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History
- Referred to energy and telecommunications
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Provides that the public service commission shall establish service performance standards for telephone corporations
In Assembly Committee · Corporations, Authorities And Commissions · Sponsor James F. Brennan
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S7321 REVISED MEMO 05/14/2014
Title of bill
An act to amend the public service law, in relation to service performance standards for telephone corporations
Purpose or general idea of bill
To require any telephone corporation that offer fixed wireless telephone services to meet the service performance standards established by the public service commission ("PSC") before it can offer such wireless telephone services to customers.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one of the bill requires providers of telephone service that offer fixed wireless telephone services to file monthly reports with PSC reporting their compliance rate with respect to the service performance standards established by the PSC as of January 1, 2010. The PSC is required to post the reports on its website. The information in the report shall not be exempt from disclosure.
Section two provides the following:
* Prohibits the PSC from waiving, reducing or eliminating a service performance standard for an individual service provider;
* Prohibits the PSC from using potential competition as a factor for establishing or eliminating a service performance standard;
* Provides for a penalty of the greater of $500,000 or three times the cost of meeting such standard for failing or neglecting to meet a service performance standard;
* Prohibits, with certain exceptions, the PSC from authorizing or allow- ing a service provider to offer wireless services until the
service provider has meet all of the performance standards applicable to the provider.
Section three sets for the severability clause.
Section four states that this Act shall take effect immediately.
Justification
In a petition, dated April 25, 2012, filed with the PSC, the State Attorney General found that:
* PSC allowed Verizon to subject only a small subset of its customers (8% of its customers) to the service performance standards;
* PSC has relieved Verizon from meeting certain service performance standards;
* PSC has allowed Verizon to aggregate its repair service measurements into five regions, rather than the 28 service repair bureaus;
* Verizon has drastically reduced its workforce with the result that it cannot meet its landline customer repair needs in a timely manner;
* Verizon's policy is to focus on competing for wireless customers, even at the expense of its own traditional wireline business;
* Verizon has chosen to spend the bulk of its investment and manpower on expanding its wireless business. Verizon has relentlessly downsized and avoided upgrading its wireline network;
* The current penalties are not sufficient to deter Verizon from deliv- ering the level of service required by the PSC service performance stan- dards.
This bill would address the problems and weaknesses identified by the Attorney General, and would ensure that telephone corporations that are offering fixed wireless do not abandon or ignore their landline custom- ers.
Prior legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.