BILL NUMBER: SB 1462 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 2889.4, 2889.5, and 2894 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1462, as introduced, Padilla. Public utilities: local exchange
carriers.
Existing law regulating the provision of telecommunications
services requires a local exchange service provider to provide
prescribed consumer protections relating to pay-per-use telephone
service features and verification of changes in service providers.
This bill would revise those provisions to refer to local exchange
carriers instead of local exchange service providers.
Under existing law, the disclosure of any information by an
interexchange telephone corporation, a local exchange telephone
corporation, or a provider of commercial mobile radio service, as
defined, in good faith compliance with the terms of a state or
federal court warrant or order or administrative subpoena issued at
the request of a law enforcement official or other federal, state, or
local governmental agency for law enforcement purposes, is a
complete defense against specified civil actions for the wrongful
disclosure of that information.
This bill would revise that reference to a local exchange
telephone corporation to, instead, refer to a local exchange carrier.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 2889.4 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
2889.4. (a) A local exchange service provider
carrier that offers and charges for pay per use features
that do not require an access code to be dialed to activate the
service shall provide a new residential subscriber, including an
existing residential customer ordering an additional line, during the
verbal service order process, with information about those features.
The representatives of a provider carrier
shall offer that subscriber blocking options for those
features.
(b) (1) A local exchange service provider
carrier that offers the features described in subdivision (a)
shall advise an existing residential subscriber who inquires about
the features, or who seeks a bill adjustment for the inadvertent or
unauthorized use of those per use custom calling features, that the
features can be blocked and shall inquire as to whether the
subscriber would like to block any or all of the features.
(2) (A) A local exchange service provider
carrier that offers the features described in subdivision (a)
shall provide notice to all existing residential subscribers not
later than May 1, 2000, describing all features provided on a per use
basis, the charge for each activation, any additional usage or other
charges, and detailed information about the ability to block these
features.
(B) The notice shall contain a toll-free number for further
information and shall contain a noticeable postcard size bill insert
that may be returned in the subscriber's bill envelope if they wish
to block any or all of the per use features described in subdivision
(a).
(c) A local exchange service subscriber that has not blocked per
use features in accordance with this section is entitled to a
one-time bill adjustment which that
shall equal the sum of the charges for every incident that occurred
during the first billing cycle pursuant to which the subscriber
notifies the local exchange service provider
carrier that inadvertent or unauthorized activation occurred
with regard to those per use services that do not require coded
dialing to activate. The one-time bill adjustment shall include an
adjustment for any additional usage charges occurring as a result of
inadvertent or unauthorized activation. The adjustment shall take the
form of a credit to the subscriber's account if the existing
technology or facilities of the local exchange service
provider carrier measure usage and permit a
usage credit to be determined and provided.
(d) Nothing in this section prohibits a local exchange
service provider carrier from providing
additional bill adjustments at its discretion in connection with
charges imposed for features described in subdivision (a).
SEC. 2. Section 2889.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
2889.5. (a) No A telephone
corporation, or any person, firm, or corporation representing a
telephone corporation, shall not make any change or
authorize a different telephone corporation to make any change in the
provider of any telephone service for which competition has been
authorized of a telephone subscriber until all of the following steps
have been completed:
(1) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents shall
thoroughly inform the subscriber of the nature and extent of the
service being offered.
(2) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents shall
specifically establish whether the subscriber intends to make any
change in his or her telephone service provider, and explain any
charges associated with that change.
(3) For sales of residential service, the subscriber's decision to
change his or her telephone service provider shall be confirmed by
an independent third-party verification company, or as provided in
paragraph (5). For purposes of this provision, the confirmation by a
third-party verification company shall be made as follows:
(A) The third-party verification company shall meet each of the
following criteria:
(i) Be independent from the telephone corporation that seeks to
provide the subscriber's new service.
(ii) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by the telephone corporation
that seeks to provide the new service or by any corporation, firm, or
person who directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs, or
owns more than 5 percent of the telephone corporation.
(iii) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of
the telephone corporation that seeks to provide the subscriber's new
service.
(iv) Not derive commissions or compensation based upon the number
of sales confirmed.
(B) The telephone corporation seeking to verify the sale shall do
so by connecting the subscriber by telephone to the third-party
verification company or by arranging for the third-party verification
company to call the subscriber to confirm the sale.
(C) The third-party verification company shall obtain the
subscriber's oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall record
that confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification data. The
record shall be available to the subscriber upon request. Information
obtained from the subscriber through confirmation shall not be used
for marketing purposes. Any unauthorized release of this information
is grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved subscriber against the
telephone corporation or its employees who are responsible for the
violation.
(D) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), a service
provider shall not be required to comply with these
provisions verification requirements when the
customer directly calls the local service provider to make changes in
service providers. However, a service provider shall not avoid the
verification requirements by asking a subscribing customer to contact
a local exchange service provider carrier
directly to make any change in the service provider. A local
exchange service provider carrier shall
be required to comply with these verification requirements for its
own competitive services. However, a local exchange service
provider carrier shall not be required to
perform any verification requirements for any changes solicited by
another telephone corporation.
(4) For a sale of residential service, the telephone corporation
seeking to verify the change in service, in addition to the
requirements of paragraph (3), shall notify the subscriber by United
States Postal Service that the subscriber's telephone service
provider has been changed. The service provider that initiated the
change shall send that notice within 14 days of the date of the
change. The notice shall provide the subscriber with clear, legible
notice of the change in service provider, and shall include a
customer service telephone number for the subscriber to call if the
subscriber did not authorize the change in service.
(5) Confirmation of a sale of residential service may be made
using an electronic means that complies with Section 64.1120 of Title
47 of the Code of Federal Regulations in effect as of June 17, 2008.
(6) For sales of all nonresidential services, the subscriber's
decision to change his or her service provider shall be confirmed
through any of the following means:
(A) Independent third-party verification, as set forth in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) .
(B) The telephone corporation shall mail to the subscriber an
information package seeking confirmation of his or her change in the
telephone corporation. The information package shall describe the new
service and shall include a postage prepaid postcard or mailer that
the subscriber can use to deny, cancel, or confirm a service order,
as soon as possible, and wait 14 days after the information package
is mailed before making the change in the telephone corporation. The
telephone corporation shall make the change only if the subscriber
does not cancel the change in service order.
(C) Verify the subscriber's change in his or her telephone service
provider by obtaining the subscriber's signature on a document fully
explaining the nature and extent of the action. The document shall
be a separate document whose , the
sole purpose of which is to explain the nature and
extent of the action.
(D) Obtain the subscriber's authorization through an electronic
means that takes the information, including the calling number, and
confirms the change to which the subscriber has given his or her
consent.
(7) Where the telephone corporation obtains a written order for
service, the document shall thoroughly inform the subscriber of the
nature and extent of the action. The subscriber shall be furnished
with a copy of the signed document. The subscriber by his or her
signature on the document shall indicate a full understanding of the
relationship being established with the telephone corporation. If a
written subscriber solicitation or other document contains a letter
of agency authorizing a change in service provider, in combination
with other information including, but not limited to, inducements to
subscribers to purchase service, the solicitation shall include a
separate document whose , the sole
purpose of which is to explain the nature and extent of
the action. If any part of a mailing to a prospective subscriber is
in language other than English, any written authorization contained
in the mailing shall be sent to the same prospective subscriber in
the same language.
(8) The telephone corporation shall retain a record of the
verification of the sale for at least one year. These records shall
be made available to the subscriber, the Attorney General, or the
commission upon request.
(b) If a residential or business subscriber that has not signed an
authorization notifies the telephone corporation within 90 days that
he or she does not wish to change telephone corporations, the
subscriber shall be switched back to his or her former telephone
corporation at the expense of the telephone corporation that
initiated the change.
(c) For purposes of this section, competitive services are those
services where subscribers have the ability to presubscribe to a
telephone service provider.
(d) When a subscriber changes telephone service providers, the
change shall be conspicuously noticed on the subscriber's bill.
Notice in the following form is deemed to comply with this
subdivision:
"NOTICE: Your local (or long distance) telephone service provider
has been changed from (name of prior provider) to (name of current
provider).
Cost of change: $ ____."
(e) Any telephone corporation that violates the verification
procedures described in this section shall be liable to the telephone
corporation previously selected by the subscriber in an amount equal
to all charges paid by the subscriber after the violation.
(f) In addition to the liability described in subdivision (e), any
telephone corporation that violates the verification procedures
described in this section shall credit to a subscriber any charges
paid by the subscriber in excess of the amount that the subscriber
would have been obligated to pay had the subscriber's telephone
service not been changed. The commission shall adopt regulations to
govern credits to subscribers pursuant to this subdivision.
(g) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to any
other remedies available by law.
(h) As described in federal law, no telephone corporation, or any
person, firm, or corporation representing a telephone corporation,
shall make any change or authorize a different telephone corporation
to make any change in the provider of any telephone service for which
competition has been authorized of a telephone subscriber without
having on file, or having instituted reasonable steps designed to
obtain, signed, dated orders for service from the subscriber. All
orders shall be in the form prescribed in federal law for letters of
agency. As described in federal law, the telephone corporation is
responsible for charges associated with disputed changes in telephone
service for which it cannot produce a signed, dated order for
service from the subscriber. This subdivision applies to all
intrastate services for which competition has been authorized.
SEC. 3. Section 2894 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
2894. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 2891, the
disclosure of any information by an interexchange telephone
corporation, a local exchange telephone corporation
carrier , or a provider of commercial mobile
radio service, as defined in Section 216.8, in good faith compliance
with the terms of a state or federal court warrant or order or
administrative subpoena issued at the request of a law enforcement
official or other federal, state, or local governmental agency for
law enforcement purposes, is a complete defense against any civil
action brought under this chapter or any other law, including, but
not limited to, Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 630) of Part 1
of Title 15 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, for the wrongful
disclosure of that information.
(b) As used in this section the following terms have the following
meanings:
(1) "Interexchange telephone corporation" means a telephone
corporation that is a long-distance carrier.
(2) "Local exchange telephone corporation"
carrie r" means a telephone corporation that
provides local exchange services.