Telecommunications Reports presents . . . . . TR's State NewsWire
February 2, 2001 A.M. Edition


STATES
ILLINOIS -- Legislation to rewrite telecom law introduced
HAWAII -- Bill would extend franchise tax to telecom, cable TV
businesses
MICHIGAN -- Group begins work on telecom plan
PA. -- Carrier fined $50,000 for failing to post surcharge notice on pay
phones
KANSAS -- Bill would prohibit 'slamming'
TEXAS -- Sen. Carona aims to enact UETA
SOUTH DAKOTA -- Bill would create universal service fund
HAWAII -- Bill would set up cable TV access infrastructure plan
TEXAS -- PUC to hear Supra complaint against SW Bell
NEW YORK -- Bill would exempt coin calls from excise tax
IDAHO -- PUC holds off on area code public hearings
HAWAII -- Lawmakers examine electronic forgery
ARIZONA -- Qwest to bring high-speed Internet access to public schools

FUTURE OF REGULATION
ILLINOIS
Legislation to rewrite telecom law introduced

Several legislators yesterday introduced HB 492/SB 134 to rewrite the
telecom article of the state's Public Utilities Act, which expires July
1.  Connect Illinois, an advocacy group that counts Ameritech-Illinois
as one of its members, joined the legislators in a news conference
yesterday announcing the bill.

The major objectives of the legislation are to (1) guarantee consumers
that prices for basic residential service always remain affordable, (2)
allow the marketplace to increase competitive choices for business and
broadband services, (3) give concise legislative direction to the future
role of the state Commerce Commission, (4) modernize ICC communications
rules to permit them access to the latest information, (5) require
network unbundling for all carriers and cable "open access," and (6)
create an atmosphere that encourages technological investment and
deployment.

The bill would establish a two-year rate freeze, with future increases
capped below the rate of inflation.  It also would deregulate optional
services, such as call waiting and Caller ID.

The sponsors of SB 134 are Sens. Steve Rauschenberger (R., Elgin) and
Denny Jacobs (D., East Moline).  Reps. Steve Davis (D., Bethalto) and
Art Tenhouse (R., Liberty) sponsored HB 492.

The legislation is available at
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legisnet/legisnet92/hbgroups/hb/920HB0492LV.html.

TAXATION
HAWAII
Bill would extend franchise tax to telecom, cable TV businesses

Rep. Calvin K.Y. Say (D., District 18) has introduced HB 1180, which
would amend the state franchise tax to include telephone, telecom, and
cable TV businesses.  Those businesses would have to pay 2.5% of their
gross receipts for the preceding calendar year.

HB 1180 awaits consideration by the House Consumer Protection and
Commerce Committee and the House Finance Committee.

STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT
MICHIGAN
Group begins work on telecom plan

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) has begun gathering
information to develop a telecommunications plan for the state, a
corporation representative told TR.   MEDC is quasi-governmental agency.

The MEDC's executive committee directed the corporation to begin work on
the plan to learn how Michigan can develop its telecom industry and
infrastructure.  The executive committee didn't set any timeframe for
when it would like the plan completed, the representative said.

The MEDC is in the very early stages of developing the plan and hasn't
defined specifically what issues it will address yet.  Mostly, the group
is gathering information about what other states are doing in this area,
the representative explained.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
PENNSYLVANIA
Carrier fined $50,000 for failing to post surcharge notice on pay phones

One Call Communications Inc., d/b/a Opticom, has agreed to pay a $50,000
civil penalty for failing to post notice of a surcharge it had been
assessing on intrastate calls made from pay phones.  Public Utility
Commission regulations require notice of such surcharges to be posted in
plain view on the pay phone.

The commission said its prosecutory staff confirmed reports of the
violations during an informal investigation.  The company said it was
unaware of the posting requirement.  The PUC said local exchange
carriers (LECs) own some of the pay phones served by Opticom and won't
let the company place stickers on the phones.

According to the staff, Opticom immediately posted notification stickers
where it could and ceased assessing the surcharge on calls made from LEC
pay phones on which it couldn't post stickers.

The commission said the $50,000 fine, which the company agreed to in a
proposed settlement with staff, was sufficient given the company's
cooperation during the investigation.  The PUC tentatively has agreed to
adopt the settlement.  It asked for comments on the settlement by Feb.
13.  (Docket no. M-00011449 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission v.
Opticom Division of One Call Communications)

CUSTOMER-AFFECTING
KANSAS
Bill would prohibit 'slamming'

The House Committee on Utilities has recommended the passage of a bill
that would prohibit changing or adding to a customer's telecom services
without authorization.  HB 2099 would prohibit carriers from directing a
local exchange carrier to change a subscriber's carrier without
obtaining the subscriber's permission beforehand.  Carriers requesting
such a change would be responsible for proving through a "preponderance
of the evidence" that the consumer authorized the transaction.

HB 2009 also would prohibit providers from engaging in any activity that
could mislead the subscriber while soliciting or confirming a carrier
change.  In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of sweepstakes
entries as a form of authorization to switch a consumer's carrier or add
supplemental services to the consumer's account.

Violations of HB 2009 would be punishable by civil penalties of between
$5,000 and $20,000 per offense.  Individuals could bring a private
action against any party they believed had violated HB 2009.

HB 2009's text is available at
http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bills.cgi/bill/2002/2099.pdf.

INTERNET
TEXAS
Sen. Carona aims to enact UETA

Sen. John J. Carona (R., District 16) has introduced SB 393 to enact the
Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which would make electronic
signatures and records legally equivalent to traditional signatures and
records.  The bill wouldn't require the use of electronic records and
signatures but would uphold their use when both parties involved in a
transaction agreed to conduct business electronically.

SB 393 also wouldn't preempt requirements in other laws regarding the
posting of a record.  In addition, electronic records wouldn't be
enforceable if the sender prevented the recipient from storing or
printing them.  The Department of Information Resources would specify
the manner in which state agencies could use electronic records.

SB 393 has been referred to the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.
Its text is available at
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/77r/billtext/SB00393I.HTM.

UNIVERSAL SERVICE
SOUTH DAKOTA
Bill would create universal service fund

Several legislators have introduced SB 232 to establish a state
universal service fund (USF).  The Public Utilities Commission would
have to establish rules governing administration of the USF by Oct. 1.
It would have to implement the fund by Jan. 1, 2002.

Sens. Kenneth D. Albers (R., District 16) and Gil Koetzle (D., District
15) and Reps. Mike Jaspers (R., District 11) and James Bradford (D.,
District 27) introduced the measure.  It has been referred to the Senate
Committee on State Affairs.

ADVANCED SERVICES
HAWAII
Bill would set up cable TV access infrastructure plan

Sen. Les Ihara Jr. (D., District 10) has introduced SB 1536, which would
require the director of commerce and consumer affairs to develop a
statewide cable TV access infrastructure plan that would aim to
distribute more equally the costs associated with public, educational,
or government cable TV channels.  The plan could include establishing a
statewide fund from cable TV franchise fees to provide funds for the
needs of the cable TV access infrastructure.

SB 1536 awaits consideration by the Senate Economic Development and
Technology Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

SECTION 251/252
TEXAS
PUC to hear Supra complaint against SW Bell

The Public Utility Commission has scheduled an April 9 hearing to
consider the merits of a case filed by Supra Telecommunications and
Information Systems, Inc., against Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
(7/20/00 p.m.)  Supra filed the complaint because SW Bell denied Supra's
request to collocate a Lucent Technologies, Inc., host switch in SW
Bell's Dallas Taylor central office.

SW Bell says it denied Supra's request because the FCC's advanced
service order and section 51.323 rule don't require incumbent local
exchange carriers to collocate equipment that will be used "solely for
switching purposes."  (Docket no. 22797 - Complaint and Request for
Expedited Relief and Interim Ruling of Supra Telecommunications and
Information Systems, Inc., Against Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. and
for Resolution of Dispute)

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
NEW YORK
Bill would exempt coin calls from excise tax

Sen. James W. Wright (R., District 46) has introduced SB 1086 to exempt
coin-sent-paid calls from the state's 2.5% telecom excise tax.  Other
calls made from pay phones wouldn't be exempt.

Sen. Wright's staff said the revenue generated by coin calls is minimal
and likely exceeds the cost of administering the tax.  The staff also
found that the majority of pay phone providers are small businesses, and
their cost of calculating, collecting, and accounting for the tax is a
"substantial burden."

The bill has been assigned to the Committee on Energy and
Telecommunications.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
IDAHO
PUC holds off on area code public hearings

The Public Utilities Commission has decided to wait until late spring to
hold public hearings on a possible new area code in Idaho.  "By late
May, the new forecast will give us a better indication of when Idaho
will run out of phone numbers for the '208' area code.  With that
information, we can better set the timetable needed to get public input
on how best to put the new area code in service," the commission said.

The commission staff told TR that North American Number Planning
administrator NeuStar, Inc., plans to issue a revised forecast for the
208 area code in May.  Earlier projections said the state would need a
new area code in the first quarter 2003.  The staff said requests for
new telephone numbers have slowed down, which could delay the need to
implement a new area code.

INTERNET
HAWAII
Lawmakers examine electronic forgery

Rep. Eric Hamakawa (D., District 3) has introduced a bill to extend the
offense of forgery in the second degree to include the unlawful use of
the signature device of another individual to create an electronic
signature of that person.  HB 154 would add the offense to the state's
Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

HB 154 awaits consideration by the Consumer Protection and Commerce
Committee and the Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.

ADVANCED SERVICES
ARIZONA
Qwest to bring high-speed Internet access to public schools

Qwest Communications International, Inc., has received a $100 million
contract from the Arizona School Facilities Board to construct and
support high-speed local area broadband networks to provide Internet
access to the state's 228 public school districts.  The company plans to
manage every aspect of the project and provide services such as network
consulting, architecture, maintenance, and security.

Qwest plans to provide the schools with local area network services at
transmission speeds up to 100 megabits per second by June 2003.

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