The following words and terms, when used in this chapter have
the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:
(1) Access customer--Any user of access services which
are obtained from a certificated telecommunications utility (CTU).
(2) Access services--CTU services which provide connections
for or are related to the origination or termination of intrastate
telecommunications services that are generally, but not limited to,
interexchange services.
(3) Administrative review--A process under which an
application may be approved without a formal hearing.
(4) Affected person--
(A) a public utility affected by an action of a regulatory
authority;
(B) a person whose utility service or rates are affected
by a proceeding before a regulatory authority; or
(C) a person who:
(i) is a competitor of a public utility with respect
to a service performed by the utility; or
(ii) wants to enter into competition with a public
utility.
(5) Affiliate--
(A) a person who directly or indirectly owns or holds
at least 5.0% of the voting securities of a public utility;
(B) a person in a chain of successive ownership of
at least 5.0% of the voting securities of a public utility;
(C) a corporation that has at least 5.0% of its voting
securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a public
utility;
(D) a corporation that has at least 5.0% of its voting
securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by:
(i) a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls
at least 5.0% of the voting securities of a public utility; or
(ii) a person in a chain of successive ownership of
at least 5.0% of the voting securities of a public utility;
(E) a person who is an officer or director of a public
utility or of a corporation in a chain of successive ownership of
at least 5.0% of the voting securities of a public utility; or
(F) a person determined to be an affiliate under Public
Utility Regulatory Act §11.006.
(6) Aggregate customer proprietary network information
(CPNI)--A configuration of customer proprietary network information
that has been collected by a telecommunications utility and organized
such that none of the information will identify an individual customer.
(7) Alternate 9-1-1 routing--The routing of 9-1-1 calls
to a designated alternate location if all dedicated 9-1-1 trunks to
a primary public safety answering point are busy or out of service.
(8) Assumed name--Has the meaning assigned by Texas
Business and Commerce Code, §36.10.
(9) Automatic dial announcing device (ADAD)--Any automated
equipment used for telephone solicitation or collection that:
(A) is capable of storing numbers to be called, or
has a random or sequential number generator capable of producing numbers
to be called; and
(B) alone or in conjunction with other equipment, can
convey a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the number called
without the use of a live operator.
(10) Automatic location identification (ALI)--The automatic
display at a public safety answering point of a caller's telephone
number, the address/location of the telephone number, and supplementary
emergency services information for the location from which a call
originates.
(11) Automatic number identification (ANI)--The telephone
number associated with an access line, connection, or station from
which a call originates that is automatically transmitted by the local
switching system to an interexchange or other communications carrier
or to the operator of a 9-1-1 system.
(12) Base rate area--A specific area within an exchange
area, as set forth in the dominant certificated telecommunications
utilities' tariffs, maps or descriptions, wherein local exchange service
is furnished at uniform rates without extra mileage charges.
(13) Basic local telecommunications service--Flat rate
residential and business local exchange telephone service, including
primary directory listings; tone dialing service; access to operator
services; access to directory assistance services; access to 911 service
where provided by a local authority or dual party relay service; the
ability to report service problems seven days a week; lifeline services;
and any other service the commission, after a hearing, determines
should be included in basic local telecommunications service.
(14) Basic network services (BNS)--Those services identified
in Public Utility Regulatory Act §58.051.
(15) Baud--Unit of signaling speed reflecting the number
of discrete conditions or signal elements transmitted per second.
(16) Bellcore--Bell Communications Research, Inc.
(17) Billing agent--Any entity that submits charges
to a billing telecommunications utility on behalf of itself or any
service provider.
(18) Billing telecommunications utility--Any telecommunications
provider, as defined in the Public Utility Regulatory Act §51.002
that issues a bill directly to a customer for any telecommunications
product or service.
(19) Bit Error Ratio (BER)--The ratio of the number
of bits received in error to the total number of bits transmitted
in a given time interval.
(20) Bit Rate--The rate at which data bits are transmitted
over a communications path, normally expressed in bits per second.
(21) Bona fide request--A written request to an incumbent
local exchange company (ILEC) from a CTU or an enhanced service provider,
requesting that the ILEC unbundle its network/services to the extent
ordered by the Federal Communications Commission. A bona fide request
indicates an intent to purchase the service subject to the purchaser
being able to obtain acceptable rates, terms, and conditions.
(22) Business service--A telecommunications service
provided a customer where the use is primarily of a business, professional,
institutional or otherwise occupational nature.
(23) Busy hour--The clock hour each day during which
the greatest usage occurs.
(24) Busy season--That period of the year during which
the greatest volume of traffic is handled in a switching office.
(25) Call aggregator--Any person or entity that owns
or otherwise controls telephones intended to be utilized by the public,
which control is evidenced by the authority to post notices on and/or
unblock access at the telephone.
(26) Call splashing--Call transferring (whether caller-requested
or operator service provider-initiated) that results in a call being
rated and/or billed from a point different from that where the call
originated.
(27) Call transferring--Handing off a call from one
operator service provider (OSP) to another OSP.
(28) Caller identification materials (caller ID materials)--Any
advertisements, educational materials, training materials, audio and
video marketing devices, and any information disseminated about caller
ID services.
(29) Caller identification service (caller ID service)--A
service offered by a telecommunications provider that provides calling
party information to a device capable of displaying the information.
(30) Calling area--The area within which telecommunications
service is furnished to customers under a specific schedule of exchange
rates. A "local" calling area may include more than one exchange area.
(31) Calling party information--
(A) the telephone listing number and/or name of the
customer from whose telephone instrument a telephone number is dialed;
or
(B) other information that may be used to identify
the specific originating number or originating location of a wire
or electronic communication transmitted by a telephone instrument.
(32) Capitalization--Long-term debt plus total equity.
(33) Carrier of choice--An option that allows an individual
to choose an interexchange carrier for long distance calls made through
Telecommunications Relay Service.
(34) Carrier-initiated change--A change in the telecommunications
utility serving a customer that was initiated by the telecommunications
utility to which the customer is changed, whether the switch is made
because a customer did or did not respond to direct mail solicitation,
telemarketing, or other actions initiated by the carrier.
(35) Central office--A switching unit in a telecommunications
system which provides service to the general public, having the necessary
equipment and operating arrangements for terminating and interconnecting
customer lines and trunks or trunks only.
Cont'd... |
