Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) A local exchange carrier (LEC) providing
basic local exchange service (BLES) shall conduct its operations so as to
ensure that the service is available, adequate, and reliable consistent with
sections
4927.07,
4927.10 and
4927.11 of the Revised
Code.
(B) The fact
that a LEC providing BLES fails to comply with any provision(s) within this
chapter, or with other applicable federal or state telecommunications law, does
not by itself constitute inadequate service as a matter of law. Rather, the
question as to whether BLES is legally inadequate requires a formal
determination by the commission, preceded by a hearing pursuant to section
4927.21 of the Revised Code
unless the hearing is waived by the complainant and the respondent.
(C) A LEC shall provide BLES pursuant to the
following standards:
(1) BLES shall be
installed within five business days of the receipt by a telephone company of a
completed application for new access line service, unless the customer requests
or agrees to a later date.
(2) The
requirement to install BLES in paragraph (C)(1) of this rule is not applicable
where any of the following exist:
(a) A
customer or applicant has not met pertinent tariff requirements.
(b) The need for special equipment or
service.
(c) Military action, war,
insurrection, riot, or strike.
(d)
The customer misses an installation appointment.
(3) A LEC shall make reasonable efforts to
repair a BLES outage within twenty-four hours, excluding Sundays and legal
holidays, after the outage is reported to the telephone company.
(4) A BLES service outage or
service-affecting problem shall be repaired within seventy-two hours after it
is reported to the telephone company.
(5) If a BLES outage is reported to the
telephone company and lasts more than seventy-two hours, the LEC shall credit
every affected BLES customer, of which the LEC is aware, in the amount of one
month's charges for BLES.
(6) The
customer credit in paragraph (C)(5) of this rule is not applicable if the
condition or failure to repair occurs as a result of any of the following:
(a) A customer's negligent or willful
act.
(b) Malfunction of
customer-owned telephone equipment or inside wire.
(c) Military action, war, insurrection, riot,
or strike.
(d) Customer missing a
repair appointment.
(7)
No LEC shall establish a due date for payment earlier than fourteen consecutive
days after the date the bill is postmarked for a bill for BLES provided to
customers. The postmark date may appear on the bill rather than on the
envelope, as long as the postmark date is never earlier than the date the bill
actually enters the mail.
(8) A LEC
may disconnect BLES for nonpayment of any amount past due on a billed account
not earlier than fourteen days after the due date of the customer's bill,
provided that the customer is given notice of the disconnection seven days
before the disconnection.
(9) Such
notice of disconnection may be included on the customer's next bill, provided
the bill is postmarked at least seven days prior to the date of disconnection
of service reflected on the bill, and provided that the disconnection language
is clearly highlighted such that it stands apart from the customer's regular
bill language. The notice shall identify the total dollar amount that must be
paid to maintain BLES, the earliest date disconnection may occur, and the
following statement:
"If you have a complaint in regard to this disconnection notice
that cannot be resolved after you have called (name of the utility), or for
general utility information, residential and business customers may contact the
public utilities commission of Ohio (PUCO) for assistance at 1-800-686-7826
(toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays, or at
http://www.puco.ohio.gov. Hearing
or speech impaired customers may contact the PUCO via 7-1-1 (Ohio relay
service)."
For residential disconnection notices, the text shall also
include:
"The Ohio consumers' counsel (OCC) represents residential
utility customers in matters before the PUCO. The OCC can be contacted at
1-877-742-5622 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays, or at
http://www.pickocc.org."
(10) A LEC may require a deposit,
not to exceed two hundred thirty percent of a reasonable estimate of one
month's service charges, for the installation of BLES for any person that it
determines, in its discretion, is not creditworthy.
(11) A LEC shall, unless prevented from doing
so by circumstances beyond the telephone company's control or unless the
customer requests otherwise, reconnect a customer whose basic local exchange
service was disconnected for nonpayment of past due charges not later than one
business day after the day the earlier of the following occurs:
(a) The receipt by the LEC of the full amount
of past due charges.
(b) The
receipt by the LEC of the first payment under a mutually agreed upon payment
arrangement.