S2512A-2013 - NY Senate Open Legislation - Relates to publication of rate schedules by telephone corporations

Permits a telephone corporation to publish rate schedules for certain services on its website instead of with the public service commission.

Sponsor: MAZIARZ
Law Section: Public Service Law
Law: Add S92-g, Pub Serv L

S2512A-2013 Actions

Mar 4, 2013: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
Feb 28, 2013: 2ND REPORT CAL.
Feb 27, 2013: 1ST REPORT CAL.101
Feb 11, 2013: PRINT NUMBER 2512A
Feb 11, 2013: AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Jan 18, 2013: REFERRED TO ENERGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

S2512A-2013 Meetings

Energy and Telecommunications: Feb 27, 2013

S2512A-2013 Calendars

S2512A-2013 Votes

VOTE: COMMITTEE VOTE: - Energy and Telecommunications - Feb 27, 2013

Ayes (10): Maziarz, Carlucci, Fuschillo, O'Mara, Ritchie, Robach, Parker, Adams, Kennedy, Dilan
Ayes W/R (1): Griffo

S2512A-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2512A

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public service law, in relation to
the publication of certain rates and terms

PURPOSE: To eliminate the requirement that telephone corporations like
Frontier and Verizon, as well as those competitors of Verizon that are
certified local exchange carriers, file tariffs for their competitive
retail services with the New York State Public Service Commission
(Commission) where they elect, instead, to make that information avail-
able on their public websites.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill would eliminate the requirement that telephone
corporations like Frontier and Verizon, as well as those competitors of
Verizon that are certified local exchange carriers, file tariffs for
their competitive retail services with the New York State Public Service
Commission (Commission) where they to elect, instead, to make that
information available on their public websites.

Section 2: Sets forth the effective date

JUSTIFICATION: Today, a small number of the telecommunications providers
in the New York market are required to file and maintain tariffs with
the Commission that describe their retail service offerings, the prices
charged, and the teens and conditions for such offerings. In some
instances, those filed rates, terms or conditions are not even allowed
to take effect for a minimum of 30 days or more. These tariff require-
ments are a vestige of the monopoly era of telecommunications when the
Commission was charged with overseeing and regulating monopoly provid-
ers. Today the marketplace is highly-competitive, and most of the
providers in the market, including large cable providers that offer
telephone services, are not required to file or maintain tariffs, or to
secure Commission approvals for the services they offer their customers
in competition with other regulated telephone corporations. These other
providers instead have agreements between themselves and their custom-
ers.

The retail tariff filing and approval obligations are an unnecessary
burden on the telephone corporations that remain subject to them, and
they increase the cost of doing business for those corporations while
failing to provide any benefit to customers. To comply with these obli-
gations, incumbent telephone providers must maintain a tariff database
containing general terms and conditions, and specific service
descriptions and terms and conditions for all the regulated telecommuni-
cations services it provides, including even separate filings for indi-
vidual case basis services provided to business customers.  Whenever it
introduces a new service or makes any change to the terms and conditions
of its service offerings, regulatory specialists review the service or
change with product managers, draft tariff language, create specially-

formatted tariff pages, file these pages with the Commission, and
distribute them as required. Traditional providers are also required to
maintain an electronic database housing the tariffs and ensure that it
is accessible to the Commission. This process is parallel to, but must
be coordinated with, the separate processes undertaken for distinct
employees to ensure adequate and timely customer communications.

Today, good customer service in a competitive market requires the
providers to communicate the rates, terms, and conditions of the
services customers purchase by means of scripts, welcome packages,
bills, and other information. In fact, customers can obtain information
about their services at any time at a company's public website.

This information is far more accessible to customers than tariffs and
comparable to the materials provided by competitors, thus better facili-
tating competitive comparison. Drafting, filing, and maintaining tariff
databases is an additional layer of communication, not typically relied
on by customers. In short, direct communication with customers which
providers already undertake today is more informative to customers than
are tariffs. Not only are tariffs an administrative burden for the
providers, but they also slow down the flow of information in a compet-
itive market. For example, traditional providers must file tariffs days
in advance of making changes to their services, thus giving competitors
advanced notice of business plans.

By eliminating retail tariffs for telephone companies and certified
providers that elect to post the rates terms and conditions of those
services on their websites, New York would be joining with the federal
government and numerous other states which have taken such action. The
federal government eliminated tariffs for interstate long distance
services over fifteen years ago with no harm to consumers. Nationally,
40 states have already implemented some form of de-tariffing for tele-
communications services.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: No fiscal impact to the state, but the state would
likely achieve administrative savings as a result of less work involved
with processing these types of filings.

HISTORY: This is a new bill

EFFECTIVE DATE: This bill shall take effect on the 90th day after it
shall become law.

S2512A-2013 Text


                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                   2512--A

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              January 18, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sen. MAZIARZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
    printed to be committed to the Committee on  Energy  and  Telecommuni-
    cations  --  committee  discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
    amended and recommitted to said committee

  AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to  the  publication
    of certain rates and terms

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a  new  section
  92-g to read as follows:

    92-G.  DE-TARIFFING  OF  RETAIL SERVICES. 1. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER
  PROVISION OF THIS CHAPTER, OR ANY REGULATION  OR  ORDER  ISSUED  BY  THE
  COMMISSION  PURSUANT TO THIS CHAPTER, ON AND AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF
  THIS SECTION, A TELEPHONE CORPORATION FURNISHING ANY SERVICES THAT WOULD
  OTHERWISE BE SUBJECT TO THE RATE SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS IN SECTION  NINE-
  TY-TWO  OF  THIS  ARTICLE  MAY  POST ON ITS WEBSITE THE RATES, TERMS AND
  CONDITIONS OF ANY RETAIL SERVICE IT OFFERS, RENDERS OR FURNISHES  WITHIN
  THE  STATE.  SECTION  NINETY-TWO  OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL NOT APPLY TO ANY
  SERVICE SO POSTED, AND SUCH TELEPHONE CORPORATION SHALL NOT BE  REQUIRED
  TO FILE WITH THE COMMISSION OR OBTAIN APPROVAL OF ANY TARIFF OR SCHEDULE
  FOR SUCH SERVICE.
    2.  ANY  TARIFF  OR  SCHEDULE FOR RETAIL SERVICES FILED BY A TELEPHONE
  CORPORATION PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION MAY BE WITHDRAWN
  AT ANY TIME AFTER SUCH DATE UPON THIRTY DAYS NOTICE TO  THE  COMMISSION,
  BUT SHALL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL SUCH WITHDRAWAL.
    3.  NOTHING  IN THIS SECTION SHALL AFFECT THE AUTHORITY OF THE COMMIS-
  SION OVER SWITCHED ACCESS OR WHOLESALE SERVICES.
    S 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
  have become a law.

   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD07082-02-3

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S2512A-2013: Relates to publication of rate schedules by telephone corporations