HF 3058

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/29/2016 12:38pm

A bill for an act
relating to telecommunications; providing for an informal dispute resolution
process; standardizing consumer billing practices; requiring intrastate call
completion; providing for registration of wholesale transport providers; adding
definitions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 237.01, by adding
subdivisions; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 237.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 237.01, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 5a. new text end

new text begin Telecommunications. new text end

new text begin "Telecommunications" means the transmission of
information of the user's choosing between or among points specified by the user without
change in the form or content of the information as sent and received, regardless of the
technology used in the transmission path.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 237.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 6a. new text end

new text begin Telecommunications service. new text end

new text begin "Telecommunications service" means the
offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public or to such classes of users
as to be effectively available to the public regardless of the facilities or technology used.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 237.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 7a. new text end

new text begin Telephone utility. new text end

new text begin "Telephone utility" means any person, firm,
partnership, cooperative organization, or corporation engaged in the furnishing of
telecommunications service to the public under the jurisdiction of the commission.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 237.01, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Wholesale transport provider. new text end

new text begin "Wholesale transport provider" means any
person, firm, association, or corporation that carries, delivers, routes, or transports any
telecommunications service, regardless of the technology used, on behalf of a telephone
utility or another wholesale transport provider, but is not certified in Minnesota to provide
retail telecommunications service to the public.
new text end

Sec. 5.

new text begin [237.078] INFORMAL REVIEW AND RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES.
new text end

new text begin (a) A telephone utility that is unable to resolve a dispute with another telephone
utility concerning a matter subject to commission jurisdiction may file a petition for an
informal review of the dispute by the department.
new text end

new text begin (b) The petitioning telephone utility requesting the informal review must provide a
copy of the petition to the other telephone utility involved in the dispute. Upon receipt of a
request for informal review, the department must notify the telephone utilities within three
days of the procedures to be followed under the informal review process.
new text end

new text begin (c) The respondent telephone utility must answer the allegations stated in the
petition within five business days of receipt of the petition. The answer must advise
the petitioning telephone utility and the department of the respondent telephone utility's
proposed resolution to the dispute, or provide a timetable to complete an investigation
and propose a resolution.
new text end

new text begin (d) The petitioning telephone utility must file a response to the respondent telephone
utility's answer within five business days to inform the respondent telephone utility and
department whether the proposed resolution or proposed timetable is acceptable. If the
respondent telephone utility's resolution is deemed acceptable, the petitioning telephone
utility must notify the department and the respondent telephone utility that the department
may suspend or terminate the informal review process. If the resolution proposed by the
respondent telephone utility is not acceptable, the petitioning telephone utility must state
how the proposal may be modified to be acceptable. If the respondent telephone utility's
answer proposes a timetable to complete any investigation and offer a resolution that the
petitioning telephone utility deems unacceptable, the petitioning telephone utility must
identify any harm that may occur as a result of the proposed timetable.
new text end

new text begin (e) If a dispute remains after the answer and response are filed, the department
must make reasonable efforts to gather any additional facts and investigate alternatives
to resolve the dispute within 20 calendar days of the date of its receipt of the petitioning
telephone utility's response. The petitioning and respondent telephone utilities must
provide any documents, data, or other information requested by the department and
needed to evaluate the dispute within five business days of the department's request, or
as expeditiously as possible if the information requested cannot be provided within the
five business days. The department must work with the telephone utilities to explore
alternatives and provide guidance regarding how the department believes the matter
should be resolved. The department may dismiss a petition for informal review if the
department finds the complaint to be without merit. A dismissal by the department under
this paragraph does not prejudice the petitioning telephone utility from filing a formal
complaint with the Public Utilities Commission.
new text end

new text begin (f) The department may petition the commission for review of a dispute or complaint
in any case the department deems is appropriate.
new text end

new text begin (g) While a dispute is subject to an informal review by the department under
this section, a telephone utility is prohibited from terminating the telephone utility's
telecommunications service, subject to the right to terminate service as otherwise
permitted by law.
new text end

Sec. 6.

new text begin [237.102] CUSTOMER BILLING.
new text end

new text begin (a) Bills to customers from telephone utilities must be rendered regularly, and must
contain an itemized listing of all charges and the period of time covered by the billing.
Taxes and fees collected and remitted as mandated by law shall be separately identified,
itemized, and distinguished from the service charges on the bill.
new text end

new text begin (b) When charges from two or more carriers appear on the same telephone bill, the
charges must be itemized by each service provider. The name of the service provider
associated with each charge must be clearly and conspicuously identified on the bill.
new text end

new text begin (c) The bill must include a brief, clear, nonmisleading description of each service
for which a charge is included. The bill must be sufficiently clear in presentation and
specific in content so the customer can determine that the billed charges accurately reflect
the service requested and received. Any rates, charges, or fees collected by the telephone
utility that are not required to be remitted by state or federal law and that are not included
in the telephone utility's tariff or price list must not be charged to the customer, unless the
rate, charge, or fee is otherwise approved by the commission.
new text end

new text begin (d) The bill may only include charges for services that have been requested by the
customer or by individuals authorized to request services on behalf of the customer.
new text end

new text begin (e) Charges billed to a customer must not exceed the price stated in any related
offers or advertisements as the regular price for the service, including any fractional
monthly amounts, with the exception of taxes and fees collected and remitted for required
government programs.
new text end

new text begin (f) Applicants for initial service, and existing customers initiating a change in
service that results in the addition of a service or a change in rates, terms, and conditions
of an existing service, must be provided a written confirmation notice. The customer may
elect to receive the confirmation notice electronically. The confirmation notice must
include a description of the services that will be provided to the customer by the telephone
utility, the rate for each service, and the total monthly amount the customer will be billed,
including (1) all rates, charges, and fees collected by the telephone utility that are not
remitted for government programs, and (2) any monthly charges that are billed by the
telephone utility on behalf of another entity.
new text end

new text begin (g) Bills must include a company telephone number the customer may contact with
billing questions or concerns. Each bill must also provide the Public Utility Commission's
telephone number.
new text end

new text begin (h) Customers must not be assessed an additional charge or fee to obtain a single
paper bill per month, but a discount may be offered and applied to customers that
affirmatively agree to receive an electronic bill.
new text end

Sec. 7.

new text begin [237.131] INTRASTATE CALL ROUTING.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Certain practices prohibited. new text end

new text begin (a) A telephone utility shall not
participate in the adoption or perpetuation of intrastate call routing practices that
result in the blocking, restriction, or interference with the completion of calls for any
reason, including to avoid the cost to terminate the call. All contracts, agreements, or
arrangements with underlying providers to deliver traffic on behalf of the telephone utility
must not contain terms that are inconsistent with this section.
new text end

new text begin (b) Telephone utilities and registered wholesale transport providers are prohibited
from knowingly contracting with a wholesale transport provider that is not registered
with the commission under section 237.132.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Termination failure. new text end

new text begin Upon learning a call has failed to terminate,
a telephone utility must:
new text end

new text begin (1) contact other known telephone utilities with customers affected by the call
failure, so those telephone utilities may notify the affected customers, whether a calling or
called customer, of the call failure;
new text end

new text begin (2) cooperate with other known telephone utilities to determine the reason for the
call failure and how to avoid future call failures; and
new text end

new text begin (3) retain the information for at least one year.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Liability. new text end

new text begin A telephone utility is liable under this section and is subject to
section 237.461 for the actions of a wholesale transport provider used to deliver traffic
on its behalf if:
new text end

new text begin (1) the wholesale transport provider is an agent, contractor, or subcontractor of the
telephone utility, or is employed by the telephone utility; and
new text end

new text begin (2) the telephone utility knew or should have known of the wholesale transport
provider's actions.
new text end

Sec. 8.

new text begin [237.132] REGISTRATION OF WHOLESALE TRANSPORT
PROVIDERS.
new text end

new text begin (a) A wholesale transport provider shall file a registration with the commission that
includes the company name, address, a contact name, and a telephone number that will
be answered 24 hours each day, seven days a week, to address any failures of calls to
complete within Minnesota. The contacts provided by each entity should be well-versed
in the subject matter of call routing and call completion. Wholesale transport providers are
subject to regulation under this chapter only to the extent required under section 237.131.
new text end

new text begin (b) The department shall maintain a contact list of all registered wholesale transport
providers on its Web site to enable expeditious resolution of any call routing and call
completion problems involving wholesale transport providers.
new text end

new text begin (c) Wholesale transport providers shall update their registration information when
changes occur, but no less than annually.
new text end