HF 671

2nd Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to telecommunications; regulating promotions 
  1.3             and packages of telephone company services; removing 
  1.4             sunset expiration dates for alternative regulation 
  1.5             plans for telecommunications providers and highway 
  1.6             weight limit exemptions for utility vehicles; amending 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 237.626; Laws 1995, 
  1.8             chapter 156, section 25; Laws 2002, chapter 433, 
  1.9             section 4. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 237.626, is 
  1.12  amended to read: 
  1.13     237.626 [PROMOTION ACTIVITIES.] 
  1.14     Subdivision 1.  [PROMOTIONS.] A telephone company may 
  1.15  promote the use of its services by offering a waiver of part or 
  1.16  all of a recurring or a nonrecurring charge, a redemption 
  1.17  coupon, or a premium with the purchase of a service.  Section 
  1.18  237.09 does not apply to promotions under this section, but the 
  1.19  customer group to which the promotion is available must be based 
  1.20  on reasonable distinctions among customers.  No single promotion 
  1.21  may be effective for longer than 90 days at a time.  The 
  1.22  benefits to a particular customer of a promotion must not extend 
  1.23  beyond nine months.  The service being promoted must have a 
  1.24  price that is above the incremental cost of the service, 
  1.25  including amortized cost of the promotion.  A promotion may take 
  1.26  effect the day after the notice is filed with the commission.  
  1.27  The notice must identify customers to whom the promotion is 
  2.1   available and include cost information demonstrating that the 
  2.2   revenue from the service covers incremental cost, including cost 
  2.3   of the promotion.  A telephone company that offers a promotion 
  2.4   under this section shall file a report on the promotion with the 
  2.5   commission and the department within 90 days of the conclusion 
  2.6   of the promotion.  A telephone company is not required to file 
  2.7   cost information except upon request of the department, the 
  2.8   office of the attorney general, or the commission to determine 
  2.9   if a promotion complies with applicable legal requirements.  
  2.10  Within five business days of receipt of a request pursuant to 
  2.11  this subdivision, or an order of the commission, the telephone 
  2.12  company shall provide the requested cost information 
  2.13  demonstrating the service being promoted has a price above the 
  2.14  incremental cost of service to the office of the attorney 
  2.15  general, the department, and the commission.  The telephone 
  2.16  company shall file this cost information with the commission 
  2.17  soon thereafter.  
  2.18     Subd. 2.  [BUNDLED SERVICE.] (a) A telephone company may 
  2.19  offer telecommunications services subject to the regulatory 
  2.20  jurisdiction of the commission as part of a package of services 
  2.21  that may include goods and services other than those subject to 
  2.22  the commission's regulatory jurisdiction.  Subject to the 
  2.23  requirements of this chapter and the associated rules and orders 
  2.24  of the commission applicable to those regulated services, a 
  2.25  telephone company may establish the prices, terms, and 
  2.26  conditions of a package of services, except that: 
  2.27     (1) each telecommunications service subject to the 
  2.28  regulatory jurisdiction of the commission must be available to 
  2.29  customers on a stand-alone basis; 
  2.30     (2) at the time the packaged offering is introduced or at 
  2.31  the time the packaged price is subsequently changed, the 
  2.32  packaged rate or price may not exceed the sum of the unpackaged 
  2.33  rates or prices for the individual service elements or services; 
  2.34  and 
  2.35     (3) in addition to the tariff requirements that apply to 
  2.36  the telecommunications elements of the package, the tariff must 
  3.1   also contain a general description of the nontelecommunications 
  3.2   components of the package. 
  3.3      (b) Nothing in this subdivision is intended to extend or 
  3.4   diminish the regulatory authority of the commission or the 
  3.5   department. 
  3.6      Sec. 2.  Laws 1995, chapter 156, section 25, is amended to 
  3.7   read:  
  3.8      Sec. 25.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION.] 
  3.9      Sections 1 to 22 are effective August 1, 1995, and expire 
  3.10  January 1, 2006. 
  3.11     Sec. 3.  Laws 2000, chapter 433, section 4, is amended to 
  3.12  read: 
  3.13     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.14     Sections 1 to 3 are effective the day following final 
  3.15  enactment and are repealed June 1, 2003. 
  3.16     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.17     Sections 1 and 2 are effective June 1, 2003.  Section 3 is 
  3.18  effective the day following final enactment.