Signed by Governor Phil Bredesen

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes both incumbent and non-incumbent providers of local and intrastate telephone service to elect to operate pursuant to market regulation, thereby limiting the Tennessee Regulatory Authority's jurisdiction over those providers, including the Authority's ability to regulating pricing.

Highlights:

-Specifies that providers that elect to operate pursuant to market regulation are still subject to the Authority's jurisdiction with respect to the following actions (Sec. 2):

-Anything authorized by the federal 1996 Telecommunications Act or the Federal Communications Commission orders or rules; -Enforcing or modifying any wholesale Self Effectuating Enforcement Mechanism Plan; -Assessing and collecting inspection fees; -Regulating video service franchises pursuant to the Competitive Cable and Video Services Act; -Underground facilities damage prevention; -Responding to a specific customer complaint regarding residential telecommunications service; -Requiring and obtaining certificates for the construction or operation of any line, plant, system, or route in or into a municipality or other territory, or the extension of territorial areas of operation; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to the Tennessee Relay Service Center or the Tennessee Devices Access Program; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to the Life Line or Link Up programs; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to the Small and Minority-Owned Business Participation Plan; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to Universal Service Funding; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to intrastate switched access service; -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to the extensions of facilities; and -Exercising jurisdiction with respect to changes in telecommunications service provider.

-Specifies that local providers that elect to operate pursuant to market regulation will still be subject to the Authority's jurisdiction until January 1, 2015, unless the Authority can establish that 2 or more non-affiliated telecommunications providers are available in each zone rate area of each exchange, including cable television providers that offer telephone and broadband services and providers of wireless service (Sec. 2). -Specifies that a local provider is one that provides services in exchanges with less than 3,000 access lines or, if the provider serves more than 1 million access lines statewide, exchanges with access line counts and calling areas that would be classified as a rate group 1 or 2 under any providers tariff (Sec. 2). -Requires the Authority to annually submit a report on the competitive nature of Tennessee's communications market to the General Assembly, which must include information on the following (Sec 2.):

-The number of telecommunications providers; -The number of providers by county serving residential subscribers; -The number of providers by county serving business subscribers; and -The number of customers by customer type.

-The text of this bill was replaced by a substitute amendment sponsored by Sen. Paul Stanley.

Full Bill Text