ALJ/KLM/hkr Mailed April 11, 2003

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Order Instituting Rulemaking on the Commission's Own Motion to Comply with the Mandates of Senate Bill 1563 regarding deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Technologies.

FILED PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION APRIL 3, 2003 SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE RULEMAKING 03-04-003

ORDER INSTITUTING RULEMAKING

I. Introduction

The Commission initiates this proceeding in response to Senate Bill (SB) 1563 (Ch. 674, Stats. 2002), which amended Pub. Util. Code § 709 and added Pub. Util. Code Section 709.3. A copy of SB 1563 is attached to this Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) as Attachment A. SB 1563 requires the Commission to develop a plan for encouraging the widespread availability and use of advanced communications infrastructure and to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature by December 31, 2004. This rulemaking charts a course for that undertaking and report.