisdiction  prior  to  January  first,  two  thousand  twelve.
     7  Provided further, however, that nothing in this section shall affect the
     8  authority  of  the state or its agencies to enforce such requirements as
     9  are otherwise expressly provided for by federal law, including, but  not
    10  limited to, connection to 911 facilities, the collection of enhanced 911
    11  fees,  telecommunications  relay  service  fees,  or  federal  universal

    12  service fund fees on voice over internet protocol services that  may  be
    13  determined to apply, or be construed to (a) modify or affect the rights,
    14  obligations or authority of any entity, including but not limited to the
    15  department,  to  act pursuant to, or enforce the provisions of 47 U.S.C.
    16  251, 47 U.S.C. 252, any applicable tariff, or any state law, rule, regu-
    17  lation or order related to wholesale  rights,  duties  and  obligations,
    18  including the rights, duties, and obligations of local exchange carriers
    19  to  interconnect  and  exchange  voice traffic; (b) modify or affect the
    20  authority of the department to implement, carry out,  and  enforce  such
    21  provisions,  rights,  duties,  obligations or tariff through arbitration

    22  proceedings or other available mechanisms and procedures; or (c)  affect
    23  the  payment  of  switched  network  access  rates or other intercarrier
    24  compensation rates, as applicable. Nothing herein shall be construed  to
    25  affect  the  application or enforcement of other statutes or regulations
    26  that apply generally to the conduct of business in the state,  including
    27  consumer  protection,  or  unfair  or deceptive trade practices rules of
    28  general applicability. Nothing in this section shall affect the authori-
    29  ty of the commission over cable television companies or any other entity
    30  that operates a cable television system pursuant to  article  eleven  of
    31  this chapter.
    32    § 6. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 92-g to

    33  read as follows:
    34    §  92-g. De-tariffing of retail services. 1. Notwithstanding any other
    35  provision of this chapter, or any regulation  or  order  issued  by  the
    36  commission  pursuant to this chapter, on and after the effective date of
    37  this section,  no  telephone  corporation  shall  be  required  to:  (a)
    38  prepare,  maintain,  issue,  or  file  with the commission any tariff or
    39  schedule, or statement or description of any kind, of the rates or other
    40  terms and conditions of any of  its  retail  services;  or  (b)  provide
    41  notice  to  or obtain approval from the commission for any offering of a
    42  retail service, any discontinuation of such an offering, or  any  change
    43  in  the  terms  or  conditions applicable to such an offering, including

    44  price.
    45    2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, or  any  regu-
    46  lation  or  order  issued by the commission pursuant to this chapter, on
    47  and after the effective date of this section the commission  shall  have
    48  no  jurisdiction to impose requirements on telephone corporations relat-
    49  ing to the terms and conditions, including  price,  on  which  they  may
    50  offer retail services.
    51    3.  Any  tariff  or  schedule for retail services filed by a telephone
    52  corporation prior to the effective date of this section may be withdrawn
    53  at any time after such date upon ten days' notice to the commission, but
    54  shall remain in effect until such withdrawal.
    55    § 7. This act shall take effect immediately.
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