| (a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to implement
Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §55.014 regarding the provision
of advanced services to facilitate connection of end users to the
Internet. This section is also intended to promote the policy, pursuant
to PURA §51.001(g), that customers in all regions of this state
have access to advanced telecommunications and information services.
(b) Application. This section applies to a company
electing under PURA Chapter 58 or a company that holds a certificate
of operating authority (COA) or service provider certificate of operating
authority (SPCOA). This section does not apply to a deregulated company
holding a certificate of operating authority or to an exempt carrier
under PURA §52.154.
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Advanced services provider--Any entity that offers
or deploys advanced services, such as a holder of a certificate of
convenience and necessity, a COA, a SPCOA, a cable company, a fixed
wireless company, a satellite company, or any other provider of an
advanced service.
(2) Advanced telecommunications services--Any retail
telecommunications services that, regardless of transmission medium
or technology, are capable of originating and receiving data transmissions
for the purpose of accessing the Internet with a speed of at least
200 kilobits per second in the last mile in one direction and with
a speed of at least 128 kilobits a second in the last mile in the
opposite direction.
(3) Advanced services--Any retail services that, regardless
of transmission medium or technology, are capable of originating and
receiving data transmissions for the purpose of accessing the Internet
with a speed of at least 200 kilobits per second in the last mile
in one direction and with a speed of at least 128 kilobits a second
in the last mile in the opposite direction. An advanced service includes
any advanced telecommunications service.
(4) Company--A telecommunications utility electing
under PURA Chapter 58 or an entity that holds a COA or a SPCOA that
provides advanced telecommunications services in urban areas of this
state and provides local exchange telephone services in a rural area
seeking provision of advanced services.
(5) Reasonably comparable or similar services--Any
services that meet the definition of an advanced service. Each advanced
service is substitutable for any other advanced service.
(6) Rural area or rural service area--Any community
located in a county not included within any Metropolitan Statistical
Area (MSA) boundary, as defined by the United States Office of Management
and Budget, and any community within an MSA with a population of 20,000
or fewer not adjacent to the primary MSA city.
(7) Urban area or urban service area--A municipality
in this state with a population of more than 190,000.
(d) Provision of advanced services.
(1) Requirement to provide an advanced service.
(A) A company that provides advanced telecommunications
services within the company's urban service areas shall, on a Bona
Fide Retail Request for service, provide in rural areas served by
the company advanced services that are reasonably comparable to the
advanced telecommunications services provided in urban areas. The
company shall provide such advanced services to the retail customer(s)
seeking service through a Bona Fide Retail Request determined by the
commission under this section:
(i) at reasonably comparable prices, terms, and conditions
to the prices, terms, and conditions for similar advanced telecommunications
services provided by the company in proximate urban areas; and
(ii) within 15 months after notice of the Bona Fide
Retail Request for those services is published in the Texas Register.
(B) A company that provides advanced services in a
rural area pursuant to a Bona Fide Retail Request shall provide advanced
services to any subsequent retail customer(s) located within 14,000
26-gauge cable feet or its equivalent of the same central office as
determined for the original Bona Fide Retail Request under this section:
(i) at reasonably comparable prices, terms, and conditions
to the prices, terms and conditions for similar advanced services
provided by the company in proximate urban areas; and
(ii) within a reasonably comparable period of time
as the period of time a company provides advanced telecommunications
services to the company's subsequent retail advanced services customers
located in proximate urban areas.
(C) A company meets the requirement of providing a
reasonably comparable advanced service if the company has provided
the requested or a reasonably comparable advanced service in accordance
with this section either:
(i) directly; or
(ii) through a business arrangement with an advanced
services provider.
(D) A company shall not be required to provide advanced
services in a rural area when an advanced services provider is already
providing advanced services in the rural area seeking an advanced
service at the time of the Bona Fide Retail Request or within 15 months
after notice of the Bona Fide Retail Request is published in the Texas Register. When determining if another
provider is already providing an advanced service in a rural area,
the commission shall, with information available to the public, consider:
(i) whether an advanced services provider is actively
marketing an advanced service in the rural area;
(ii) whether an advanced services provider is offering,
directly or indirectly, installation and repair services for facilities
and equipment necessary for the provision of the advanced service;
(iii) whether customers in the rural area are able
to receive installation and repair services necessary for facilities
and equipment;
(iv) whether the price of installation and repair services
are reasonably comparable to prices in proximate urban areas; and
(v) whether an advanced services provider or distributor
is located within or near the rural area.
(E) The absence of an Internet service provider is
a factor to be considered, but necessarily an exception, when requiring
a company to provide advanced services in a rural area.
(F) This section may not be construed to require a
company to:
(i) begin providing services in a rural area in which
the company does not provide local exchange telephone service;
(ii) provide advanced services in a rural area of this
state unless the company provides advanced telecommunications services
in urban areas of this state; or
(iii) provide a specific advanced service or technology
in a rural area.
(2) Reasonably comparable price, terms, and conditions.
Advanced services provided by a company to a rural area pursuant to
paragraph (1) of this subsection must be provided at prices, terms,
and conditions that are reasonably comparable to the prices, terms,
and conditions for similar advanced telecommunications services provided
by the company in proximate urban areas.
(A) Reasonably comparable prices.
(i) If a monthly retail price for an advanced service
is within 140% of the monthly retail price of the advanced telecommunications
service offered in the same company's proximate urban service area,
there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the price is reasonably
comparable. A promotional rate for an advanced telecommunications
service shall not be considered a monthly retail price if it is offered
for less than four months.
(ii) When considering whether a price is reasonably
comparable, the commission shall consider the distance, terrain, and
features of the rural area seeking the advanced service.
(iii) A company may rebut the 140% presumption by showing
that a higher price is necessary to recover its reasonable costs in
providing the advanced service.
(iv) Any interested person may rebut the 140% presumption
by showing that a lower price will allow a company to recover its
reasonable costs in providing the advanced service.
(v) Any company or interested person seeking to rebut
the 140% presumption by showing that a higher or lower price is warranted
must do so during the Commission Selection Proceeding under subsection
(f)(4) of this section. Any dispute regarding a company's reasonably
comparable price must be resolved during the Commission Selection
Proceeding under subsection (f)(4) of this section.
(B) Reasonably comparable terms and conditions.
(i) Reasonably comparable terms and conditions are
those terms and conditions applicable to the provision of advanced
services in a rural area that are similar to the terms and conditions
for advanced telecommunications services provided by the same company
in proximate urban areas.
Cont'd... |
