LCO 1 of 7
General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 545
January Session, 2025
AN ACT CONCERNING THE SATISFACTION OF
TELECOMMUNICATIONS QUALITY OF SERVICE STANDARDS AND
PROHIBITING REMOTE RECONNECTION FEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 16-247a of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2025): 3
(b) As used in sections 16-247a to 16-247c, inclusive, as amended by 4
this act, 16-247e to 16-247h, inclusive, 16-247k, and sections 16-247m to 5
16-247r, inclusive: 6
(1) "Affiliate" means a person, firm or corporation which, with 7
another person, firm or corporation, is under the common control of the 8
same parent firm or corporation. 9
(2) "Competitive service" means (A) a telecommunications service 10
deemed competitive in accordance with the provisions of section 16-11
247f, (B) a telecommunications service reclassified by the authority as 12
competitive in accordance with the provisions of section 16-247f, or (C) 13
a new telecommunications service provided under a competitive service 14
tariff accepted by the authority, in accordance with the provisions of 15
section 16-247f, provided the authority has not subsequently reclassified 16
the service set forth in subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of this subdivision 17 Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 2 of 7
as noncompetitive pursuant to section 16-247f. 18
(3) "Emerging competitive service" means (A) a telecommunications 19
service reclassified as emerging competitive in accordance with the 20
provisions of section 16-247f, or (B) a new telecommunications service 21
provided under an emerging competitive service tariff accepted by the 22
authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 16-247f, or of a 23
plan for an alternative form of regulation approved pursuant to section 24
16-247k, provided the authority has not subsequently reclassified the 25
service set forth in subparagraph (A) or (B) of this subdivision as 26
competitive or noncompetitive pursuant to section 16-247f. 27
(4) "Incumbent local exchange carrier" means a telephone company 28
that began providing telephone service in the state before the adoption 29
of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. 30
[(4)] (5) "Noncompetitive service" means (A) a telecommunications 31
service deemed noncompetitive in accordance with the provisions of 32
section 16-247f, (B) a telecommunications service reclassified by the 33
authority as noncompetitive in accordance with the provisions of 34
section 16-247f, or (C) a new telecommunications service provided 35
under a noncompetitive service tariff accepted by the authority, in 36
accordance with the provisions of section 16-19, and any applicable 37
regulations, or of a plan for an alternative form of regulation approved 38
pursuant to section 16-247k, provided the authority has not 39
subsequently reclassified the service set forth in subparagraph (A), (B) 40
or (C) of this subdivision as competitive or emerging competitive 41
pursuant to section 16-247f. 42
[(5)] (6) "Private telecommunications service" means any 43
telecommunications service [which] that is not provided for public hire 44
as a common carrier service and is utilized solely for the 45
telecommunications needs of the person that controls such service and 46
any subsidiary or affiliate thereof, except for telecommunications 47
service which enables two entities other than such person, subsidiary or 48
affiliate to communicate with each other. 49 Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 3 of 7
[(6)] (7) "Telecommunications service" means any transmission in one 50
or more geographic areas (A) between or among points specified by the 51
user, (B) of information of the user's choosing, (C) without change in the 52
form or content of the information as sent and received, (D) by means of 53
electromagnetic transmission, including but not limited to, fiber optics, 54
microwave and satellite, (E) with or without benefit of any closed 55
transmission medium, and (F) including all instrumentalities, facilities, 56
apparatus and services, except customer premises equipment, which are 57
used for the collection, storage, forwarding, switching and delivery of 58
such information and are essential to the transmission. 59
[(7)] (8) "Network elements" means "network elements", as defined in 60
47 USC 153(a)(29). 61
Sec. 2. Section 16-247p of the general statutes is repealed and the 62
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 63
(a) [Not later than April 1, 2000, the] The Public Utilities Regulatory 64
Authority shall, by regulations adopted pursuant to chapter 54, 65
establish, [quality-of-service] monitor and enforce quality of service 66
standards that shall apply to all telephone companies, incumbent local 67
exchange carriers and certified telecommunications providers, [and to 68
all telecommunications services] regardless of the transmission 69
technology utilized, including, but not limited to, voice over Internet 70
protocol. Such standards shall include, but not be limited to, measures 71
relating to customer trouble reports, service outages, installation 72
appointments and repeat problems as well as timeliness in responding 73
to complaints or reports. 74
(1) The authority shall [include with the quality of service standards] 75
adopt methodologies for monitoring compliance with and enforcement 76
of [such] the quality of service standards. Such monitoring shall include 77
input from employees of telephone companies, incumbent local 78
exchange carriers and certified telecommunications providers, 79
including members of collective bargaining units. 80
(2) The authority shall adopt semiannual quality of service report 81 Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 4 of 7
requirements for any telephone company, incumbent local exchange 82
carrier or certified telecommunications provider concerning such 83
company, carrier or provider's compliance with the quality of service 84
standards. Such semiannual reports shall be submitted by each such 85
company, carrier or provider to the authority not later than the last day 86
of the month following the semiannual reporting period established by 87
the authority. 88
(3) The authority shall adopt exception report requirements for any 89
telephone company, incumbent local exchange carrier or certified 90
telecommunications provider that fails to meet any quality of service 91
standard for more than two consecutive months. Any such exception 92
report shall be submitted by any such company, carrier or provider to 93
the authority not later than the last day of the month immediately 94
following such company, carrier or provider's failure to meet a quality 95
of service standard for more than two consecutive months. 96
(b) (1) Any company, carrier or provider that fails to comply with the 97
semiannual report requirements or exception report requirements 98
provided in subsection (a) of this section shall be fined not more than 99
two thousand dollars for each violation in addition to any fines for 100
failure to meet any quality of service standard. A violation of the 101
provisions of this section concerning semiannual quality of service 102
reports or exception reports shall constitute a continued violation 103
pursuant to section 16-41 from the date the company, carrier or provider 104
fails to timely provide any such report until the date the authority 105
receives such report. 106
(2) The chairperson of the authority shall designate a representative 107
of the authority's consumer affairs or enforcement unit to review, in 108
consultation with the Office of Consumer Counsel, quality of service 109
reports submitted pursuant to this section and to report to the authority 110
a company, carrier or provider's failure to meet any quality of service 111
standard indicated in any semiannual report. 112
[(b)] (c) Not later than April 1, 2000, the authority shall, by regulations 113 Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 5 of 7
adopted pursuant to chapter 54, establish comprehensive performance 114
standards and performance based reporting requirements for functions 115
provided by a telephone company to a certified telecommunications 116
provider, including, but not limited to, telephone company performance 117
relating to customer ordering, preordering, provisioning, billing, 118
maintenance and repair. Such service standards shall be sufficiently 119
comprehensive to ensure that a telephone company meets its 120
obligations under 47 USC 251. Such regulations may also contain 121
provisions the authority deems necessary to prevent anticompetitive 122
actions by any telephone company or certified telecommunications 123
provider. 124
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2025) (a) For the purposes of this 125
section: 126
(1) "Telecommunications company" means any public service 127
company, telephone company or certified telecommunications 128
provider, as such terms are defined in section 16-1 of the general 129
statutes, offering telephone or telecommunications services, including 130
voice over Internet protocol services, capable of accessing the 9-1-1 131
service. 132
(2) "Remote reconnection" means the reestablishment of usability of 133
a telecommunications service that has been temporarily disconnected 134
by remote means without the need for the telecommunications 135
company to visit a customer's premises. 136
(3) "Reconnection fee" means any charge imposed by a 137
telecommunications company to restore telephone or 138
telecommunications service that has been temporarily disconnected for 139
any reason. 140
(4) "Customer" means any individual or entity receiving 141
telecommunications services from a telecommunications company. 142
(5) "Temporarily disconnected" means service that has been 143
interrupted for fewer than fourteen days. 144 Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 6 of 7
(b) No telecommunications company shall charge a reconnection fee 145
to a customer for a remote reconnection following a temporary 146
disconnection of service. The prohibition against reconnection fees in 147
this subsection applies (1) regardless of the reason for such 148
disconnection, including, but not limited to, nonpayment or other 149
breaches of a service agreement by the customer, and (2) whether the 150
customer requested a reconnection of service or the company initiated 151
such reconnection. 152
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a 153
telecommunications company from requiring a customer to pay the 154
customer's outstanding balance due before restoring service, except that 155
no such payment prior to restoration of service may be required for a 156
residential telephone or telecommunications customer account 157
associated with a dwelling unit wherein each adult resident (1) is over 158
the age of sixty, or (2) meets the definition of blind, physically disabled 159
or intellectually disabled, as defined in section 1-1f or 1-1g of the general 160
statutes. 161
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any fee associated 162
with the establishment of a new account or the activation of new 163
equipment with a telecommunications company. 164
(e) Any telecommunications company that violates the provisions of 165
this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one 166
thousand dollars per violation, per customer, and shall be required to 167
reimburse any customer for any unlawfully charged reconnection fees. 168
(f) The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall have the authority 169
to enforce compliance with this section and may designate a member 170
from its consumer affairs or enforcement unit to conduct such 171
investigation and enforcement. 172
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 16-247a(b) Substitute Bill No. 545
LCO 7 of 7
Sec. 2 October 1, 2025 16-247p
Sec. 3 October 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 3, technical changes were made for adherence to standard
drafting conventions; and in Section 3(b), "temporary" was added before
"disconnection", for accuracy.
ET Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO