Requires telecommunications companies to provide prorated refunds for service outages of longer than 72 hours.

A1025

ASSEMBLY, No. 1025

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO

District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)

Assemblyman JOE DANIELSEN

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywomen Murphy, Haider, Assemblymen Sauickie and
Karabinchak

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires telecommunications companies to provide
prorated refunds for service outages of longer than 72 hours.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning refunds for telecommunications
service interruptions and amending P.L.1991, c.428 and P.L.2007, c.195.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

����� 1.�� Section
4 of P.L.1991, c.428 (C.48:2-21.19) is amended to read as follows:

����� 4.�� a.�
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of R.S.48:2-18, R.S.48:2-21, section 31 of
P.L.1962, c.198 (C.48:2-21.2), R.S.48:3-1, or any other law to the contrary,
the board shall not regulate, fix, or prescribe the rates, tolls, charges, rate
structures, terms and conditions of service, rate base, rate of return, and
cost of service, of competitive services.

����� (2) The
board shall not require the local exchange telecommunications company or
interexchange telecommunications carrier to file and maintain tariffs for
retail competitive services, but shall require any terms and conditions of
retail competitive services to be made available for public inspection on the
Internet website of any local exchange telecommunications company or
interexchange telecommunications carrier providing those services, and a
printed copy of those terms and conditions shall be provided upon the request
of a customer.� Nothing in this section shall affect the ability of a local
exchange telecommunications company or interexchange telecommunications
carrier, in their discretion, to file tariffs with the board.

����� b.�� The
board is authorized to determine, after notice and public hearing, whether a
telecommunications service is a competitive service.� In making that
determination, the board shall develop standards of competitive service which,
at a minimum, shall include: evidence of ease of market entry; presence of
other competitors; and the availability of like or substitute services in the
relevant geographic area.� A final decision or order pursuant to this
subsection shall be made within 12 months of the final public hearing held to
determine whether a telecommunications service is a competitive service. If the
board has not adopted a final decision or order within 12 months of the final
public hearing, the board shall hold an additional public hearing before adopting
a final decision or order.� The board shall not make a determination pursuant
to this subsection unless a public hearing has been held in the previous 12
months to determine whether a telecommunications service is a competitive
service.

����� c.�� The
board may determine, by rule, order, or in accordance with the provisions of a
plan filed pursuant to subsection a. of section 3 of P.L.1991, c.428
(C.48:2-21.18), what reports are necessary to monitor the competitiveness of
any telecommunications service.

����� d.�� The
board shall have the authority to reclassify any telecommunications service
that it has previously found to be competitive if, after notice and public
hearing, it determines that sufficient competition is no longer present, upon
application of the criteria set forth in subsection b. of this section.� Upon
that reclassification, the provisions of subsection a. of this section shall no
longer apply and the board may determine such rates for that telecommunications
service which it finds to be just and reasonable.� The board, however, shall
continue to monitor the telecommunications service and, whenever the board
shall find that the telecommunications service has again become sufficiently
competitive pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the board shall again
apply the provisions of subsection a. of this section.� A final decision or
order pursuant to this subsection shall be made within 12 months of the final
public hearing held to determine whether a telecommunications service is a
competitive service. If the board has not adopted a final decision or order
within 12 months of the final public hearing, the board shall hold an
additional public hearing before adopting a final decision or order.� The board
shall not make a reclassification pursuant to this subsection unless a public
hearing has been held in the previous 12 months to determine whether a
telecommunications service is a competitive service.

����� e.�� Notwithstanding
the provisions of subsection a. of this section, the following safeguards shall
apply to the offering of any competitive service by a local exchange
telecommunications company:

����� (1) the
local exchange telecommunications company shall unbundle each noncompetitive
service which is incorporated in the competitive service and shall make all
noncompetitive services separately available to any customer under tariffed
terms and conditions, including price, that are identical to those used by the
local exchange telecommunications company in providing its competitive service;

����� (2) the
rate which a local exchange telecommunications company charges for a
competitive service shall exceed the rates charged to others for any
noncompetitive services used by the local exchange telecommunications company
to provide the competitive service;

����� (3) tariffs
for competitive services that may be filed with the board shall either be in
the public records, or, if the board determines that the rates are proprietary,
shall be filed under seal and made available under the terms of an appropriate
protective agreement, such as those used in cases before the board;
[
and
]

����� (4) nothing
in P.L.1991, c.428 (C.48:2-21.16 et seq.) shall limit the authority of the
board, pursuant to R.S.48:3-1, to ensure that local exchange telecommunications
companies do not make or impose unjust preferences, discriminations, or
classifications for noncompetitive services
; and

�����
(5) the
local exchange telecommunications company shall, on a prorated basis, adjust a
customer�s bill, or provide a credit to a customer, who has experience a
service interruption for a period of more than 72 hours.� The local exchange
telecommunications company shall not require the customer to take any action in
order to receive a bill adjustment or credit under this section
.

�����
f.��� The
board shall require a public utility, as defined in R.S.48:2-13, that provides
telephone service and is subject to regulation by the board, on a prorated
basis, to adjust a customer�s bill, or provide a credit to a customer, who has
experienced a service interruption for a period of more than 72 hours.� The
telephone public utility shall not require the customer to take any action in
order to receive a bill adjustment or credit under this section.

(cf:
P.L.2017, c.77, s.1)

����� 2.�� Section 4 of P.L.2007,
c.195 (C.48:17-35) is amended to read as follows:

���� 4.���
a.
� Except as
otherwise provided in
[
this
act
]

P.L.2007,
c.195 (C.48:17-32 et seq.)
, notwithstanding any other provision of law,
rule, regulation
,
or order to the contrary, neither the State, nor any
department, agency, board
,
or commission thereof, nor any political
subdivision of the State shall enact, adopt
,
or enforce any law,
ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order, standard
,
or other
provision, either directly or indirectly, having the force and effect of law
that regulates, or has the effect of regulating, the rates, terms
,
and
conditions of VoIP service or IP-enabled service offered to customers.

����
b.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection a. of this section, or any other law, rule, order, or
regulation to the contrary, the Board of Public Utilities shall require a
company that provides a VoIP service or IP-enabled service, on a prorated
basis, to adjust a

residential customer�s bill, or provide a credit to a
residential

customer, who has experienced a service interruption for a
period of more than 72 hours, except not including any service interruption
that occurs during an event that causes significant damage to the electric
grid, and subject to any other exceptions or limitations as may be established
by the board. A customer shall notify the provider of a VoIP service or
IP-enabled service within 30 days after any service interruption for a period
of more than 72 hours, by telephone or in writing, in order to receive a bill
adjustment or credit pursuant to this section, subject to such exceptions and
limitations as the board may provide.

(cf: P.L.2007, c.195, s.4)

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill directs the Board of
Public Utilities (BPU) to require telecommunications companies and companies
that offer Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or other Internet-Protocol
enabled (IP-enabled) telephone services to provide a bill adjustment or credit,
on a prorated basis, to certain customers who experience a service interruption
for more than 72 hours.� Under the bill, telecommunications companies are not
to require the customer to take any action in order to receive the bill
adjustment or credit.

���� In the case of companies that
offer VoIP or IP-enabled telephone services, a customer is required to notify
the company by telephone or in writing within 30 days of a service interruption
for a period of more than 72 hours in order to receive a bill adjustment or
credit for the service interruption.� For companies offering VoIP or other
IP-enabled telephone services, the provision of bill adjustments and credits is
limited to residential customers and is not required when a customer�s service
interruption occurs during an event that causes significant damage to the
electric grid.

���� The bill permits the BPU to
establish any other exceptions or limitations to the provision of bill
adjustments and credits by companies that offer VoIP or IP-enabled telephone
services.