Bill Text: TX SB986 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to deregulation of certain telecommunications markets and companies.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-04-26 - Referred to State Affairs [SB986 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB986-Engrossed.html
 
 
  By: Carona S.B. No. 986
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to deregulation of certain telecommunications markets and
  companies.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 52.002, Utilities Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  The commission may not require a telecommunications
  utility that is not a public utility, including a deregulated or
  transitioning company, to comply with a requirement or standard
  that is more burdensome than a requirement or standard the
  commission imposes on a public utility.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 54.251, Utilities Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Except as specifically determined otherwise by the
  commission under this subchapter or Subchapter G of this chapter,
  and except as provided by Subchapters C and D, Chapter 65, the
  holder of a certificate of convenience and necessity[, or the
  holder of a certificate of operating authority issued under Chapter
  65,] for an area has the obligations of a provider of last resort
  regardless of whether another provider has a certificate of
  operating authority or service provider certificate of operating
  authority for that area.
         SECTION 3.  Section 54.3015, Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 54.3015.  APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER.  This subchapter
  applies to a transitioning company [holder of a certificate of
  operating authority issued] under Chapter 65 in relation to its
  regulated exchanges in the same manner and to the same extent this
  subchapter applies to a holder of a certificate of convenience and
  necessity.
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (d), Section 56.023, Utilities Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
  of the universal service fund and this chapter and may act as
  necessary and convenient to administer the fund and this chapter.  
  The rules must include procedures to ensure reasonable transparency
  and accountability in the administration of the universal service
  fund.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter B, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 56.032 to read as follows:
         Sec. 56.032.  SUPPORT AVAILABLE TO DEREGULATED MARKETS.
  (a)  An incumbent local exchange company may not receive support
  from the universal service fund for a deregulated market that has a
  population of at least 30,000.
         (b)  An incumbent local exchange company may receive support
  from the universal service fund for a deregulated market that has a
  population of less than 30,000 only if the company demonstrates to
  the commission that the company needs the support to provide basic
  local telecommunications service at reasonable rates in the
  affected market.  A company may use evidence from outside the
  affected market to make the demonstration.
         (c)  An incumbent local exchange company may make the
  demonstration described by Subsection (b) in relation to a market
  before submitting a petition to deregulate the market.
         SECTION 6.  Section 65.051, Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 65.051.  MARKETS DEREGULATED.  A market that is
  deregulated as of September 1, 2011, shall remain deregulated.  
  Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the commission
  may not reregulate a market or company that has been deregulated
  [(a)     Except as provided by Subsection (b), all markets of all
  incumbent local exchange companies are deregulated on January 1,
  2006, unless the commission determines under Section 65.052(a) that
  a market or markets should remain regulated.
         [(b)     A market of an incumbent local exchange company in
  which the population in the area included in the market is less than
  30,000 is deregulated on January 1, 2007, unless the commission
  determines under Section 65.052(f) that the market should remain
  regulated].
         SECTION 7.  Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 65.052,
  Utilities Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  An incumbent local exchange company may petition the
  commission to deregulate a market of the company that the
  commission previously determined should remain regulated.  
  Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, only the
  incumbent local exchange company may initiate a proceeding to
  deregulate one of the company's markets.  Not later than the 90th
  day after the date the commission receives the petition, [Except as
  provided by Subsection (f),] the commission shall:
               (1)  determine whether the regulated [each] market [of
  an incumbent local exchange company] should remain regulated [on
  and after January 1, 2006]; and
               (2)  issue a final order classifying the market 
  [company] in accordance with this section [effective January 1,
  2006].
         (b)  In making a determination under Subsection (a), the
  commission may not determine that a market should remain regulated
  if:
               (1)  the population in the area included in the market
  is at least 100,000; or
               (2)  the population in the area included in the market
  is [at least 30,000 but] less than 100,000 and, in addition to the
  incumbent local exchange company, there are at least two
  competitors operating in all or part of the market that [three
  competitors of which]:
                     (A)  are unaffiliated with the incumbent local
  exchange company [at least one is a telecommunications provider
  that holds a certificate of operating authority or service provider
  certificate of operating authority and provides residential local
  exchange telephone service in the market]; and
                     (B)  provide voice communications service without
  regard to the delivery technology, including through:
                           (i)  Internet Protocol or a successor
  protocol;
                           (ii)  satellite; or
                           (iii)  a technology used by a wireless
  provider or a commercial mobile service provider, as that term is
  defined by Section 64.201 [at least one is an entity providing
  residential telephone service in the market using facilities that
  the entity or its affiliate owns; and
                     [(C)     at least one is a provider in that market of
  commercial mobile service as defined by Section 332(d),
  Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.), Federal
  Communications Commission rules, and the Omnibus Budget
  Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. No. 103-66), that is not
  affiliated with the incumbent local exchange company].
         (c)  If the commission deregulates a market under this
  section and the deregulation results in a regulated or
  transitioning company no longer meeting the definition of a
  regulated or transitioning company, the commission shall issue an
  order reclassifying the company as a transitioning company or
  deregulated company, as those terms are defined by Section 65.002 
  [The commission shall issue an order classifying an incumbent local
  exchange company as a deregulated company that is subject to
  Subchapter C if:
               [(1)     the company does not have any markets in which the
  population in the area included in the market is less than 30,000;
  and
               [(2)     the commission does not determine that a market
  of the company should remain regulated on and after January 1,
  2006].
         SECTION 8.  Subsection (a), Section 65.102, Utilities Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A deregulated company that holds a certificate of
  operating authority issued under this subchapter:
               (1)  is a nondominant carrier governed in the same
  manner as a holder of a certificate of operating authority issued
  under Chapter 54;
               (2)  is not required to:
                     (A)  fulfill the obligations of a provider of last
  resort;
                     (B)  comply with retail quality of service
  standards or reporting requirements;
                     (C)  file an earnings report with the commission
  unless the company is receiving support from the Texas High Cost
  Universal Service Plan; or
                     (D)  comply with a pricing requirement other than
  a requirement prescribed by this subchapter; and
               (3)  [, except that the deregulated company:
               [(1)     retains the obligations of a provider of last
  resort under Chapter 54;
               [(2)]  is subject to the following provisions in the
  same manner as an incumbent local exchange company that is not
  deregulated:
                     (A)  Sections 54.156, 54.158, and 54.159;
                     (B)  Section 55.012; and
                     (C)  Chapter 60[; and
               [(3)     may not increase the company's rates for
  stand-alone residential local exchange voice service before the
  date that the commission has the opportunity to revise the monthly
  per line support under the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan
  pursuant to Section 56.031, regardless of whether the company is an
  electing company under Chapter 58].
         SECTION 9.  Section 65.151, Utilities Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 65.151.  PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRANSITIONING
  COMPANY.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A]
  transitioning company is governed by this subchapter and the
  provisions of this title that applied to the company immediately
  before the date the company was classified as a transitioning
  company.  If there is a conflict between this subchapter and the
  other applicable provisions of this title, this subchapter
  controls.
         (b)  A transitioning company is not required to fulfill the
  obligations of a provider of last resort in a deregulated market. 
         SECTION 10.  Subsection (b), Section 65.152, Utilities Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A transitioning company may not be required to:
               (1)  comply with [exchange-specific] retail quality of
  service standards or reporting requirements in a market that is
  deregulated; or
               (2)  file an earnings report with the commission unless
  the company is receiving support from the Texas High Cost Universal
  Service Plan.
         SECTION 11.  Subchapter D, Chapter 65, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 65.154 and 65.155 to read as follows:
         Sec. 65.154.  RATE AND PRICE REQUIREMENTS NOT APPLICABLE.  
  (a)  A transitioning company is not required to comply with the
  following requirements prescribed by this title on submission of a
  written notice to the commission:
               (1)  a direct or indirect requirement to price a
  residential service at, above, or according to the long-run
  incremental cost of the service or to otherwise use long-run
  incremental cost in establishing prices for residential services;
  or
               (2)  a requirement to file with the commission a
  long-run incremental cost study for residential or business
  services.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a transitioning company
  may not:
               (1)  establish a retail rate, price, term, or condition
  that is anticompetitive or unreasonably preferential, prejudicial,
  or discriminatory;
               (2)  establish a retail rate for a basic or non-basic
  service in a deregulated market that is subsidized either directly
  or indirectly by a basic or non-basic service provided in an
  exchange that is not deregulated; or
               (3)  engage in predatory pricing or attempt to engage
  in predatory pricing.
         (c)  A rate or price for a basic local telecommunications
  service is not anticompetitive, predatory, or unreasonably
  preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory if the rate or price
  is equal to or greater than the rate or price in the transitioning
  company's tariff for that service in effect on the date the
  transitioning company submits notice to the commission under
  Subsection (a).
         (d)  This section, including Subsection (a)(1), does not
  affect:
               (1)  other law or legal standards governing predatory
  pricing or anticompetitive conduct; or
               (2)  an infrastructure commitment under Chapter 58 or
  59.
         Sec. 65.155.  COMPLAINT BY AFFECTED PERSON. (a)  An
  affected person may file a complaint at the commission challenging
  whether a transitioning company is complying with Section
  65.154(b).
         (b)  Notwithstanding Section 65.154(a)(2), the commission
  may require a transitioning company to submit a long-run
  incremental cost study for a business service that is the subject of
  a complaint submitted under Subsection (a).
         SECTION 12.  Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 65.052,
  and Sections 65.054 and 65.055, Utilities Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 13.  (a)  In this section, "commission" means the
  Public Utility Commission of Texas.
         (b)  Not earlier than January 2, 2012, the commission shall
  initiate one or more proceedings to review and evaluate whether the
  universal service fund accomplishes the fund's purposes, as
  prescribed by Section 56.021, Utilities Code, or whether changes
  are necessary to accomplish those purposes.
         (c)  The commission has all authority necessary to conduct
  the review, including determining issues relevant to each
  telecommunications provider's need for universal service fund
  support, adjusting monthly per line support amounts under Section
  56.031, Utilities Code, and implementing any other changes it
  determines are necessary and in the public interest.
         (d)  Notwithstanding Subsection (b), Section 56.024,
  Utilities Code, a party to a commission proceeding examining the
  universal service fund is entitled to access confidential
  information provided to the commission under Subsection (a),
  Section 56.024, Utilities Code, if a protective order is issued for
  the confidential information in the proceeding.
         (e)  The commission shall complete the proceeding or
  proceedings required by this section and issue any associated
  orders not later than November 1, 2012.  The commission shall
  provide to the legislature a copy of any findings or orders issued
  under this section.
         SECTION 14.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
         (b)  Sections 56.032, 65.154, and 65.155, Utilities Code, as
  added by this Act, take effect January 2, 2012.
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