Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS Chapter 278
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
278.040(3) provides that the
commission may adopt reasonable administrative regulations to implement the
provisions of KRS Chapter 278.
KRS
278.280(2) provides that the
commission shall prescribe rules for performing any service or furnishing any
commodity of the character furnished or supplied by any utility. This
administrative regulation establishes procedures by which customer-ordered
changes of presubscribed long distance telecommunications carriers shall be
confirmed.
Section 1. Definitions. For
purposes of this administrative regulation:
(1) "Interexchange carrier" (IXC) means a
provider of long distance telecommunications services. Facilities-based
carriers of long distance service, resellers of long distance service, and
local exchange carriers providing long distance service are included in this
definition.
(2) "Letter of agency"
means a customer's written statement that authorizes a primary interexchange
carrier change and bears the customer's signature.
(3) "Local exchange carrier" means a provider
of switched telecommunications service that carries calls originating and
terminating within the local calling area.
(4) "Long distance telecommunications
service" means service that carries calls to exchanges that are not within the
local calling area of the originating number.
(5) "PIC freeze order" means an order
submitted by a customer stating he does not want his PIC to be changed until
further notice.
(6) "Primary
interexchange carrier" (PIC) means a carrier to which a customer has
presubscribed for long distance service.
(7) "Two (2) PIC system" means a system which
enables a customer to presubscribe to one (1) primary interexchange carrier for
interLATA (long haul) long distance service and to another for intraLATA (short
haul) long distance service.
Section
2. Verification Procedures. No IXC shall submit to a local
exchange carrier a PIC change order unless the customer's authorization to
change his PIC has been confirmed by one (1) of the three (3) procedures
prescribed in this administrative regulation.
(1) The IXC has obtained a letter of agency
from the customer that:
(a) Authorizes the
change;
(b) Demonstrates that the
customer understands what occurs when a PIC is changed;
(c) States the customer's billing name and
address and each telephone number to be covered by the PIC change
order;
(d) Demonstrates that the
customer understands the PIC change fee; and
(e) If the PIC change order applies to a
number in an area with a two (2) PIC system, clearly states whether the
customer has authorized the change of his intraLATA PIC, his interLATA PIC, or
both; or
(2) The IXC has
obtained the customer's electronic authorization, placed from a telephone
number on which the customer's PIC is to be changed, to submit a PIC change
order. The electronic authorization shall include the information described in
subsection (1)(a) through (e) of this section. IXCs electing to confirm sales
electronically shall establish one (1) or more toll-free telephone numbers
exclusively for that purpose. A call to the number(s) will connect a customer
to a voice response unit, or similar mechanism, that records the required
information and automatically records the originating number; or
(3) An appropriately qualified and
independent third party operating in a location physically separate from the
IXC's telemarketing representative has obtained the customer's electronic
authorization to submit the PIC change order. The electronic authorization
shall include the information described in subsection (1)(a) through (e) of
this section and appropriate verification data such as the customer's date of
birth or Social Security number.
Section 3. Prohibition of Additional LEC
Verification. A local exchange carrier shall not seek independent verification
of PIC changes properly submitted to it by IXCs unless the customer whose PIC
is to be changed has previously submitted to the local exchange carrier a PIC
freeze order that has not been revoked. Nothing in this administrative
regulation shall be construed to impose upon a local exchange carrier a duty to
verify a PIC change it did not solicit or to change a PIC that is the subject
of a PIC freeze order until the customer has, by notice given directly to the
LEC, revoked the PIC freeze order.
Section
4. Records to be Retained. All written and electronic evidence of
PIC change orders shall be retained by the soliciting carrier for one (1) year
after the date the PIC has been changed.
Section
5. Letters of Agency.
(1) Letters
of agency shall be separate or severable from inducements or promotions of any
kind, except as provided in subsection (2) of this section.
(2) A letter of agency may be combined with a
check which states in bold-face type on its front and near the signature line
on its back that the customer is authorizing a long distance carrier change by
signing the check. A letter of agency check shall contain only the information
prescribed in Section 2(1) of this administrative regulation and the language
necessary to make the check a negotiable instrument.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
KRS
278.040(3),
278.280(2)