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 |
(B) Division Subject to sections 4905.041 and 4905.042 of the | 24 |
Revised Code, division (A) of this section includes such power and | 25 |
jurisdiction as is reasonably necessary for the commission to | 26 |
perform the acts
of a state commission pursuant to the | 27 |
"Telecommunications
Act of 1996," Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110
Stat. | 28 |
56federal law, including federal regulations, the acts of a state | 29 |
commission as defined in 47 U.S.C. 153. | 30 |
Sec. 4905.042. Regarding advanced services or internet | 41 |
protocol-enabled service as defined by federal law, including | 42 |
federal regulations, the public utilities commission shall not | 43 |
exercise any jurisdiction over those services that is prohibited | 44 |
by, or is inconsistent with its jurisdiction under, federal law, | 45 |
including federal regulations. | 46 |
Sec. 4927.03. (A)(1) Except as provided in division (B)
of | 75 |
this section, theThe public utilities commission, upon its own | 76 |
initiative or the application of a telephone company or
companies, | 77 |
after notice, after affording the public and any
affected | 78 |
telephone company a period for comment, and after a
hearing if it | 79 |
considers one necessary, may, by order, exempt any
such telephone | 80 |
company or companies, as to any public
telecommunications service | 81 |
except, including basic local exchange service,
from any provision | 82 |
of Chapter 4905. or 4909., or sections 4931.01 to 4931.35 of the | 83 |
Revised Code
or any rule or order adopted or issued under those | 84 |
chaptersprovisions, or establish
alternative regulatory | 85 |
requirements to apply to such public
telecommunications service | 86 |
and company or companies; provided the
commission finds that any | 87 |
such measure is in the public interest
and either of the following | 88 |
conditions exists: | 89 |
(3) To authorize an exemption or establish alternative | 107 |
regulatory requirements under division (A)(1) of this section with | 108 |
respect to basic local exchange service, the commission | 109 |
additionally shall find that there are no barriers to entry. | 110 |
Further, as to an exemption with respect to basic local exchange | 111 |
service, the commission shall not exempt a telephone company from | 112 |
sections 4905.20, 4905.21, 4905.22, 4905.231, 4905.24, 4905.241, | 113 |
4905.242, 4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25, 4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.32, | 114 |
4905.33, 4905.35, and 4905.381 of the Revised Code. | 115 |
The public utilities commission shall not approve or | 120 |
authorize any exemption from or modification of any provision of | 121 |
Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the Revised Code or any rule or order | 122 |
issued under them which would impair the exclusive right of any | 123 |
telephone company under those chapters, rules, or orders to | 124 |
provide basic local exchange service in the local service areas
in | 125 |
which such service is provided by the company on the effective | 126 |
date of this section. Nothing
in this division,
however, shall be | 127 |
construed to require the withdrawal or prevent
the offering by any | 128 |
telephone company of interexchange inward
calling services | 129 |
terminating on a local exchange access line or
interexchange | 130 |
services that employ dedicated access between the
customer's | 131 |
premises and the telephone company's facilities merely
because | 132 |
incidental use of such services by the customer for basic
local | 133 |
exchange service is possible. Such offering shall not be
promoted | 134 |
or marketed as basic local exchange service. Nothing in
this | 135 |
division affects the commission's authority and duties under | 136 |
sections 4905.241 to 4905.25 of the Revised Code. | 137 |
(C) In carrying out this section, the public utilities | 138 |
commission may prescribe different classifications, procedures, | 139 |
terms, or conditions for different telephone companies and for
the | 140 |
public telecommunications services they provide, provided
they are | 141 |
reasonable and do not confer any undue economic,
competitive, or | 142 |
market advantage or preference upon any telephone
company. | 143 |
(D)(C) The public utilities commission has jurisdiction over | 144 |
every telephone company providing a public telecommunications | 145 |
service that has received an exemption or for which alternative | 146 |
regulatory requirements have been established pursuant to this | 147 |
section. As to any such company, the commission, after notice
and | 148 |
hearing, may abrogate or modify any order so granting an
exemption | 149 |
or establishing alternative requirements if it
determines that the | 150 |
findings upon which the order was based are
no longer valid and | 151 |
that the abrogation or modification is in the
public interest. No | 152 |
such abrogation or modification shall be
made more than eightfive | 153 |
years after the date an order granting an
exemption or | 154 |
establishing alternative requirements under this
section was | 155 |
entered upon the commission's journal, unless the
affected | 156 |
telephone company or companies consent. | 157 |
(E)(D) The public utilities commission shall adopt such rules | 158 |
as it finds necessary to carry out this section. It shall adopt | 159 |
rules initially implementing the amendment of this section by H.B. | 160 |
No. 218 of the 126th general assembly within one hundred twenty | 161 |
days after the effective date of the amendment. In adopting those | 162 |
rules, the commission shall consider the establishment of elective | 163 |
alternative regulation specific to a telephone company that is an | 164 |
incumbent local exchange carrier as defined in 47 U.S.C. 251(h) | 165 |
having fewer than fifty thousand access lines. | 166 |
Sec. 4927.04. (A)(1) In considering an application pursuant | 167 |
to section 4909.18 of the Revised
Code, the rates and charges for | 168 |
basic local exchange
service or any other public | 169 |
telecommunications service for which
the public utilities | 170 |
commission has not provided an exemption or
alternative regulatory | 171 |
requirements under section 4927.03 of the
Revised Code may be | 172 |
established by the commission, upon its own
initiative or the | 173 |
request of thean applicant telephone company, by a method other | 174 |
than that specified in section
4909.15
of the Revised Code, | 175 |
provided the commission finds the use of the
alternative method of | 176 |
establishing rates and charges to be in the
public interest and | 177 |
provided, in instances where the alternative
method is proposed by | 178 |
the commission, the applicant consents.
Alternative methods may | 179 |
include, but are not limited to, methods
that maintain universal | 180 |
telephone service in the state; minimize
the costs and time | 181 |
expended in the regulatory process; tend to
assess the costs of | 182 |
any telecommunications service to the entity
or service that | 183 |
causes such costs to be incurred; afford rate
stability; promote | 184 |
and reward efficiency, quality of service, or
cost containment by | 185 |
telephone companies; or provide sufficient
flexibility and | 186 |
incentives to the telecommunications industry to
achieve high | 187 |
quality, technologically advanced, and universally
available | 188 |
telecommunications services at just and reasonable
rates and | 189 |
charges. | 190 |
(2) An application whichthat proposes an alternative method | 191 |
of
establishing rates and charges whichthat could result in an | 192 |
increase in any rate or
charge for basic local exchange service or | 193 |
any other public telecommunications
service for which the public | 194 |
utilities commission has not provided an exemption
or alternative | 195 |
regulatory requirements under section 4927.03 of the Revised Code | 196 |
without
further action by the commission shall be deemed, without | 197 |
further action by the commission, to be an application for an | 198 |
increase in rates and charges under section 4909.18 of the Revised | 199 |
Code, notwithstanding
whether an immediate increase in rates and | 200 |
charges is proposed. | 201 |
(3) An application pursuant to section 4909.18 of the Revised | 202 |
Code whichthat is not for an
increase in rates and charges, but | 203 |
whichthat proposes an alternative method of
establishing rates | 204 |
and charges for basic local exchange service or any other
public | 205 |
telecommunications service for which the public utilities | 206 |
commission has
not provided an exemption or alternative regulatory | 207 |
requirements under section
4927.03 of the Revised Code, shall | 208 |
include the exhibits specified in divisions
(A) to
(D) of section | 209 |
4909.18 of the Revised Code, unless otherwise ordered by the | 210 |
commission. Notwithstanding any provision of section 4909.18 of | 211 |
the Revised
Code to the
contrary, after the date such application | 212 |
is filed, any
person may file a request for hearing on the | 213 |
application. If it appears to
the commission that the request sets | 214 |
forth reasonable grounds for holding a
hearing, the commission | 215 |
shall set the matter for hearing and shall give notice
of such | 216 |
hearing as provided in section 4909.18 of the Revised Code. | 217 |
(B) Upon the application of any telephone company that is an | 218 |
incumbent local exchange carrier as defined in 47 U.S.C. 251(h) | 219 |
having
fewer than fifteenfifty thousand access lines, the public | 220 |
utilities
commission, by order, may exempt such company, with | 221 |
respect
to
any public telecommunications service it provides, from | 222 |
any
provision of Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the Revised Code that | 223 |
is
specified and requested in such application, except sections | 224 |
4905.20, 4905.21, 4905.22, 4905.231, 4905.24, 4905.241, 4905.242, | 225 |
4905.243, 4905.244, 4905.25, 4905.26, 4905.30, 4905.32, 4905.33, | 226 |
4905.35, and 4905.381 of the Revised Code; or may establish | 227 |
alternative regulatory requirements to apply to such company and | 228 |
service, provided the commission finds that the alternative | 229 |
requirements are in the public interest. | 230 |