Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB986 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Carona S.B. No. 986
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 28, 2011; March 8, 2011,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
4	4	April 4, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 4, 2011,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 986 By: Carona
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to deregulation of certain telecommunications markets and
13	13	companies.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Section 52.002, Utilities Code, is amended by
16	16	adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
17	17	(c) The commission may not require a telecommunications
18	18	utility that is not a public utility, including a deregulated or
19	19	transitioning company, to comply with a requirement or standard
20	20	that is more burdensome than a requirement or standard the
21	21	commission imposes on a public utility.
22	22	SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 54.251, Utilities Code,
23	23	is amended to read as follows:
24	24	(b) Except as specifically determined otherwise by the
25	25	commission under this subchapter or Subchapter G of this chapter,
26	26	and except as provided by Subchapters C and D, Chapter 65, the
27	27	holder of a certificate of convenience and necessity[, or the
28	28	holder of a certificate of operating authority issued under Chapter
29	29	65,] for an area has the obligations of a provider of last resort
30	30	regardless of whether another provider has a certificate of
31	31	operating authority or service provider certificate of operating
32	32	authority for that area.
33	33	SECTION 3. Section 54.3015, Utilities Code, is amended to
34	34	read as follows:
35	35	Sec. 54.3015. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
36	36	applies to a transitioning company [holder of a certificate of
37	37	operating authority issued] under Chapter 65 in relation to its
38	38	regulated exchanges in the same manner and to the same extent this
39	39	subchapter applies to a holder of a certificate of convenience and
40	40	necessity.
41	41	SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 56.023, Utilities Code,
42	42	is amended to read as follows:
43	43	(d) The commission shall adopt rules for the administration
44	44	of the universal service fund and this chapter and may act as
45	45	necessary and convenient to administer the fund and this chapter.
46	46	The rules must include procedures to ensure reasonable transparency
47	47	and accountability in the administration of the universal service
48	48	fund.
49	49	SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 56, Utilities Code, is
50	50	amended by adding Section 56.032 to read as follows:
51	51	Sec. 56.032. SUPPORT AVAILABLE TO DEREGULATED MARKETS.
52	52	(a) An incumbent local exchange company may not receive support
53	53	from the universal service fund for a deregulated market that has a
54	54	population of at least 30,000.
55	55	(b) An incumbent local exchange company may receive support
56	56	from the universal service fund for a deregulated market that has a
57	57	population of less than 30,000 only if the company demonstrates to
58	58	the commission that the company needs the support to provide basic
59	59	local telecommunications service at reasonable rates in the
60	60	affected market. A company may use evidence from outside the
61	61	affected market to make the demonstration.
62	62	(c) An incumbent local exchange company may make the
63	63	demonstration described by Subsection (b) in relation to a market
64	64	before submitting a petition to deregulate the market.
65	65	SECTION 6. Section 65.051, Utilities Code, is amended to
66	66	read as follows:
67	67	Sec. 65.051. MARKETS DEREGULATED. A market that is
68	68	deregulated as of September 1, 2011, shall remain deregulated.
69	69	Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the commission
70	70	may not reregulate a market or company that has been deregulated
71	71	[(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), all markets of all
72	72	incumbent local exchange companies are deregulated on January 1,
73	73	2006, unless the commission determines under Section 65.052(a) that
74	74	a market or markets should remain regulated.
75	75	[(b) A market of an incumbent local exchange company in
76	76	which the population in the area included in the market is less than
77	77	30,000 is deregulated on January 1, 2007, unless the commission
78	78	determines under Section 65.052(f) that the market should remain
79	79	regulated].
80	80	SECTION 7. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 65.052,
81	81	Utilities Code, are amended to read as follows:
82	82	(a) An incumbent local exchange company may petition the
83	83	commission to deregulate a market of the company that the
84	84	commission previously determined should remain regulated.
85	85	Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, only the
86	86	incumbent local exchange company may initiate a proceeding to
87	87	deregulate one of the company's markets. Not later than the 90th
88	88	day after the date the commission receives the petition, [Except as
89	89	provided by Subsection (f),] the commission shall:
90	90	(1) determine whether the regulated [each] market [of
91	91	an incumbent local exchange company] should remain regulated [on
92	92	and after January 1, 2006]; and
93	93	(2) issue a final order classifying the market
94	94	[company] in accordance with this section [effective January 1,
95	95	2006].
96	96	(b) In making a determination under Subsection (a), the
97	97	commission may not determine that a market should remain regulated
98	98	if:
99	99	(1) the population in the area included in the market
100	100	is at least 100,000; or
101	101	(2) the population in the area included in the market
102	102	is [at least 30,000 but] less than 100,000 and, in addition to the
103	103	incumbent local exchange company, there are at least two
104	104	competitors operating in all or part of the market that [three
105	105	competitors of which]:
106	106	(A) are unaffiliated with the incumbent local
107	107	exchange company [at least one is a telecommunications provider
108	108	that holds a certificate of operating authority or service provider
109	109	certificate of operating authority and provides residential local
110	110	exchange telephone service in the market]; and
111	111	(B) provide voice communications service without
112	112	regard to the delivery technology, including through:
113	113	(i) Internet Protocol or a successor
114	114	protocol;
115	115	(ii) satellite; or
116	116	(iii) a technology used by a wireless
117	117	provider or a commercial mobile service provider, as that term is
118	118	defined by Section 64.201 [at least one is an entity providing
119	119	residential telephone service in the market using facilities that
120	120	the entity or its affiliate owns; and
121	121	[(C) at least one is a provider in that market of
122	122	commercial mobile service as defined by Section 332(d),
123	123	Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. Section 151 et seq.), Federal
124	124	Communications Commission rules, and the Omnibus Budget
125	125	Reconciliation Act of 1993 (Pub. L. No. 103-66), that is not
126	126	affiliated with the incumbent local exchange company].
127	127	(c) If the commission deregulates a market under this
128	128	section and the deregulation results in a regulated or
129	129	transitioning company no longer meeting the definition of a
130	130	regulated or transitioning company, the commission shall issue an
131	131	order reclassifying the company as a transitioning company or
132	132	deregulated company, as those terms are defined by Section 65.002
133	133	[The commission shall issue an order classifying an incumbent local
134	134	exchange company as a deregulated company that is subject to
135	135	Subchapter C if:
136	136	[(1) the company does not have any markets in which the
137	137	population in the area included in the market is less than 30,000;
138	138	and
139	139	[(2) the commission does not determine that a market
140	140	of the company should remain regulated on and after January 1,
141	141	2006].
142	142	SECTION 8. Subsection (a), Section 65.102, Utilities Code,
143	143	is amended to read as follows:
144	144	(a) A deregulated company that holds a certificate of
145	145	operating authority issued under this subchapter:
146	146	(1) is a nondominant carrier governed in the same
147	147	manner as a holder of a certificate of operating authority issued
148	148	under Chapter 54;
149	149	(2) is not required to:
150	150	(A) fulfill the obligations of a provider of last
151	151	resort;
152	152	(B) comply with retail quality of service
153	153	standards or reporting requirements;
154	154	(C) file an earnings report with the commission
155	155	unless the company is receiving support from the Texas High Cost
156	156	Universal Service Plan; or
157	157	(D) comply with a pricing requirement other than
158	158	a requirement prescribed by this subchapter; and
159	159	(3) [, except that the deregulated company:
160	160	[(1) retains the obligations of a provider of last
161	161	resort under Chapter 54;
162	162	[(2)] is subject to the following provisions in the
163	163	same manner as an incumbent local exchange company that is not
164	164	deregulated:
165	165	(A) Sections 54.156, 54.158, and 54.159;
166	166	(B) Section 55.012; and
167	167	(C) Chapter 60[; and
168	168	[(3) may not increase the company's rates for
169	169	stand-alone residential local exchange voice service before the
170	170	date that the commission has the opportunity to revise the monthly
171	171	per line support under the Texas High Cost Universal Service Plan
172	172	pursuant to Section 56.031, regardless of whether the company is an
173	173	electing company under Chapter 58].
174	174	SECTION 9. Section 65.151, Utilities Code, is amended to
175	175	read as follows:
176	176	Sec. 65.151. PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO TRANSITIONING
177	177	COMPANY. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a [A]
178	178	transitioning company is governed by this subchapter and the
179	179	provisions of this title that applied to the company immediately
180	180	before the date the company was classified as a transitioning
181	181	company. If there is a conflict between this subchapter and the
182	182	other applicable provisions of this title, this subchapter
183	183	controls.
184	184	(b) A transitioning company is not required to fulfill the
185	185	obligations of a provider of last resort in a deregulated market.
186	186	SECTION 10. Subsection (b), Section 65.152, Utilities Code,
187	187	is amended to read as follows:
188	188	(b) A transitioning company may not be required to:
189	189	(1) comply with [exchange-specific] retail quality of
190	190	service standards or reporting requirements in a market that is
191	191	deregulated; or
192	192	(2) file an earnings report with the commission unless
193	193	the company is receiving support from the Texas High Cost Universal
194	194	Service Plan.
195	195	SECTION 11. Subchapter D, Chapter 65, Utilities Code, is
196	196	amended by adding Sections 65.154 and 65.155 to read as follows:
197	197	Sec. 65.154. RATE AND PRICE REQUIREMENTS NOT APPLICABLE.
198	198	(a) A transitioning company is not required to comply with the
199	199	following requirements prescribed by this title on submission of a
200	200	written notice to the commission:
201	201	(1) a direct or indirect requirement to price a
202	202	residential service at, above, or according to the long-run
203	203	incremental cost of the service or to otherwise use long-run
204	204	incremental cost in establishing prices for residential services;
205	205	or
206	206	(2) a requirement to file with the commission a
207	207	long-run incremental cost study for residential or business
208	208	services.
209	209	(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a transitioning company
210	210	may not:
211	211	(1) establish a retail rate, price, term, or condition
212	212	that is anticompetitive or unreasonably preferential, prejudicial,
213	213	or discriminatory;
214	214	(2) establish a retail rate for a basic or non-basic
215	215	service in a deregulated market that is subsidized either directly
216	216	or indirectly by a basic or non-basic service provided in an
217	217	exchange that is not deregulated; or
218	218	(3) engage in predatory pricing or attempt to engage
219	219	in predatory pricing.
220	220	(c) A rate or price for a basic local telecommunications
221	221	service is not anticompetitive, predatory, or unreasonably
222	222	preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory if the rate or price
223	223	is equal to or greater than the rate or price in the transitioning
224	224	company's tariff for that service in effect on the date the
225	225	transitioning company submits notice to the commission under
226	226	Subsection (a).
227	227	(d) This section, including Subsection (a)(1), does not
228	228	affect:
229	229	(1) other law or legal standards governing predatory
230	230	pricing or anticompetitive conduct; or
231	231	(2) an infrastructure commitment under Chapter 58 or
232	232	59.
233	233	Sec. 65.155. COMPLAINT BY AFFECTED PERSON. (a) An
234	234	affected person may file a complaint at the commission challenging
235	235	whether a transitioning company is complying with Section
236	236	65.154(b).
237	237	(b) Notwithstanding Section 65.154(a)(2), the commission
238	238	may require a transitioning company to submit a long-run
239	239	incremental cost study for a business service that is the subject of
240	240	a complaint submitted under Subsection (a).
241	241	SECTION 12. Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 65.052,
242	242	and Sections 65.054 and 65.055, Utilities Code, are repealed.
243	243	SECTION 13. (a) In this section, "commission" means the
244	244	Public Utility Commission of Texas.
245	245	(b) Not earlier than January 2, 2012, the commission shall
246	246	initiate one or more proceedings to review and evaluate whether the
247	247	universal service fund accomplishes the fund's purposes, as
248	248	prescribed by Section 56.021, Utilities Code, or whether changes
249	249	are necessary to accomplish those purposes.
250	250	(c) The commission has all authority necessary to conduct
251	251	the review, including determining issues relevant to each
252	252	telecommunications provider's need for universal service fund
253	253	support, adjusting monthly per line support amounts under Section
254	254	56.031, Utilities Code, and implementing any other changes it
255	255	determines are necessary and in the public interest.
256	256	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), Section 56.024,
257	257	Utilities Code, a party to a commission proceeding examining the
258	258	universal service fund is entitled to access confidential
259	259	information provided to the commission under Subsection (a),
260	260	Section 56.024, Utilities Code, if a protective order is issued for
261	261	the confidential information in the proceeding.
262	262	(e) The commission shall complete the proceeding or
263	263	proceedings required by this section and issue any associated
264	264	orders not later than November 1, 2012. The commission shall
265	265	provide to the legislature a copy of any findings or orders issued
266	266	under this section.
267	267	SECTION 14. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
268	268	this section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
269	269	(b) Sections 56.032, 65.154, and 65.155, Utilities Code, as
270	270	added by this Act, take effect January 2, 2012.
271	271	* * * * *