BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 909|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 909
Author: Reyes (D)
Amended: 7/15/03 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, U.&C. COMMITTEE : 6-0, 7/8/03
AYES: Bowen, Alarcon, Dunn, McClintock, Murray,
Vasconcellos
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrow, Battin, Sher
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 44-29, 5/27/03 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Telecommunications: local and long-distance
service
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires telephone companies to
disclose certain types of billing information for customers
who purchase bundled service packages.
ANALYSIS : Current California telecommunications policy
calls for customers to be given sufficient information to
make informed choices and the establishment of processes
for equitable resolution of billing and service problems.
California law, as of January 1, 2004, will require
cellular telephone service providers to establish a means
by which customers can obtain current information on their
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calling plans and usage.
This bill finds the telecommunications industry is evolving
towards bundled service offerings, that customers have a
right to make informed decisions, and that customers can
only do this if they're able to determine how much they're
being charged for local and long-distance calling.
This bill requires every provider of local telephone
service, upon request and without charge, to provide
customers who buy a bundle of both local and long-distance
services, or for customers that buy a set number of minutes
for a fixed price, with information showing a breakdown of
the total minutes of use for toll and for long-distance
service.
This bill sunsets on January 1, 2007.
Background
Increasingly, telecommunications companies are bundling
their service offerings, providing a discount to people who
buy a package of services. Some of those bundled service
offerings include flat-rate pricing where the customer can
use all the phone service they want for a fixed charge.
MCI and Verizon, for example, allow unlimited local and
long-distance calling for about $40 month.
These programs don't provide customers with individual call
detail (e.g. time of call, destination, duration), because
that information is arguably immaterial since the customer
is paying the same fee every month regardless of what time
they make a call, where they call, or how long they stay on
a particular call. Not having to track those details and
provide the information to customers arguably lowers a
company's costs, which may be reflected in the price of the
bundled plan offered to customers.
Comments
Some telecommunications companies assert that when they
developed their all-you-can-eat plans, they were priced at
a specific level because the companies knew their costs
would be lower since they didn't need to collect, process,
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and render bills with detailed information about every
telephone call. Being forced to track the minutes each
customer uses so a company can provide that information to
any customer who requests it may lead companies to increase
their all-you-can-eat prices.
This bill tries to address that issue by requiring
companies to make the information available only when a
customer asks for it, allowing flexibility in when the
information is to be provided, and limiting the information
a customer can get to the total number of minutes used.
Furthermore, the bill doesn't preclude a company from
charging a separate fee to a customer who wants access to
this type of information.
Related Legislation
AB 1379 (Calderon) delays the effective date of SB 1903
from January 1, 2004 to January 1, 2005, and clarifies the
law to make sure it applies to roaming charges.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/03)
Office of Ratepayer Advocates
The Utility Reform Network
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/18/03)
Verizon
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Berg, Calderon, Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu,
Cohn, Corbett, Correa, Diaz, Dutra, Dymally, Firebaugh,
Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Jackson,
Kehoe, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Liu,
Longville, Lowenthal, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin, Nakano,
Nation, Nunez, Oropeza, Parra, Reyes, Salinas, Simitian,
Steinberg, Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk, Yee, Wesson
NOES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Bogh, Cogdill, Cox,
Daucher, Dutton, Garcia, Harman, Haynes, Shirley Horton,
Houston, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie, Maddox,
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Maldonado, Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Plescia,
Runner, Samuelian, Spitzer, Strickland, Wyland
NC:sl 8/20/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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