Sec. 4905.04. (A) The public utilities commission is hereby | 14 |
vested
with the power
and jurisdiction to supervise and regulate | 15 |
public utilities and railroads, to
require all public utilities to | 16 |
furnish their products and render all services
exacted by the | 17 |
commission or by law, and to promulgate and enforce all orders | 18 |
relating to the protection, welfare, and safety of railroad | 19 |
employees and the
traveling public, including the apportionment | 20 |
between railroads and the state
and its political subdivisions of | 21 |
the cost of constructing protective devices
at railroad grade | 22 |
crossings. | 23 |
Sec. 4927.03. (A)(1) Except as provided in division (B)
of | 78 |
this section, theThe public utilities commission, upon its own | 79 |
initiative or the application of a telephone company or
companies, | 80 |
after notice, after affording the public and any
affected | 81 |
telephone company a period for comment, and after a
hearing if it | 82 |
considers one necessary, may, by order, exempt any
such telephone | 83 |
company or companies, as to any public
telecommunications service | 84 |
except, including basic local exchange service,
from any provision | 85 |
of Chapter 4905. or, 4909., or 4931. of the Revised Code
or any | 86 |
rule or order issued under those chapters, or establish | 87 |
alternative regulatory requirements to apply to such public | 88 |
telecommunications service and company or companies; provided the | 89 |
commission finds that any such measure is in the public interest | 90 |
and either of the following conditions exists: | 91 |
(3) The commission shall not authorize an exemption or | 109 |
establish alternative regulatory requirements under division | 110 |
(A)(1) of this section with respect to basic local exchange | 111 |
service unless it additionally finds that there are no barriers to | 112 |
entry. Further, as to an exemption with respect to basic local | 113 |
exchange service, the commission shall not exempt a telephone | 114 |
company from sections 4905.20, 4905.21, 4905.22, 4905.231, | 115 |
4905.24, 4905.241, 4905.242, 4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25, 4905.26, | 116 |
4905.30, 4905.32, 4905.33, 4905.35, and 4905.381 of the Revised | 117 |
Code. | 118 |
The public utilities commission shall not approve or | 123 |
authorize any exemption from or modification of any provision of | 124 |
Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the Revised Code or any rule or order | 125 |
issued under them which would impair the exclusive right of any | 126 |
telephone company under those chapters, rules, or orders to | 127 |
provide basic local exchange service in the local service areas
in | 128 |
which such service is provided by the company on the effective | 129 |
date of this section. Nothing
in this division,
however, shall be | 130 |
construed to require the withdrawal or prevent
the offering by any | 131 |
telephone company of interexchange inward
calling services | 132 |
terminating on a local exchange access line or
interexchange | 133 |
services that employ dedicated access between the
customer's | 134 |
premises and the telephone company's facilities merely
because | 135 |
incidental use of such services by the customer for basic
local | 136 |
exchange service is possible. Such offering shall not be
promoted | 137 |
or marketed as basic local exchange service. Nothing in
this | 138 |
division affects the commission's authority and duties under | 139 |
sections 4905.241 to 4905.25 of the Revised Code. | 140 |
(C) In carrying out this section, the public utilities | 141 |
commission may prescribe different classifications, procedures, | 142 |
terms, or conditions for different telephone companies and for
the | 143 |
public telecommunications services they provide, provided
they are | 144 |
reasonable and do not confer any undue economic,
competitive, or | 145 |
market advantage or preference upon any telephone
company. | 146 |
(D)(C) The public utilities commission has jurisdiction over | 147 |
every telephone company providing a public telecommunications | 148 |
service that has received an exemption or for which alternative | 149 |
regulatory requirements have been established pursuant to this | 150 |
section. As to any such company, the commission, after notice
and | 151 |
hearing, may abrogate or modify any order so granting an
exemption | 152 |
or establishing alternative requirements if it
determines that the | 153 |
findings upon which the order was based are
no longer valid and | 154 |
that the abrogation or modification is in the
public interest. No | 155 |
such abrogation or modification shall be
made more than eight | 156 |
three years after the date an order granting an
exemption or | 157 |
establishing alternative requirements under this
section was | 158 |
entered upon the commission's journal, unless the
affected | 159 |
telephone company or companies consent. | 160 |
Sec. 4927.04. (A)(1) In considering an application pursuant | 166 |
to section 4909.18 of the Revised
Code, the rates and charges for | 167 |
basic local exchange
service or any other public | 168 |
telecommunications service for which
the public utilities | 169 |
commission has not provided an exemption or
alternative regulatory | 170 |
requirements under section 4927.03 of the
Revised Code may be | 171 |
established by the commission, upon its own
initiative or the | 172 |
request of thean applicant telephone company, by a method other | 173 |
than that specified in section
4909.15
of the Revised Code, | 174 |
provided the commission finds the use of the
alternative method of | 175 |
establishing rates and charges to be in the
public interest and | 176 |
provided, in instances where the alternative
method is proposed by | 177 |
the commission, the applicant consents.
Alternative methods may | 178 |
include, but are not limited to, methods
that maintain universal | 179 |
telephone service in the state; minimize
the costs and time | 180 |
expended in the regulatory process; tend to
assess the costs of | 181 |
any telecommunications service to the entity
or service that | 182 |
causes such costs to be incurred; afford rate
stability; promote | 183 |
and reward efficiency, quality of service, or
cost containment by | 184 |
telephone companies; or provide sufficient
flexibility and | 185 |
incentives to the telecommunications industry to
achieve high | 186 |
quality, technologically advanced, and universally
available | 187 |
telecommunications services at just and reasonable
rates and | 188 |
charges. | 189 |
(2) An application whichthat proposes an alternative method | 190 |
of
establishing rates and charges whichthat could result in an | 191 |
increase in any rate or
charge for basic local exchange service or | 192 |
any other public telecommunications
service for which the public | 193 |
utilities commission has not provided an exemption
or alternative | 194 |
regulatory requirements under section 4927.03 of the Revised Code | 195 |
without
further action by the commission shall be deemed, without | 196 |
further action by the commission, to be an application for an | 197 |
increase in rates and charges under section 4909.18 of the Revised | 198 |
Code, notwithstanding
whether an immediate increase in rates and | 199 |
charges is proposed. | 200 |
(3) An application pursuant to section 4909.18 of the Revised | 201 |
Code whichthat is not for an
increase in rates and charges, but | 202 |
whichthat proposes an alternative method of
establishing rates | 203 |
and charges for basic local exchange service or any other
public | 204 |
telecommunications service for which the public utilities | 205 |
commission has
not provided an exemption or alternative regulatory | 206 |
requirements under section
4927.03 of the Revised Code, shall | 207 |
include the exhibits specified in divisions
(A) to
(D) of section | 208 |
4909.18 of the Revised Code, unless otherwise ordered by the | 209 |
commission. Notwithstanding any provision of section 4909.18 of | 210 |
the Revised
Code to the
contrary, after the date such application | 211 |
is filed, any
person may file a request for hearing on the | 212 |
application. If it appears to
the commission that the request sets | 213 |
forth reasonable grounds for holding a
hearing, the commission | 214 |
shall set the matter for hearing and shall give notice
of such | 215 |
hearing as provided in section 4909.18 of the Revised Code. | 216 |
(B) Upon the application of any telephone company that is an | 217 |
incumbent local exchange carrier as defined in 47 U.S.C. 252(h) | 218 |
having
fewer than fifteen thousand access lines, the public | 219 |
utilities
commission, by order, may exempt such company, with | 220 |
respect
to
any public telecommunications service it provides, from | 221 |
any
provision of Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the Revised Code that | 222 |
is
specified and requested in such application, except sections | 223 |
4905.20, 4905.21, 4905.22, 4905.231, 4905.24, 4905.241, 4905.242, | 224 |
4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25, 4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.32, 4905.33, | 225 |
4905.35, and 4905.381 of the Revised Code; or may establish | 226 |
alternative regulatory requirements to apply to such company and | 227 |
service, provided the commission finds that the alternative | 228 |
requirements are in the public interest. | 229 |