SB 1250: Telecommunications: Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act: notification of rural outages.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Senate
- Latest Version Date: 2016-06-20
Existing provisions of the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act, establishes the number 911 as the primary emergency telephone number for use in the state and requires the providing of enhanced service capable of selective routing, automatic number identification, or automatic location identification. The act requires a telephone corporation serving rural telephone areas that cannot provide enhanced 911 emergency telephone service capable of selective routing, automatic number identification, or automatic location identification to present to the Office of Emergency Services a comprehensive plan detailing a schedule by which their facilities will be converted to be compatible with the enhanced emergency telephone system.
This bill would require a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide responder outage notification by email to the Office of Emergency Services whenever there is a rural outage, as defined, within 60 minutes of discovering the rural outage. The bill would make the Office of Emergency Services responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and the sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The bill would require the responder outage notification to the Office of Emergency Services to include the telecommunications providers contact name and calling number with a description of the estimated area affected by the outage. The bill would require the telecommunications services provider to notify the Office of Emergency Services of the estimated time to repair the outage and when service is restored. The bill would require that the telecommunications service provider ensure that the calling number provided to the Office of Emergency Services with the responder outage notification be staffed by the indicated contact person, or by a person qualified to respond to inquiries about the outage, at all times until the provider notifies the office that service has been restored.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to periodically assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, to develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment is required to include (1) an analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power, (2) consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate, and (3) consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
This bill would impose, on a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, certain notification and reporting requirements for a major rural outage of telecommunications services, with the requirements to be adopted by the commission in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would make these requirements enforceable through the Public Utilities Act. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the Legislature on certain information from reports filed with the commission and to include recommendations to improve the reporting of major rural outages and remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages. Because a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, and the requirements added by the bill would be a part of, or enforceable pursuant to, the act and require actions by the commission for their implementation, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
Existing law, until January 1, 2020, prohibits the commission from regulating Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol enabled service (IP enabled service), as defined, except as required or delegated by federal law or expressly provided otherwise in statute.
This bill would expressly authorize the commission to implement the notification and reporting requirements for major rural outages with respect to facilities-based VoIP and IP enabled service providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to periodically assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, to develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment is required to include (1) an analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power, (2) consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate, and (3) consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
This bill would impose, on a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, certain notification and reporting requirements for a major rural outage of telecommunications services, with the requirements to be adopted by the commission in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would make these requirements enforceable through the Public Utilities Act. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the Legislature on certain information from reports filed with the commission and to include recommendations to improve the reporting of major rural outages and remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages. Because a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, and the requirements added by the bill would be a part of, or enforceable pursuant to, the act and require actions by the commission for their implementation, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
Existing law, until January 1, 2020, prohibits the commission from regulating Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol enabled service (IP enabled service), as defined, except as required or delegated by federal law or expressly provided otherwise in statute.
This bill would expressly authorize the commission to implement the notification and reporting requirements for major rural outages with respect to facilities-based VoIP and IP enabled service providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, as determined by the commission. service.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. Existing law requires the commission to periodically assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, to develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment is required to include (1) an analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power, (2) consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate, and (3) consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
This bill would impose, on a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, certain notification and reporting requirements for a major rural outage of telecommunications services, with the requirements to be adopted by the commission in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services. The bill would make these requirements enforceable through the Public Utilities Act. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the Legislature on certain information from reports filed with the commission and to include recommendations to improve the reporting of major rural outages and remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages. Because a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime, and the requirements added by the bill would be a part of, or enforceable pursuant to, the act and require actions by the commission for their implementation, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
Existing law, until January 1, 2020, prohibits the commission from regulating Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol enabled service (IP enabled service), as defined, except as required or delegated by federal law or expressly provided otherwise in statute.
This bill would expressly authorize the commission to implement the notification and reporting requirements for major rural outages with respect to VoIP and IP enabled service providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, as determined by the commission.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(a)This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act.
(b)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)The Public Utilities Commission State of California currently has no specific requirements with respect to the reporting of major service interruptions that impair the ability of persons to call and connect to the local emergency telephone system by dialing 911, other than requiring facilities-based certificated and registered public utility telephone corporations to report major service interruptions as required by the Federal Communications Commissions Network Outage Reporting System adopted by the Public Utilities Commission in the Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), page 9). 911.
(2)The duty to report outages pursuant to the Network Outage Reporting System requirements is triggered upon surpassing either a duration or a user-minutes-affected threshold. That user-minutes-affected threshold is appropriate for urban areas. However, the user-minutes-affected threshold results in the nonreporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of California.
(3)
(2)The Federal Communications Commission has acknowledged that providing access to the 911 emergency call system includes maintaining the function of the communications networks required to initiate 911 calls and to deliver those calls and that there is a shared authority of the federal government and states to collectively oversee all components of 911 service.
(4)
(3)In order to protect the health and safety of persons living in rural areas of the state requiring reliable access to the 911 emergency call system, it is necessary for the Public Utilities Commission to adopt more stringent to adopt requirements for the reporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of the state.
(5)It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission utilize its existing authority under the Public Utilities Act, including the authority to impose fines and penalties for violations, to enforce the requirements of this act, and that any moneys collected through fines or penalties will be used first to offset the costs of implementing the requirements of the act, and if any moneys remain, toward eliminating the digital divide.
SEC. 2.Section 53119.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:53119.5.(a)For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)Access to 911 service means the ability of a person to call and connect to the local emergency telephone systems described in this article.
(2)Outage has the same meaning as defined by the Federal Communications Commission in Section 4.5 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(3)Rural county means a county in California for which the United States Census Bureau has measured a population density of 600 or less per square mile.
(4)Rural outage means an outage of telecommunications service in a rural county over transport facilities, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, that persists more than one hour after discovery of the outage.
(5)Telecommunications service has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2892.1 of the Public Utilities Code.
(6)Transport facilities are the components of a telecommunications service providers wireless or wireline infrastructure that connect network elements.
(b)All facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service shall provide responder outage notification whenever there is a rural outage. Responder outage notification shall be provided within 60 minutes of discovery of the outage by the provider to the Office of Emergency Services, which shall be responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and the sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The responder outage notification to the Office of Emergency Services shall be by email, and shall include the telecommunications providers contact name and calling number and a description of the estimated area affected by the outage. The telecommunications services provider shall also notify the Office of Emergency Services by email of both of the following:
(1)The estimated time to repair the outage.
(2)When achieved, the restoration of service.
(c)The telecommunications service provider shall ensure that the calling number provided to the Office of Emergency Services with the responder outage notification is staffed by the indicated contact person, or by a person qualified to respond to inquiries about the outage, at all times until the provider notifies the office that service has been restored.
(d)Except as provided in subdivision (b), the Office of Emergency Services shall keep responder outage notifications confidential and shall not disclose the contents of the notifications.
SEC. 2.Section 710 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:710.(a)The commission shall not exercise regulatory jurisdiction or control over Voice over Internet Protocol and Internet Protocol enabled services except as required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly directed to do so by statute or as set forth in subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(b)No department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state shall enact, adopt, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision having the force or effect of law, that regulates VoIP or other IP enabled service, unless required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly authorized by statute or pursuant to subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(c)This section does not affect or supersede any of the following:
(1)The Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Law (Part 20 (commencing with Section 41001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code) and the states universal service programs (Section 285).
(2)The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 5800)) or a franchise granted by a local franchising entity, as those terms are defined in Section 5830.
(3)The commissions authority to implement and enforce Sections 251 and 252 of the federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. Secs. 251 and 252).
(4)The commissions authority to require data and other information pursuant to Section 716.
(5)The commissions authority to address or affect the resolution of disputes regarding intercarrier compensation, including for the exchange of traffic that originated, terminated, or was translated at any point into Internet Protocol format.
(6)The commissions authority to enforce existing requirements regarding backup power systems established in Decision 10-01-026, adopted pursuant to Section 2892.1, and rural outage notification and reporting requirements adopted pursuant to Section 2882.5.
(7)The commissions authority relative to access to support structures, including pole attachments, or to the construction and maintenance of facilities pursuant to commission General Order 95 and General Order 128.
(8)The Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(d)This section does not affect the enforcement of any state or federal criminal or civil law or any local ordinances of general applicability, including, but not limited to, consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade practice laws or ordinances, that apply to the conduct of business, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), local utility user taxes, and state and local authority governing the use and management of the public rights-of-way.
(e)This section does not affect any existing regulation of, proceedings governing, or existing commission authority over, non-VoIP and other non-IP enabled wireline or wireless service, including regulations governing universal service and the offering of basic service and lifeline service, and any obligations to offer basic service.
(f)This section does not limit the commissions ability to continue to monitor and discuss VoIP services, to track and report to the Federal Communications Commission and the Legislature, within its annual report to the Legislature, the number and type of complaints received by the commission from customers, and to respond informally to customer complaints, including providing VoIP customers who contact the commission information regarding available options under state and federal law for addressing complaints.
(g)This section does not affect the establishment or enforcement of standards, requirements, or procedures, including procurement policies, applicable to any department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, or to the employees, agents, or contractors of a department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, relating to the protection of intellectual property.
(h)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3.Section 911.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:911.5.By February 1, 2018, and each February 1 thereafter, the commission shall report to the Legislature summarizing major rural outage information as reported to the commission pursuant to Section 2882.5, including the number and duration of major rural outages and the number of customers affected by those outages. The report shall include any rules adopted by the commission pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 2882.5, any recommendations to the Legislature as to changes that can be made to further refine the requirements for reporting of major rural outages, recommendations for remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages, any failures to comply with the major rural outages reporting requirements, and any fines imposed or other enforcement actions undertaken to enforce Section 2882.5.
SEC. 4.Section 2882.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2882.5.(a)For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)Access to 911 service means the ability of a person to call and connect to the local emergency telephone systems described in the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(2)Major rural outage means an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, that is both of the following: (A) is of 30 or more minutes duration, and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes. The number of user-minutes is the mathematical result of multiplying the outages duration expressed in minutes and the number of users potentially affected by the outage.
(3)Outage has the same meaning as defined by the Federal Communications Commission in Section 4.5 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4)Rural area means those areas of the state that the United States Census Bureau has determined are not within urbanized areas or urban clusters.
(5)Telecommunications service has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2892.1.
(b)The enhanced notification and reporting requirements of this section do not apply to those areas of the state that the commission, utilizing United States Census Bureau determinations, identifies as not being rural areas. Nothing in this section affects the notification and reporting requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations) and the commissions Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), pages 9-10, or any successor rules adopted by the commission) as to those areas of the state that the commission determines are not rural areas.
(c)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide responder outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. Responder outage notification shall be provided within 30 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services, which shall be responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The notification shall include the telecommunications providers contact name and calling number, an assigned unique report code that will be used to identify the outage for reporting purposes, a description of the nature of the outage, a description of the estimated area affected by the outage, and other information that the telecommunications provider feels may be of assistance to emergency first responders. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing responder outage notification.
(d)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide public outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. The commission shall adopt rules for the most effective and efficient means for dissemination of information to the public relative to outages. The rules shall require that a telecommunications provider that maintains an Internet Web site timely post information relative to an outage on its Internet Web site, including the area of the outage and, when available, alternative means to contact a public safety answering point in the event of an emergency arising during the outage. The commission may adopt additional requirements for outreach to be provided to customers during or following an outage and what information relative to public outage notification is to be provided to the commission.
(e)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide initial outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Initial outage reporting shall be provided within 120 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services, which shall be responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The initial outage report shall, at a minimum, include a description of the direct cause or general nature of the outage and identify the date and time of the incident causing the outage, the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), the location of the incident or cause, the geographic range and number of potentially affected customers, and, if the outage has not been rectified, the expected duration of the outage. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the initial outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(f)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide final outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Final outage reporting shall be provided within 20 days to the commission and the Office of Emergency Services. The final outage report shall, at a minimum, include the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), a detailed description of the direct cause and any root cause of the outage, the providers actions to restore service, and any measures undertaken to prevent the occurrence of a similar outage in the future. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the final outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations). A written summary of the outage report, containing that information the commission determines may be safely disclosed, shall be supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
(g)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and, to the extent feasible, with rural emergency responders, may adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements of this section.
(h)The requirements of this section are enforceable pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 2100) of Part 1.
SEC. 5.Section 2889.8 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and renumbered to read:2882.The commission periodically shall assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a)An analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power.
(b)Consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate.
(c)Consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
SEC. 6.No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
(a)This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act.
(b)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)The Public Utilities Commission currently has no specific requirements with respect to the reporting of major service interruptions that impair the ability of persons to call and connect to the local emergency telephone system by dialing 911, other than requiring facilities-based certificated and registered public utility telephone corporations to report major service interruptions as required by the Federal Communications Commissions Network Outage Reporting System adopted by the Public Utilities Commission in the Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), page 9).
(2)The duty to report outages pursuant to the Network Outage Reporting System requirements is triggered upon surpassing either a duration or a user-minutes-affected threshold. That user-minutes-affected threshold is appropriate for urban areas. However, the user-minutes-affected threshold results in the nonreporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of California.
(3)The Federal Communications Commission has acknowledged that providing access to the 911 emergency call system includes maintaining the function of the communications networks required to initiate 911 calls and to deliver those calls and that there is a shared authority of the federal government and states to collectively oversee all components of 911 service.
(4)In order to protect the health and safety of persons living in rural areas of the state requiring reliable access to the 911 emergency call system, it is necessary for the Public Utilities Commission to adopt more stringent requirements for the reporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of the state.
(5)It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission utilize its existing authority under the Public Utilities Act, including the authority to impose fines and penalties for violations, to enforce the requirements of this act, and that any moneys collected through fines or penalties will be used first to offset the costs of implementing the requirements of the act, and if any moneys remain, toward eliminating the digital divide.
SEC. 2.Section 710 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:710.(a)The commission shall not exercise regulatory jurisdiction or control over Voice over Internet Protocol and Internet Protocol enabled services except as required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly directed to do so by statute or as set forth in subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(b)No department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state shall enact, adopt, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision having the force or effect of law, that regulates VoIP or other IP enabled service, unless required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly authorized by statute or pursuant to subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(c)This section does not affect or supersede any of the following:
(1)The Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Law (Part 20 (commencing with Section 41001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code) and the states universal service programs (Section 285).
(2)The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 5800)) or a franchise granted by a local franchising entity, as those terms are defined in Section 5830.
(3)The commissions authority to implement and enforce Sections 251 and 252 of the federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. Secs. 251 and 252).
(4)The commissions authority to require data and other information pursuant to Section 716.
(5)The commissions authority to address or affect the resolution of disputes regarding intercarrier compensation, including for the exchange of traffic that originated, terminated, or was translated at any point into Internet Protocol format.
(6)The commissions authority to enforce existing requirements regarding backup power systems established in Decision 10-01-026, adopted pursuant to Section 2892.1, and rural outage notification and reporting requirements adopted pursuant to Section 2882.5, or other outage notification and reporting requirements determined by the commission to be necessary to ensure public safety. 2882.5.
(7)The commissions authority relative to access to support structures, including pole attachments, or to the construction and maintenance of facilities pursuant to commission General Order 95 and General Order 128.
(8)The Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(d)This section does not affect the enforcement of any state or federal criminal or civil law or any local ordinances of general applicability, including, but not limited to, consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade practice laws or ordinances, that apply to the conduct of business, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), local utility user taxes, and state and local authority governing the use and management of the public rights-of-way.
(e)This section does not affect any existing regulation of, proceedings governing, or existing commission authority over, non-VoIP and other non-IP enabled wireline or wireless service, including regulations governing universal service and the offering of basic service and lifeline service, and any obligations to offer basic service.
(f)This section does not limit the commissions ability to continue to monitor and discuss VoIP services, to track and report to the Federal Communications Commission and the Legislature, within its annual report to the Legislature, the number and type of complaints received by the commission from customers, and to respond informally to customer complaints, including providing VoIP customers who contact the commission information regarding available options under state and federal law for addressing complaints.
(g)This section does not affect the establishment or enforcement of standards, requirements, or procedures, including procurement policies, applicable to any department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, or to the employees, agents, or contractors of a department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, relating to the protection of intellectual property.
(h)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3.Section 911.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:911.5.By January 31, February 1, 2018, and each January 31 February 1 thereafter, the commission shall report to the Legislature summarizing major rural outage information as reported to the commission pursuant to Section 2882.5, including the number and duration of major rural outages and the number of customers affected by those outages. The report shall include any rules adopted by the commission pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 2882.5, any recommendations to the Legislature as to changes that can be made to further refine the requirements for reporting of major rural outages, recommendations for remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages, any failures to comply with the major rural outages reporting requirements, and any fines imposed or other enforcement actions undertaken to enforce Section 2882.5.
SEC. 4.Section 2882.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2882.5.(a)For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)Access to 911 service means the ability of a person to call and connect to the local emergency telephone systems described in the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(2)Major rural outage means an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, that is both of the following: (A) is of 30 or more minutes minutes duration, and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes. The number of user-minutes is the mathematical result of multiplying the outages duration expressed in minutes and the number of users potentially affected by the outage.
(3)Outage has the same meaning as defined by the Federal Communications Commission in Section 4.5 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4)Rural area means those areas of the state that the commission, utilizing United States Census Bureau measurements and data, determines has determined are not within urbanized areas or urban clusters.
(5)Telecommunications service has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2892.1.
(b)The enhanced notification and reporting requirements of this section do not apply to those areas of the state that the commission, utilizing United States Census Bureau measurements and data, determines are not rural areas. determinations, identifies as not being rural areas. Nothing in this section affects the notification and reporting requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations) and the commissions Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), pages 9-10, or any successor rules adopted by the commission) as to those areas of the state that the commission determines are not rural areas.
(c)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide responder outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. Responder outage notification shall be provided within 30 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services and to the Services, which shall be responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The notification shall include the telecommunications providers contact name and calling number, an assigned unique report code that will be used to identify the outage for reporting purposes, a description of the nature of the outage, a description of the estimated area affected by the outage, and other information that the telecommunications provider feels may be of assistance to emergency first responders. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing responder outage notification.
(d)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide public outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. The commission shall adopt rules for the most effective and efficient means for dissemination of information to the public relative to outages. The rules shall require that a telecommunications provider that maintains an Internet Web site timely post information relative to an outage on its Internet Web site, including the area of the outage and, when available, alternative means to contact a public safety answering point in the event of an emergency arising during the outage. The commission may adopt additional requirements for outreach to be provided to customers during or following an outage and what information relative to public outage notification is to be provided to the commission.
(e)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide initial outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Initial outage reporting shall be provided within 120 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services and to the Services, which shall be responsible for notifying any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The initial outage report shall, at a minimum, include a description of the direct cause or general nature of the outage and identify the date and time of the incident causing the outage, the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), the location of the incident or cause, the geographic range and number of potentially affected customers, and, if the outage has not been rectified, the expected duration of the outage. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the initial outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(f)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide final outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Final outage reporting shall be provided within 20 days to the commission and the Office of Emergency Services. The final outage report shall, at a minimum, include the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), a detailed description of the direct cause and any root cause of the outage, the estimated damage caused by the outage, including any casualties that resulted from the outage and any known financial impacts to the area affected by the outage, the providers actions to restore service, and any measures undertaken to prevent the occurrence of a similar outage in the future. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the final outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations). A written summary of the outage report, containing that information the commission determines may be safely disclosed, shall be supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
(g)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and, to the extent feasible, with rural emergency responders, may adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements of this section.
(h)The requirements of this section are enforceable pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 2100) of Part 1.
SEC. 5.Section 2889.8 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and renumbered to read:2882.The commission periodically shall assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a)An analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power.
(b)Consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate.
(c)Consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
SEC. 6.No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
(a)This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act.
(b)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)The Public Utilities Commission currently has no specific requirements with respect to the reporting of major service interruptions that impair the ability of persons to call and connect to the local emergency telephone system by dialing 911, other than requiring facilities-based certificated and registered public utility telephone corporations to report major service interruptions as required by the Federal Communications Commissions Network Outage Reporting System adopted by the Public Utilities Commission in the Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), page 9).
(2)The duty to report outages pursuant to the Network Outage Reporting System requirements is triggered upon surpassing either a duration or a user-minutes-affected threshold. That user-minutes-affected threshold is appropriate for urban areas. However, the user-minutes-affected threshold results in the nonreporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of California.
(3)The Federal Communications Commission has acknowledged that providing access to the 911 emergency call system includes maintaining the function of the communications networks required to initiate 911 calls and to deliver those calls and that there is a shared authority of the federal government and states to collectively oversee all components of 911 service.
(4)In order to protect the health and safety of persons living in rural areas of the state requiring reliable access to the 911 emergency call system, it is necessary for the Public Utilities Commission to adopt more stringent requirements for the reporting of major service interruptions in rural areas of the state.
(5)It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission utilize its existing authority under the Public Utilities Act, including the authority to impose fines and penalties for violations, to enforce the requirements of this act, and that any moneys collected through fines or penalties will be used first to offset the costs of implementing the requirements of the act, and if any moneys remain, toward eliminating the digital divide.
SEC. 2.Section 710 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:710.(a)The commission shall not exercise regulatory jurisdiction or control over Voice over Internet Protocol and Internet Protocol enabled services except as required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly directed to do so by statute or as set forth in subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(b)No department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state shall enact, adopt, or enforce any law, rule, regulation, ordinance, standard, order, or other provision having the force or effect of law, that regulates VoIP or other IP enabled service, unless required or expressly delegated by federal law or expressly authorized by statute or pursuant to subdivision (c). In the event of a requirement or a delegation referred to above, this section does not expand the commissions jurisdiction beyond the scope of that requirement or delegation.
(c)This section does not affect or supersede any of the following:
(1)The Emergency Telephone Users Surcharge Law (Part 20 (commencing with Section 41001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code) and the states universal service programs (Section 285).
(2)The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 (Division 2.5 (commencing with Section 5800)) or a franchise granted by a local franchising entity, as those terms are defined in Section 5830.
(3)The commissions authority to implement and enforce Sections 251 and 252 of the federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. Secs. 251 and 252).
(4)The commissions authority to require data and other information pursuant to Section 716.
(5)The commissions authority to address or affect the resolution of disputes regarding intercarrier compensation, including for the exchange of traffic that originated, terminated, or was translated at any point into Internet Protocol format.
(6)The commissions authority to enforce existing requirements regarding backup power systems established in Decision 10-01-026, adopted pursuant to Section 2892.1. 2892.1, rural outage notification and reporting requirements adopted pursuant to Section 2882.5, or other outage notification and reporting requirements determined by the commission to be necessary to ensure public safety.
(7)The commissions authority relative to access to support structures, including pole attachments, or to the construction and maintenance of facilities pursuant to commission General Order 95 and General Order 128.
(8)The Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(d)This section does not affect the enforcement of any state or federal criminal or civil law or any local ordinances of general applicability, including, but not limited to, consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade practice laws or ordinances, that apply to the conduct of business, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code), local utility user taxes, and state and local authority governing the use and management of the public rights-of-way.
(e)This section does not affect any existing regulation of, proceedings governing, or existing commission authority over, non-VoIP and other non-IP enabled wireline or wireless service, including regulations governing universal service and the offering of basic service and lifeline service, and any obligations to offer basic service.
(f)This section does not limit the commissions ability to continue to monitor and discuss VoIP services, to track and report to the Federal Communications Commission and the Legislature, within its annual report to the Legislature, the number and type of complaints received by the commission from customers, and to respond informally to customer complaints, including providing VoIP customers who contact the commission information regarding available options under state and federal law for addressing complaints.
(g)This section does not affect the establishment or enforcement of standards, requirements, or procedures, including procurement policies, applicable to any department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, or to the employees, agents, or contractors of a department, agency, commission, or political subdivision of the state, relating to the protection of intellectual property.
(h)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 3.Section 911.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:911.5.By January 31, 2018, and each January 31 thereafter, the commission shall report to the Legislature summarizing major rural outage information as reported to the commission pursuant to Section 2882.5, including the number and duration of major rural outages and the number of customers affected by those outages. The report shall include any rules adopted by the commission pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 2882.5, any recommendations to the Legislature as to changes that can be made to further refine the requirements for reporting of major rural outages, recommendations for remedial actions that can be undertaken to avoid or minimize outages, any failures to comply with the major rural outages reporting requirements, and any fines imposed or other enforcement actions undertaken to enforce Section 2882.5.
SEC. 4.Section 2882.5 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:2882.5.(a)For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1)Access to 911 service means the ability of a person to call and connect to the local emergency telephone systems described in the Warren-911-Emergency Assistance Act (Article 6 (commencing with Section 53100) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
(2)Major rural outage means an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service, that is both of the following: (A) is of 30 or more minutes duration, and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes. The number of user-minutes is the mathematical result of multiplying the outages duration expressed in minutes and the number of users potentially affected by the outage.
(3)Outage has the same meaning as defined by the Federal Communications Commission in Section 4.5 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(4)Rural area means those areas of the state that the commission, utilizing United States Census Bureau measurements and data, determines are not within urbanized areas or urban clusters.
(5)Telecommunications service has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 2892.1.
(b)The enhanced notification and reporting requirements of this section do not apply to those areas of the state that the commission, utilizing United States Census Bureau measurements and data, determines are not rural areas. Nothing in this section affects the notification and reporting requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations) and the commissions Rules Governing Telecommunications Services (General Order 133-C (effective July 9, 2009), pages 9-10, or any successor rules adopted by the commission) as to those areas of the state that the commission determines are not rural areas.
(c)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide responder outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. Responder outage notification shall be provided within 30 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services and to the county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The notification shall include the telecommunications providers contact name and calling number, an assigned unique report code that will be used to identify the outage for reporting purposes, a description of the nature of the outage, a description of the estimated area affected by the outage, and other information that the telecommunications provider feels may be of assistance to emergency first responders. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing responder outage notification.
(d)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide public outage notification whenever there is a major rural outage. The commission shall adopt rules for the most effective and efficient means for dissemination of information to the public relative to outages. The rules shall require that a telecommunications provider that maintains an Internet Web site timely post information relative to an outage on its Internet Web site, including the area of the outage and, when available, alternative means to contact a public safety answering point in the event of an emergency arising during the outage. The commission may adopt additional requirements for outreach to be provided to customers during or following an outage and what information relative to public outage notification is to be provided to the commission.
(e)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide initial outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Initial outage reporting shall be provided within 120 minutes of the outage to the Office of Emergency Services and to the county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage. The initial outage report shall, at a minimum, include a description of the direct cause or general nature of the outage and identify the date and time of the incident causing the outage, the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), the location of the incident or cause, the geographic range and number of potentially affected customers, and, if the outage has not been rectified, the expected duration of the outage. The provider of telecommunications services shall notify the commission upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the initial outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(f)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission requires to provide access to 911 service to provide final outage reporting whenever there is a major rural outage. Final outage reporting shall be provided within 20 days to the commission and the Office of Emergency Services. The final outage report shall, at a minimum, include the unique report code provided pursuant to subdivision (c), a detailed description of the direct cause and any root cause of the outage, the estimated damage caused by the outage, including any casualties that resulted from the outage and any known financial impacts to the area affected by the outage, the providers actions to restore service, and any measures undertaken to prevent the occurrence of a similar outage in the future. The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, shall determine what information, if any, that is required to be contained in the final outage report is, or may be made, public consistent with Section 583 and the confidentiality requirements adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in order to protect homeland security (Section 4.2 of Part 4 of Subchapter A of Chapter 1 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations). A written summary of the outage report, containing that information the commission determines may be safely disclosed, shall be supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
(g)The commission, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and, to the extent feasible, with rural emergency responders, may adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements of this section.
(h)The requirements of this section are enforceable pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 2100) of Part 1.
SEC. 5.Section 2889.8 of the Public Utilities Code is amended and renumbered to read:2889.8. 2882.The commission periodically shall assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, develop recommendations for improvement. The assessment shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a)An analysis of those factors that pose a risk to network reliability, including the adequacy of independent sources of reserve power.
(b)Consideration as to whether development of reliability standards is appropriate.
(c)Consideration as to whether procedures should be developed to notify customers about accessing other telecommunications companies in the event of a service disruption.
SEC. 6.No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| May 20, 2016 | Set for hearing May 27. |
| Jun 27, 2016 | Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. |
| Jun 20, 2016 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on U. & C. |
| Jun 13, 2016 | Referred to Com. on U. & C. |
| Jun 2, 2016 | In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. |
| Jun 1, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 34. Noes 5.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Jun 1, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 34. Noes 5. Page 4088.) Ordered to the Assembly. |
| May 27, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| May 27, 2016 | From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (May 27). |
| May 27, 2016 | From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1. Page 4007.) (May 27). |
| Feb 18, 2016 | Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. |
| May 2, 2016 | May 2 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file. |
| Apr 22, 2016 | Set for hearing May 2. |
| Apr 5, 2016 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 3393.) (April 5). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Mar 28, 2016 | From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E., U., & C. |
| Mar 17, 2016 | Set for hearing April 5. |
| Mar 14, 2016 | March 29 set for first hearing canceled at the request of author. |
| Mar 9, 2016 | Set for hearing March 29. |
| Mar 3, 2016 | Referred to Com. on E., U., & C. |
| Feb 19, 2016 | From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 20. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2016 | Senate 3rd Reading SB1250 McGuire | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| May 27, 2016 | Do pass | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| May 2, 2016 | Placed on suspense file | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 5, 2016 | Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| Access Sonoma Broadband | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Alpine County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| American Heart Association | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| American Stroke Association | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| At&T | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Branagh Information Group Inc. | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| California Cable & Telecommunications Association | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| California Center for Rural Policy | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| California Fire Chiefs Association | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| California Police Chiefs Association | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| California State Sheriffs' Association | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Coalition of Wireless Companies | * Against | May 2, 2016 |
| Communications Workers of America, District 9 AFL-CIO | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Consolidated Communications | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Consumer Federation Of California | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| CTIA | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Fire Districts Association Of California | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Frontier Communications | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Humboldt County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Marin County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Mendocino Coast Broadband Alliance | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Mendocino County Board of Supervisors | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Monterey County Business Council | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| North Bay-North Coast Broadband Consortium | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Rural County Representatives of California | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Sprint | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| T-Mobile | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
| The Utility Reform Network | ** Support | Jun 1, 2016 |
| Verizon | ** Against | Jun 1, 2016 |
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | SB |
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1250
:
SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/5/16
AYES: Hueso, Cannella, Hertzberg, Hill, Leyva, McGuire, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Morrell, Gaines, Lara, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-1, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
NOES: Bates
DIGEST: This bill requires notification of a major rural outage of service, as defined, of specified providers of telecommunication services and requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to establish the requirements.
Existing law:
- Provides that the CPUC has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. (California Constitution, Article 3 and 4)
- Requires the CPUC to periodically assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, to develop recommendations for improvement.
- Prohibits the CPUC from exercising regulatory jurisdiction over Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and Internet Protocol (IP) enabled services, except as specified, or as expressly authorized by federal law or by statute. (Public Utilities Code §710)
- Establishes the Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act (Government Code §53100) which establishes the 911system.
- Establishes the California Emergency Services Act and provides that the state is recognized with responsibility to mitigate the effects of natural, manmade, or war-caused emergencies that result in conditions of disaster or in extreme peril to life, property, and the resources of the state, generally to protect the health and safety and preserve the lives and property of the people of the state. Confers on the Governor to provide state assistance and emergency programs and establishes the OES. (Government Code §8550)
This bill:
- Establishes the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act and requires the CPUC to annually report to the Legislature summarizing major rural outage information, including the number and duration of major rural outages and the number of customers affected by those outages, as well as, any related rules adopted, recommendations for statutory changes, remedial actions to avoid outages, and failures to comply.
- Defines “major rural outage” as an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires to provide access to 911 service, that is both (A) of 30 or more minutes duration and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes. User-minutes is defined as multiplying the outage’s duration in minutes and the number of users potentially affected.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide responder outage information within 30 minutes of the outage to OES. Requires OES to notify any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage, with specified information regarding the telecommunications providers.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to adopt rules to inform the public relative to outages, including specified information to be posted on the providers Internet Web site.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide initial outage reporting within 120 minutes of the outage to OES. Requires OES to notify any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage and specifies what should be included in the report. Requires the telecommunications service provider to notify the CPUC upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to determine what information may be made public consistent with the confidentiality provisions of Public Utilities Code §583 and confidentiality requirements of the FCC.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide final outage reporting within 20 days of the outage to OES and the CPUC. Requires specified information that should be included in the report. Requires the telecommunications service provider to notify the CPUC upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to determine what information may be made public consistent with the confidentiality provisions of Public Utilities Code §583 and confidentiality requirements of the FCC. Requires that a written summary of the outage report is supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
- Authorizes the CPUC, in consultation with the OES, to adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements.
- Provides that violations of the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act are subject to existing CPUC enforcement actions, including fines and penalties.
- Establishes that rural outage notifications and reporting requirements of this act shall be among the numerous provisions explicitly authorized and not subject to the limitations imposed on the CPUC to limit regulatory jurisdiction of VOIP and IP.
Background
North Coast service outages. The North Coast of California has experienced at least four significant outages of the its telecommunications service in the last year, including a September 3, 2015 incident when a fiber cable owned by AT&T was cut, as well as, December 9th outage in Humboldt County. These outages have affected the public safety in several ways including the loss of 911 service. During some of these outages ambulances have been deployed and staged at busy intersections, in lieu of 911 services. Additionally, the United States Coast Guard was required to fly their entire Northern territory until emergency service would be back up. Although these outages have affected the communities’ quality of life and public safety, many of the outages experienced in the North Coast never reach the federal Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) thresholds, therefore telecommunications service providers are not required to communicate with local and statewide emergency officials.
FCC outage reporting requirements. The FCC requires facilities-based telecommunications service providers, including wireless, wireline/landline, cable and satellite communications providers, including VOIP services, to report information electronically, through the NORS, about significant disruptions or outages to their communications systems that meet specified thresholds set forth in the FCC’s rules (47 C.F.R. Part 4). The FCC presumes the outage information is confidential and protected from routine public disclosure given the sensitivity of the information to national security and commercial competitiveness. The FCC requires facilities that trigger the required threshold of 900,000 user minutes provide the required notification. This threshold is defined as an outage lasts at least 30 minutes and affects at least 900,000 user minutes, calculated as the outages duration multiplied by the potential customers affected. The CPUC largely adheres to the FCC outage notification requirements, utilizing the same thresholds and similar reporting detailed in General Order 133-C. However, the CPUC has petitioned the FCC in order to gain access to the NORS data for California.
FCC opens rulemaking to propose changes to NORS reporting. In March 2015, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding proposals to update the Outage Reporting rules to enhance the reliability and resiliency of the Nation’s communication system, in particular to strengthen the Nation’s 911 system. The FCC is considering a number of changes to the existing rules, however, largely maintaining the existing notification outage threshold of 30 minutes duration and affecting 900,000 user minutes. The proposals include creating more uniformity in applying the threshold for wireless service which the FCC found are applying different methods, as well as, proposals to better address the needs of rural communities by considering a geography-based threshold. The FCC is also soliciting comments as to whether and how it may share data with state regulatory agencies, such as the CPUC. As of the writing of this analysis, the proposed rulemaking remains open.
Rural vs. urban/suburban. This bill utilizes the U.S. Census Bureau definition for rural communities. Since telecommunications networks are not necessarily designed in a manner that reflects the rural and urban/suburban designations of the U.S. Census map, there may be some instances when the interface between the two may trigger reporting requirements that when the population numbers of the network are skewed by the network servicing the neighboring suburban/urban area. However, this would pose a challenge in a situation when the service often goes out in the area. It would seem reasonable that service outages experienced by customers should be minimized in those instances, as the urban areas may be more likely to have redundancy built into its systems.
Regulation of VOIP and IP. In 2012, the Legislature passed statute to limit the CPUC’s regulation of VOIP and IP-enabled services, Public Utilities Code §710. However, the code section explicitly lists several exemptions for regulatory activities that would be allowed which include the CPUC’s authority in Public Utilities Code §716 to require data and requirements to maintain the 911 services. Additionally, Public Utilities Code §710 provides that additional exceptions to the prohibition on CPUC regulatory oversight can be made so long as they are established via statute or by the federal government. The proposed addition of rural outage notification in SB 1250 would meet the requirements of the existing statute. However, several of the service providers opposing this bill argue that adding additional exceptions would be inconsistent with the Legislature’s intent to support a competitive market. The Legislature must weigh the desire to ensure public safety and notification of service outages against the desires of the service providers to prohibit any additional regulatory requirements.
Is the threshold to low? This bill proposes to adopt a rural outage threshold of 30 minutes duration and 75,000 or more user-minutes. As such an outage of 30 minutes would need to potentially affect 2,500 customers. If the outage is two hours, then it need only affect 625 customers. It’s unclear whether 75,000 user minutes is the appropriate threshold, though a specified rural threshold should be well under 900,000 user minutes or determined exclusively by the location of the outage. Should this bill move forward the author may wish to consider increasing the threshold while ensuring it remains well-under 900,000 user minutes.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
- Ongoing costs of approximately $152,000 (Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account) to analyze data and report to the Legislature, coordinate with OES, and oversee carrier reporting.
- Minor costs to OES.
Access Sonoma Broadband
Alpine County Board of Supervisors
American Heart Association
American Stroke Association
Branagh Information Group Inc.
Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County
California Center for Rural Policy
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs’ Association
Communications Workers of America, District 9 AFL-CIO
Consumer Federation of California
Fire Districts Association of California
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino Coast Broadband Alliance
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Monterey County Business Council
North Bay-North Coast Broadband Consortium
Rural County Representatives of California
The Utility Reform Network
OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/27/16)
AT&T
CTIA
California Cable & Telecommunications Association
Consolidated Communications
Frontier Communications
Sprint
T-Mobile
Verizon
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: SB 1250 is simple; require telecommunications providers to report rural 911 outages to the appropriate public safety agencies. The author states that failure to report 911 service outages can wreak havoc on rural communities, and put the public’s safety unnecessarily at risk. Previous 911 outages along the North Coast have resulted in significant disruptions to the community. The author further states that over the past few months rural Northern California communities were affected by several service outages resulting in 911 call centers going offline. These outages did not reach the Federal NORS thresholds, therefore, telephone utilities were not required to communicate with local and statewide emergency officials. The California Police Chiefs Association states that providing emergency assistance to every region of California is an essential task of our law enforcement agencies. To do so requires a functioning 911 system that is maintained at all times. SB 1250 will help ensure this, and for that reason Cal Chiefs is supporting the measure.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Many of the communications companies opposing this bill state the current requirements to report outages are sufficient and don’t merit further changes. They also argue against the new threshold for reporting because they believe it is not feasible and would create a new reporting regime. Additionally, many of the communications providers express concerns that this bill grants the CPUC new regulatory powers and be inconsistent with state policy adopted by the Legislature to prohibit the regulation of VOIP and IP enabled services.
5/28/16 17:11:58
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1250 (McGuire) - Telecommunications: major rural outages: notifications and reporting
Version: | Policy Vote: |
Urgency: | Mandate: |
Hearing Date: | Consultant: |
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary:
SB 1250 requires specified telecommunication services providers to notify the California Office of Emergency Services (OES) of a major rural outage, as defined, and requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in consultation with OES to establish the requirements.
Fiscal Impact:
- Ongoing costs of approximately $152,000 (Public Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account) to analyze data and report to the Legislature, coordinate with OES, and oversee carrier reporting.
- Minor costs to OES.
Background:
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires facilities-based telecommunications service providers (e.g., wireless, wireline/landline, cable and satellite communications providers) to electronically report significant disruptions or outages through the Network Outage Reporting System (NORS). FCC rules require notification for all outages that last at least 30 minutes and affect at least 900,000 user minutes, calculated as the outages duration multiplied by the potential customers affected. The FCC presumes the outage information is confidential and protected from routine public disclosure given the sensitivity of the information to national security and commercial competitiveness. The CPUC largely adheres to the FCC outage notification requirements. However, the CPUC has petitioned the FCC in order to gain access to the NORS data for California.
In March 2015, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding proposals to update the Outage Reporting rules to enhance the reliability and resiliency of the Nation’s communication system, in particular to strengthen the Nation’s 911 system. The FCC is considering a number of changes to the existing rules, however, largely maintaining the existing notification outage threshold of 30 minutes duration and affecting 900,000 user minutes. The proposals include creating more uniformity in applying the threshold for wireless service which the FCC found are applying different methods, as well as, proposals to better address the needs of rural communities by considering a geography-based threshold. The FCC is also soliciting comments as to whether and how it may share data with state regulatory agencies, such as the CPUC. As of the writing of this analysis, the proposed rulemaking remains open.
Proposed Law:
This bill:
- Establishes the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act and requires the CPUC to annually report specified information on major rural outages to the Legislature.
- Defines “major rural outage” as an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the FCC requires to provide access to 911 services, that is both (A) of 30 or more minutes duration and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to:
- Require all facilities-based telecommunications services to provide responder outage information within 30 minutes of the outage to OES.
- Require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide initial outage reporting within 120 minutes of the outage to OES.
- Require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide final outage reporting within 20 days of the outage to OES and the CPUC, and specifies information that must be included in the report.
- Adopt rules to inform the public relative to outages, including specified information to be posted on the providers Internet website.
- Determine what information may be made public consistent with the confidentiality provisions of Public Utilities Code § 583 and confidentiality requirements of the FCC.
- Authorizes the CPUC, in consultation with the OES, to adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements.
- Requires OES to notify any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage and specifies what should be included in the report.
- Requires the telecommunications service provider to notify the CPUC upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting.
- Requires that a written summary of the outage report is supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
- Provides that violations of the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act are subject to existing CPUC enforcement actions, including fines and penalties.
- Establishes that rural outage notifications and reporting requirements of this act are among the numerous provisions explicitly authorized and not subject to the limitations imposed on the CPUC to limit regulatory jurisdiction of Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and Internet Protocol (IP).
Staff Comments:
Per the CPUC, in 2015, facilities-based wireline and wireless telephone corporations filed approximately 460 NORS reports per month, based on the 900,000 user minute reporting threshold. This Legislation has a 75,000 user minute reporting threshold for rural areas; at present, the CPUC does not have information on the number of users affected by past outages or how that might be affected by future outages. Consequently, the CPUC estimates that the new reporting could generate hundreds of additional reports per month.
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SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY, UTILITIES AND COMMUNICATIONS
Senator Ben Hueso, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: Hearing Date: 4/5/2016
Author: | |||
Version: | As Amended | ||
Urgency: | Fiscal: | ||
Consultant: | |||
SUBJECT:
DIGEST: This bill would require notification of a major rural outage of service, as defined, of specified providers of telecommunication services and require the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to establish the requirements.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
- Provides that the CPUC has regulatory authority over public utilities, including telephone corporations. (California Constitution, Article 3 and 4)
- Requires the CPUC to periodically assess the reliability of the public telecommunications network and, if necessary, to develop recommendations for improvement.
- Prohibits the CPUC from exercising regulatory jurisdiction over Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) and Internet Protocol (IP) enabled services, except as specified, or as expressly authorized by federal law or by statute. (Public Utilities Code §710)
- Establishes the Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act (Government Code §53100) which establishes the 911system.
- Establishes the California Emergency Services Act and provides that the state is recognized with responsibility to mitigate the effects of natural, manmade, or war-caused emergencies that result in conditions of disaster or in extreme peril to life, property, and the resources of the state, generally to protect the health and safety and preserve the lives and property of the people of the state. Confers on the Governor to provide state assistance and emergency programs and establishes the OES. (Government Code §8550)
This bill:
- Establishes the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act and requires the CPUC to annually report to the Legislature summarizing major rural outage information, including the number and duration of major rural outages and the number of customers affected by those outages, as well as, any related rules adopted, recommendations for statutory changes, remedial actions to avoid outages, and failures to comply.
- Defines “major rural outage” as an outage of telecommunications service in a rural area, experienced by a facilities-based provider of telecommunications services that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires to provide access to 911 service, that is both (A) of 30 or more minutes duration and (B) potentially affects 75,000 or more user-minutes. User-minutes is defined as multiplying the outage’s duration in minutes and the number of users potentially affected.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide responder outage information within 30 minutes of the outage to OES. Requires OES to notify any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage, with specified information regarding the telecommunications providers.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to adopt rules to inform the public relative to outages, including specified information to be posted on the providers Internet website.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide initial outage reporting within 120 minutes of the outage to OES. Requires OES to notify any applicable county office of emergency services and sheriff of any county affected by the outage and specifies what should be included in the report. Requires the telecommunications service provider to notify the CPUC upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to determine what information may be made public consistent with the confidentiality provisions of Public Utilities Code § 583 and confidentiality requirements of the FCC.
- Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to require all facilities-based providers of telecommunications services to provide final outage reporting within 20 days of the outage to OES and the CPUC. Requires specified information that should be included in the report. Requires the telecommunications service provider to notify the CPUC upon its completion of providing initial outage reporting. Requires the CPUC, in consultation with OES, to determine what information may be made public consistent with the confidentiality provisions of Public Utilities Code §583 and confidentiality requirements of the FCC. Requires that a written summary of the outage report is supplied to the board of supervisors of each county affected by the outage within 30 days of the major rural outage.
- Authorizes the CPUC, in consultation with the OES, to adopt rules to implement and refine the notification and reporting requirements.
- Provides that violations of the 911 Emergency Reliability and Public Safety Act are subject to existing CPUC enforcement actions, including fines and penalties.
- Establishes that rural outage notifications and reporting requirements of this act shall be among the numerous provisions explicitly authorized and not subject to the limitations imposed on the CPUC to limit regulatory jurisdiction of VOIP and IP.
Background
North Coast service outages. The North Coast of California has experienced at least four significant outages of the its telecommunications service in the last year, including a September 3, 2015 incident when a fiber cable owned by AT&T was cut, as well as, December 9th outage in Humboldt County. These outages have affected the public safety in several ways including the loss of 911 service. During some of these outages ambulances have been deployed and staged at busy intersections, in lieu of 911 services. Additionally, the United States Coast Guard was required to fly their entire Northern territory until emergency service would be back up. Although these outages have affected the communities’ quality of life and public safety, many of the outages experienced in the North Coast never reach the federal Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) thresholds, therefore telecommunications service providers are not required to communicate with local and statewide emergency officials.
FCC outage reporting requirements. The FCC requires facilities-based telecommunications service providers, including wireless, wireline/landline, cable and satellite communications providers, including VOIP services, to report information electronically, through the NORS, about significant disruptions or outages to their communications systems that meet specified thresholds set forth in the FCC’s rules (47 C.F.R. Part 4). The FCC presumes the outage information is confidential and protected from routine public disclosure given the sensitivity of the information to national security and commercial competitiveness. The FCC requires facilities that trigger the required threshold of 900,000 user minutes provide the required notification. This threshold is defined as an outage lasts at least 30 minutes and affects at least 900,000 user minutes, calculated as the outages duration multiplied by the potential customers affected. The CPUC largely adheres to the FCC outage notification requirements, utilizing the same thresholds and similar reporting detailed in General Order 133-C. However, the CPUC has petitioned the FCC in order to gain access to the NORS data for California.
FCC opens rulemaking to propose changes to NORS reporting. In March 2015, the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding proposals to update the Outage Reporting rules to enhance the reliability and resiliency of the Nation’s communication system, in particular to strengthen the Nation’s 911 system. The FCC is considering a number of changes to the existing rules, however, largely maintaining the existing notification outage threshold of 30 minutes duration and affecting 900,000 user minutes. The proposals include creating more uniformity in applying the threshold for wireless service which the FCC found are applying different methods, as well as, proposals to better address the needs of rural communities by considering a geography-based threshold. The FCC is also soliciting comments as to whether and how it may share data with state regulatory agencies, such as the CPUC. As of the writing of this analysis, the proposed rulemaking remains open.
Rural vs. urban/suburban. This bill utilizes the U.S. Census Bureau definition for rural communities. Since telecommunications networks are not necessarily designed in a manner that reflects the rural and urban/suburban designations of the U.S. Census map, there may be some instances when the interface between the two may trigger reporting requirements that when the population numbers of the network are skewed by the network servicing the neighboring suburban/urban area. However, this would pose a challenge in a situation when the service often goes out in the area. It would seem reasonable that service outages experienced by customers should be minimized in those instances, as the urban areas may be more likely to have redundancy built into its systems.
Regulation of VOIP and IP. In 2012, the Legislature passed statute to limit the CPUC’s regulation of VOIP and IP-enabled services, Public Utilities Code §710. However, the code section explicitly lists several exemptions for regulatory activities that would be allowed which include the CPUC’s authority in Public Utilities Code §716 to require data and requirements to maintain the 911 services. Additionally, Public Utilities Code 710 provides that additional exceptions to the prohibition on CPUC regulatory oversight can be made so long as they are established via statute or by the federal government. The proposed addition of rural outage notification in SB 1250 would meet the requirements of the existing statute. However, several of the service providers opposing this bill argue that adding additional exceptions would be inconsistent with the Legislature’s intent to support a competitive market. The Legislature must weigh the desire to ensure public safety and notification of service outages against the desires of the service providers to prohibit any additional regulatory requirements.
Is the threshold to low? This bill proposes to adopt a rural outage threshold of 30 minutes duration and 75,000 or more user-minutes. As such an outage of 30 minutes would need to potentially affect 2,500 customers. If the outage is two hours, then it need only affect 625 customers. It’s unclear whether 75,000 user minutes is the appropriate threshold, though a specified rural threshold should be well under 900,000 user minutes or determined exclusively by the location of the outage. Should this bill move forward the author may wish to consider increasing the threshold while ensuring it remains well-under 900,000 user minutes.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
SUPPORT:
Access Sonoma Broadband
American Heart Association
American Stroke Association
Branagh Information Group Inc.
Broadband Alliance of Mendocino County
California Center for Rural Policy
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs’ Association
Communications Workers of America, District 9 AFL-CIO
Consumer Federation of California
Fire Districts Association of California
Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Mendocino Coast Broadband Alliance
Mendocino County Board of Supervisors
Monterey County Business Council
North Bay-North Coast Broadband Consortium
Rural County Representatives of California
The Utility Reform Network
OPPOSITION:
AT&T
CTIA
California Cable & Telecommunications Association
Consolidated Communications
Frontier Communications
Sprint
T-Mobile
Verizon
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: SB 1250 is simple; require telecommunications providers to report rural 911 outages to the appropriate public safety agencies. The author states that failure to report 911 service outages can wreak havoc on rural communities, and put the public’s safety unnecessarily at risk. Previous 911 outages along the North Coast have resulted in significant disruptions to the community. The author further states that over the past few months rural Northern California communities were affected by several service outages resulting in 911 call centers going offline. These outages did not reach the Federal NORS thresholds, therefore, telephone utilities were not required to communicate with local and statewide emergency officials. The California Police Chiefs Association states that providing emergency assistance to every region of California is an essential task of our law enforcement agencies. To do so requires a functioning 911 system that is maintained at all times. SB 1250 will help ensure this, and for that reason Cal Chiefs is supporting the measure.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Many of the communications companies opposing the bill state the current requirements to report outages are sufficient and don’t merit further changes. They also argue against the new threshold for reporting because they believe it is not feasible and would create a new reporting regime. Additionally, many of the communications providers express concerns that the bill would grant the CPUC new regulatory powers and be inconsistent with state policy adopted by the Legislature to prohibit the regulation of VOIP and IP enabled services.
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Discussed in Hearing
3MIN
Assembly Standing Committee on Elections and Redistricting
4MIN
Senate Floor
11MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations
43MIN
Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications
Bill Author
