| 11 | 23 | | |
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| 12 | 24 | | AN ACT CONCERNING CALL CENTERS AND THE TIMELY REPAIR OF PUBLIC UTILITY POLES. |
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| 13 | 25 | | |
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| 14 | 26 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: |
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| 15 | 27 | | |
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| 16 | 28 | | Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2010) (a) As used in this section: |
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| 17 | 29 | | |
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| 18 | 30 | | (1) "Telecommunications service" means telecommunications service, as defined in section 16-247a of the general statutes, and |
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| 19 | 31 | | |
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| 20 | 32 | | (2) "Telecommunications call center" means an entity that initiates or receives a telephone call on behalf of any person to provide telecommunications service or to gather information to provide telecommunications service. |
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| 21 | 33 | | |
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| 22 | 34 | | (b) Any person who receives a telephone call from, or places a telephone call to, a telecommunications call center, upon request, shall be (1) told by the telecommunications call center employee the identification of the city, state and country where the employee is located, and (2) transferred to an in-state telecommunications call center when possible. |
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| 23 | 35 | | |
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| 24 | 36 | | Sec. 2. Section 16-247i of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2010): |
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| 25 | 37 | | |
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| 26 | 38 | | (a) Not later than January [1, 2007, and] first, annually, [thereafter,] the department shall submit a report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy and technology on the status of telecommunications service and regulation in the state of Connecticut. Such report shall include: (1) An analysis of universal service and any changes therein; (2) an analysis of the impact, if any, of competition in telecommunications markets on the work force of the state and employment opportunities in the telecommunications industry in the state; (3) an analysis of the level of regulation which the public interest requires; (4) the status of implementing the provisions of sections 16-247a to 16-247c, inclusive, 16-247e to 16-247h, inclusive, 16-247k and this section, including achieving each of the objectives of the goals set forth in section 16-247a; (5) the status of the development of competition for all telecommunications services; (6) the status of the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure in the state; [and] (7) the status of the implementation of sections 16-247f and 16-247i and section 3 of public act 06-144; and (8) for each telecommunications company, the locations of their telecommunications call centers, as defined in section 1 of this act. |
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| 27 | 39 | | |
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| 28 | 40 | | (b) In compiling the information for this report, the department shall require, among other things, each telephone company to provide to the department annually: (1) Its aggregate number of telephone access lines in service, not including resold lines or other wholesale lines; (2) the annual change in such telephone company's access lines over the preceding five years; (3) the number of active wholesale customers served by the telephone company; (4) the nature of the wholesale services provided; (5) the number of wholesale service requests; (6) the impact of competition on the work force of the telephone company; (7) a general discussion of the state of the industry, industry trends, and competitive alternatives available in the market, including, but not limited to, technological changes affecting the market; (8) the number of competitive local exchange carriers; and (9) how long it takes the company to respond to a wholesale service request. |
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| 29 | 41 | | |
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| 30 | 42 | | (c) In compiling the information for this report, the department shall require each telecommunications company to provide to the department annually the locations of telecommunications call centers receiving calls from Connecticut customers. |
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| 31 | 43 | | |
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| 32 | 44 | | Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2010) The Department of Information Technology shall, when procuring telecommunications systems facilities, equipment and services, give preference to telecommunications companies identified by the Department of Public Utility Control, pursuant to section 16-247i of the general statutes, as amended by this act, to have a high percentage of service calls directed to in-state telecommunications call centers, as defined in section 1 of this act. |
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| 33 | 45 | | |
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| 34 | | - | Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2010) On or before October 1, 2010, the Department of Public Utility Control shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to establish procedures each public service company shall follow when one of its public utility poles or downed wires are damaged in an accident. Such procedures shall include, but not be limited to, establishing a maximum amount of time between the accident and the repair. |
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| 46 | + | Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2010) On or before October 1, 2010, the Department of Public Utility Control shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to establish procedures each public service company shall follow when one of its public utility poles is damaged in an accident. Such procedures shall include, but not be limited to, establishing a maximum amount of time between the accident and the repair. |
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