VII. ASSIGNMENT OF PROCEEDING
Findings of Fact
1. Increasing competition in the provision of telecommunications services reduces the need for commission regulation of telephone service providers.
2. All forms of telephone service compete with one another.
3. Although the public witnesses who appeared in this proceeding expressed dissatisfaction with some aspects of their telephone service, there is no showing on the record that telephone customers in general are significantly dissatisfied with their service or that their level of dissatisfaction is increasing.
4. Carriers introduced credible evidence that detailed prescriptive regulations would impose significant new costs on them.
5. No party assigned a dollar value to the benefits associated with implementation of the rules.
6. All calls made through a wireline phone could be made through a wireless phone.
7. Many calls made using a wireless phone could be made using a wireline phone.
8. Some rules are applicable only to providers of basic service.
9. Some rules applicable to providers of basic service are not applicable to providers of wireless service.
10. Rules governing the carrier use of customer-supplied information should be the subject of a separate proceeding.
11. Required disclosures should be made to customers through written materials delivered at the point of sale or shortly thereafter and via the Internet.
12. Actual use under real world conditions is the best way to determine if a wireless phone meets a customer's needs.
13. Bills should be clear and complete.
14. Customers should be billed only for services actually authorized and used.
15. If a carrier makes material unilateral changes in contract terms the customer should have a reasonable opportunity to cancel the contract without penalty.
16. Basic service should not be terminated for failure to pay legitimate charges until the customer has been given reasonable notice and an opportunity to pay the charges.
17. The record developed in this proceeding on the economic consequences of new regulations does not support the wholesale adoption of new rules.
18. The inclusion of existing telecommunications rules in a single General Order reduces the costs of finding them and introduces no new economic burdens.
19. Consumer practices that emerge in competitive markets - such as the adoption of a fourteen-day grace period for trying out wireless phones - demonstrate that such a rule would provide consumer benefits that exceed the costs to consumers of such a practice.
20. Rules that prevent fraudulent behavior - such as anti-slamming rules - are critical to the functioning of a competitive market.
Conclusions of Law
1. All telecommunications carriers should abide by basic standards of disclosure and customer service.
2. The rules in G.O___, Part 2 should supersede the Consumer Protection and Consumer Information Rules for CLCs set forth in D. 95-07-054, Appendix B.
3. The rules in G.O.___, Part 2 should supersede the Consumer Protection Rules for non-tariffed, non-dominant IECs in D.98008-031, Appendix A.
4. Any previously filed commercial mobile radio service consumer protection tariff rules should be superseded and canceled.
5. Except as otherwise provided therein, the Rules in G.O____. Part 2, apply to Commission-regulated carriers of all classes and their agents.
6. Except as otherwise provided therein, the Rules in G.O.___, Part 2 are for the benefit of individual, residential and business customers alike.
7. Except as set forth in the ordering paragraphs below, this interim order and G.O.____ do not relieve any carrier from compliance with any existing Commission decision, rule or general order, any state or federal statute, or any other requirement under the law.
8. The Commission should adopt the G.O.____, Rules Governing Telecommunications Consumer Protection and Fraud Prevention, Appendix A to this interim order.
9. No evidentiary hearings are needed.
10. The Commission's adoption of G.O.___ and its associated Rules does not create a private right of action against any telecommunications carrier for violation of the Rules.
11. In view of the potential conflict between private enforcement of claims against telecommunications carriers regarding matters within the Commission's primary jurisdiction, such private actions are barred.
12. The Commission's adoption of G.O.___ and its Rules does not enlarge or diminish any other rights or preclude any other civil action that may be available by law.
13. Over the course of the proceeding, the parties have had only limited opportunity to present on the record information regarding the costs and economic effects of the new Rules.
14. Unrebutted evidence introduced regarding costs of compliance with prior versions of the Rules suggests that imposition of extensive prescriptive rules would impose significant new costs on telecommunications carriers.
15. In concluding that the current version of the Rules produces benefits that exceed their costs, the Commission has complied with Public Utilities Code §321.1, which directs the Commission to assess the economic effects or consequences of its decision as part of its normal consideration in a rulemaking proceeding.
16. In a rulemaking proceedings such as this one, the Commission may consider relevant, publicly available reports and decisions and reports issued by this Commission and by other state and federal agencies without taking official notice of them.
17. The rules in G.O. ___ will not produce economic consequences adverse to the California economy.
18. Since the rules in G.O. ___ reflect current rules, the common practice in competitive markets, or are key to avoiding fraudulent practices that undermine the functioning of a market, the incremental benefits that they generate clearly outweigh the incremental costs that they impose.
19. The rules adopted in G.O. ____ are reasonable.
20. This interim order should be effective today.
INTERIM ORDER
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. General Order___ (G.O.___) Rules Governing Telecommunications Consumer Protection and Fraud Prevention, Appendix A to this interim order is adopted and shall become effective as of the effective date of this interim order.
2. Commission-regulated telecommunications carriers of all classes shall bring their operations into full compliance with G.O.___and this interim order no later than 540 days after the date this decision was mailed. Not later than 540 days after this decision was mailed, each carrier shall serve on the Commission's Telecommunications Division a letter certifying that it is in compliance with this ordering paragraph. Each such certification letter shall be in a format provided by Telecommunications Division, and shall be verified following the procedure set forth in the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, Rule 2.4, Verification. Any carrier unable to meet the 540-day deadline shall file a letter with the Commission's Telecommunications Division not less than 60 days prior to the end of the compliance period setting for the reasons for such inability and date by which full compliance will be achieved, which date shall in no event be later than 720 days from the mailing date of this decision.
3. The Consumer Protection and Consumer Information Rules for CLCs set forth in D. 95-07-054, Appendix B are superseded by G.O.___. Each affected carrier is relieved of its obligation to comply with those rules as of the date that the carrier achieves full compliance with G.O.___as directed in Ordering Paragraph 2 of this interim order.
4. The Consumer Protection Rules for Detariffed Servicesset forth for non-tariffed, non-dominant interexchagne carriers in D. 98-08-031, Appendix A are superseded by G.O.___. Each affected carrier is relieved of its obligation to comply with those rules as of the date that the carrier achieves full compliance with G.O.___as directed in Ordering Paragraph 2 of this interim order.
5. Any previously filed commercial mobile radio service consumer protection tariff rules are superseded and shall be canceled.
6. Each Commission-regulated telecommunications carrier having California intrastate tariffs in effect shall evaluate those tariffs for compliance with the requirements of G.O.___ and the ordering paragraphs of this interim order. Each carrier having tariff provision(s) inconsistent with G.O.___, or required to be revised or canceled to conform to the ordering paragraphs of this interim order shall file not later than 90 days after this decision was mailed and make effective on the 180th day after this decision was mailed an advice letter in accordance with G.O. 96 Series making only such revisions or cancellations as are necessary to bring its tariffs into compliance with G.O.___ and this interim order. Advice letters which do not comply with the requirements of this interim order are subject to suspension as provided in Commission Resolution M-4801.
7. The provisions of G.O___ are severable. If any provision of G.O___or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions of applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
8. The various motions described in the Pending Motions section of this order are granted and denied as set forth in that section. The two LECG studies and the Hazlett paper tendered in those motions are accepted into the proceeding record.
This interim order is effective today.
Dated , at San Francisco, CA
IT IS ORDERED that:
This order is effective ^.
Appendix A General Order
