California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE Media Contact: Terrie Prosper, 415.703.1366, news@cpuc.ca.gov Docket #: R.02-12-004



CPUC UPDATES SERVICE QUALITY REQUIREMENTS
FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES

WHILE ENSURING CONSUMERS ARE PROTECTED

SAN FRANCISCO, July 9, 2009 - The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today updated its General Order regarding service quality reporting in order to streamline the process yet ensure that telecommunications carriers provide relevant information for the CPUC to protect consumers and the public interest.

The new General Order 133-C now has a reduced set of service quality measures and eliminates outdated reporting measures dating from the monopoly telephone era. The updated order contains reporting measures that were proposed during the CPUC's proceeding to capture the most important areas of customer concern. This includes issues such as the time it takes carriers to install and repair service; the ability of customers to have their inquiries addressed promptly; and notification when a carrier is experiencing phone service outages. For example, the new General Order eliminates the prior exception based reporting that captured only when a carrier missed a standard set under the General Order. Under new General Order 133-C, carriers will report on a periodic basis for all measures.

General Order 133-C will require the most stringent reporting for carriers the CPUC regulates as monopoly providers, with reduced reporting categories for carriers that operate in more competitive environments. The CPUC's decision allows for exemptions for service resellers, wireless carriers, and Internet Protocol-enabled services. However, to ensure that wireless consumers will be able to better understand where they can expect to receive wireless service at the time they purchase a phone, the decision requires wireless carriers to provide coverage map information on their websites and at retail locations to the same level that the major national wireless carriers voluntarily have agreed to provide in other states. This wireless coverage map requirement - coupled with the 30 day free grace period policies of the major wireless carriers - will help consumers purchase wireless service that is best for their personal needs.

The CPUC's decision also formalizes procedures for carriers to report major service interruptions, and requires carriers to continue providing service quality information that they currently file with the Federal Communications Commission.

For more information on communication issues, please visit www.CalPhoneInfo.com.

For more information on the CPUC, please visit www.cpuc.ca.gov.

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