Bill Text: NY S02663 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides that the public service commission shall establish service performance standards for telephone corporations; provides that telephone corporations shall meet such standards; provides penalties for failure to meet such standards.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS [S02663 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S02663-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          2663

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                    January 24, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
          cations

        AN  ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to service perform-
          ance standards for telephone corporations

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 95 of the public service law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
     3    4. (a) All service providers, as defined in section one hundred four-b
     4  of this article, shall file with the commission for each and every month
     5  a  report setting forth the compliance rate of the service provider with
     6  respect to the monthly service performance standards established by  the
     7  commission  pursuant  to section one hundred four-b of this article. All
     8  such reports shall be public  documents  and  shall  be  posted  on  the
     9  website  operated  and  maintained by the commission. The information or
    10  data contained in such reports shall constitute statistical  or  factual
    11  tabulation  or  data and shall not be exempt from disclosure pursuant to
    12  article six of the public officers law.
    13    (b) All such reports shall be disaggregated by service  provider;  and
    14  by  regions  and  subregions, as determined by the commission, to ensure
    15  that all geographic areas and customers in the state are  equally  meas-
    16  ured and counted.
    17    (c)  The commission shall not be authorized to waive, reduce, relax or
    18  eliminate any reporting requirements set forth in this subdivision.
    19    § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new  section  104-b
    20  to read as follows:
    21    §  104-b.  Service  performance  standards.  1.  Definitions.  For the
    22  purposes of this article, the terms:
    23    (a) "Service performance standards" shall mean any metric or  perform-
    24  ance  standard  or threshold established by the commission as of January

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04492-01-3
        S. 2663                             2

     1  first, two thousand ten that each service provider is expected  to  meet
     2  relating  to  maintenance  service,  installations, network performance,
     3  answer time, and any other standard that measures quality  and  adequacy
     4  of service.
     5    (b) "Service provider" shall mean a telephone corporation certified by
     6  the commission pursuant to this chapter with the authority and tariff to
     7  provide  local  exchange  service  in  this state that is offering fixed
     8  wireless telephone services in this state.
     9    2. Service performance standards. (a) The commission  shall  establish
    10  service  performance  standards  that shall be applicable to all service
    11  providers. Upon the establishment or  approval  of  any  such  standard,
    12  except  during  periods of emergency, catastrophe, disaster or any other
    13  extraordinary event that is beyond the control of a service provider  as
    14  determined  by  the  commission,  the  commission may not waive, reduce,
    15  relax or eliminate any service performance standard for  any  individual
    16  service provider.
    17    (b)  The  existence of alternate or other service providers within the
    18  same service area or any other factors relating to competition shall not
    19  be a factor, ground or basis in any determination to establish,  reduce,
    20  relax or eliminate a service performance standard.
    21    3.  Reports.  All service performance reports submitted to the commis-
    22  sion by a service provider or any other entity that  provides  telephone
    23  services  shall be prepared, filed and made available pursuant to subdi-
    24  vision four of section ninety-five of this article.
    25    4. Penalties. Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-five of
    26  this chapter, any service provider and the officers, agents and  employ-
    27  ees  of  such  corporation that fails or neglects to meet any one of the
    28  service  performance  standards  established  by  the  commission  shall
    29  forfeit to the state of New York a sum not to exceed the greater of:
    30    (a)  five  hundred  thousand  dollars constituting a civil penalty for
    31  each failure or neglect to meet any one of the service performance stan-
    32  dards.  The failure or neglect to meet any service performance  standard
    33  for  two consecutive reporting periods shall result in the forfeiture of
    34  one million dollars for each failure or neglect; or
    35    (b) three times the amount of the cost of meeting and  complying  with
    36  the service performance standard, as determined by the commission.
    37    5.  (a)  Notwithstanding  any  provision  of  law  to the contrary, no
    38  service provider may offer or provide fixed wireless telephone or commu-
    39  nication systems, services or products, nor may the  commission  author-
    40  ize,  permit  or  approve  any service provider to offer or provide such
    41  systems, services or products, to any person in  this  state  until  and
    42  unless the commission has determined that such service provider has met,
    43  and  fully  complied  with,  each and every monthly performance standard
    44  established by the commission for such  service  provider  in  each  and
    45  every service region or area served by the service provider for a period
    46  of at least twelve months.
    47    (b)  Notwithstanding  the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subdivi-
    48  sion:  (i) a service provider may replace a copper-based wireline commu-
    49  nication network with a wireless system  for  any  customer  who,  after
    50  receiving  appropriate notice and information from the service provider,
    51  consents to such replacement  on  forms  prepared  or  approved  by  the
    52  commission;  and  (ii) the commission, in the aftermath of a weather-re-
    53  lated natural event or emergency, may authorize a  service  provider  to
    54  take any actions that are otherwise prohibited by this section.
    55    §  3. Severability clause. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section
    56  or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of  competent  juris-
        S. 2663                             3

     1  diction to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect, impair, or invali-
     2  date  the  remainder  thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to
     3  the clause,  sentence,  paragraph,  section  or  part  thereof  directly
     4  involved  in  the  controversy  in  which  the  judgment shall have been
     5  rendered.
     6    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.