BILL NUMBER: SB 1712 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Polanco
FEBRUARY 23, 2000
An act to amend Section 871 of, to add Section 883 to,
and to repeal and add Section 871.5 of, add Sections
871.7 and 883 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public
utilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1712, as amended, Polanco. Universal telephone service.
The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act requires the Public
Utilities Commission to establish a class of lifeline service
necessary to meet minimum residential communications needs and
establish rates and charges for that service.
This bill would require the commission, on or before February 1,
2001, to initiate an investigation to examine the current and future
definitions of universal service, seeking input from a wide cross
section of providers, users, and state agencies, and reporting
findings and recommendations to the Legislature. The bill would make
related legislative findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 871 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
871. This article shall be known and may be cited as the
Polanco-Moore Universal Telephone Service Act of 2000.
SEC. 2. Section 871.5 of the Public Utilities Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. Section 871.5
SECTION 1. Section 871.7 is added to the Public Utilities
Code, to read:
871.5.
871.7. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The Moore Universal Telephone Service Act, enacted in 1987,
was intended to offer high quality basic telephone service at
affordable rates to the greatest number of California residents, and
has become an important means of achieving universal service by
making residential service affordable to low-income citizens through
the creation of a lifeline class of service.
(b) Factors such as competition and new research
technological innovation are resulting in the
convergence of a variety of telecommunications technologies offering
an expanded range of telecommunications services to users that
incorporate voice, video, and data. These technologies have
differing regulatory regimes and jurisdictions.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
commission redefine universal telephone service by incorporating, to
the extent feasible, two-way send and receive voice, video, and data
as components of basic service. This incorporation will guarantee
equity of access to high-speed networks that will do all of the
following: commission initiate a proceeding
investigating the feasibility of redefining universal telephone
service by incorporating two-way voice, video, and data service as
components of basic service. It is the Legislature's further intent
that, to the extent that the incorporation is feasible, that it
promote equity of access to high-speed communications networks, the
Internet, and other services to the extent that those services
provide social benefits that include all of the following:
(1) Improve Improving the quality of
life among the residents of California.
(2) Expand Expanding access to
public and private resources for education, training, and commerce.
(3) Increase Increasing access to
public resources enhancing public health and safety.
(4) Assist Assisting in bridging the
"digital divide" through expanded access to new technologies by
low-income, disabled, or otherwise disadvantaged Californians.
(5) Shift Shifting traffic patterns
by enabling telecommuting, thereby helping to improve air quality in
all areas of the state and mitigating the need for highway expansion.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term "feasibility" means
consistency with all of the following:
(1) Technological and competitive neutrality.
(2) Equitable distribution of the funding for redefined universal
telephone service as described in subdivision (c), among all affected
consumers and industries.
(3) Benefits that justify the costs.
SEC. 4.
SEC. 2. Section 883 is added to the Public Utilities Code,
to read:
883. (a) The commission shall, on or before February 1, 2001,
issue an order initiating an investigation and opening a proceeding
to examine the current and future definitions of universal service.
That proceeding shall include public hearings that encourage
participation by a broad and diverse range of interests from all
areas of the state, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Consumer groups.
(2) Communication service providers, including all providers of
high-speed access services.
(3) Facilities-based telephone providers.
(4) Information service providers and Internet access providers.
(5) Rural and urban users.
(6) Public interest groups.
(7) Representatives of small and large businesses and industry.
(8) Local agencies.
(9) State agencies, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
(A) The Trade and Commerce Agency.
(B) The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
(C) The State and Consumer Services Agency.
(D) The Department of Information Technology.
(E) The State Department of Education.
(F) The State Department of Health Services.
(G) The California State Library.
(10) Colleges and universities.
(b) The objectives of the proceeding set forth in subdivision (a)
shall include all of the following:
(1) To redefine investigate the
feasibility of redefining universal service in light of current
trends toward accelerated convergence of voice, video, and data,
with an emphasis on the role of basic telecommunications and
Internet service in the workplace, in the availability
of education and education and workforce
training, access to health care, and increased public safety.
(2) To evaluate the extent to which technological changes
are reducing the relevance of prior segmentation across these
technologies. changes justify a homogenization of
regulations and regulatory jurisdictions.
(3) To receive broad-based input from a cross section of
interested parties and make recommendations on how
whether video and data providers can
, data, and Internet service providers should be
incorporated into an enhanced Universal Lifeline Service program, as
specified, including relevant policy recommendations
regarding fees and surcharges. regarding regulatory
and statutory changes and funding options.
(4) To reevaluate prior definitions of basic service in a manner
that will , to the extent feasible, effectively
incorporate the latest technologies to provide all California
residents with all of the following:
(A) Improved quality of life.
(B) Expanded access to public and private resources for education,
training, and commerce.
(C) Increased access to public resources enhancing public health
and safety.
(D) Assistance in bridging the "digital divide" through expanded
access to new technologies by low income, disabled, or otherwise
disadvantaged Californians.
(5) To assess projected costs of providing enhanced universal
lifeline service in accordance with the intent of this article, and
to delineate the subsidy support needed to maintain the redefined
scope of universal service in a competitive market.
(6) To design and recommend an equitable and broad-based subsidy
support mechanism for universal communication service in
freely competitive markets. service in competitive
markets in a manner that conforms with subdivision (c) of Section
871.7.
(7) To develop a process to periodically review and revise the
definition of universal communication service to
reflect new technologies and markets consistent with subdivision
(c) of Section 871.7 .
(8) To consider whether similar regulatory treatment for the
provision of similar services is appropriate and feasible.
(c) In conducting its investigation, the commission shall
take into account the role played by a number of diverse but
convergent industries, in addition to telephone service providers
regulated by the commission. For example, in contrast to telephone
utilities, manufacturers and service providers from other industries
are either unregulated or regulated at the local or federal level.
shall consider that many of the providers of voice,
video, and data services are not economically regulated by the
commission or any other governmental entity.
(d) The commission shall complete its investigation and report to
the Legislature its findings and recommendations on or before January
1, 2002. The recommendations of the commission shall be
consistent with state policies for telecommunications as set forth in
Section 709, and with all of the following principles:
(1) Essential universal service shall be provided at affordable
prices to all Californians regardless of linguistic, cultural,
ethnic, physical, financial, and geographic considerations.
(2) In order to effectively bridge the digital divide between the
information rich and information poor, there must be an ongoing
evaluation by the commission of those services that shall
appropriately be deemed essential, and therefore, a part of universal
service.
(3) Public policy shall be to provide incentives, as needed, to
promote deployment of advanced telecommunications technology to all
customer segments.
(4) Consumers shall be provided access to all information needed
to allow timely and informed choices about telecommunications
products and services and how to best use them.
(5) Education, health care, community, and government institutions
shall be positioned as early recipients of the new and emerging
technologies so as to maximize the economic and social benefit of
these services.
(6) All parties involved in providing services utilizing evolving
telecommunications networks shall adhere to the same guidelines
regarding mutual interconnectivity, interoperability, common
carriage, reliability, privacy, and security.