Broadband internet

AN ACT Relating to resiliency, public safety, and quality of 1
broadband; amending RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.010; adding a new chapter 2
to Title 80 RCW; and creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature hereby finds and declares 5
that access to high-speed broadband is a necessity and essential to 6
participation in the economy, education, and civic life. Closing gaps 7
in broadband availability is a matter of deployment, affordability, 8
and ensuring networks are resilient, high quality, and facilitate 9
public safety. Because voice over internet protocol has replaced 10
traditional voice telephone service for a large segment of the 11
population, ensuring its reliability is in the public interest and 12
consistent with public safety goals. State regulators require 13
unambiguous authority and a clear mandate to establish and enforce 14
appropriate oversight and regulation of broadband and voice over 15
internet protocol in order to meet the state's goals of universal, 16
high quality, and affordable access.17
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply 18
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 19
otherwise.20
S-3907.1
SENATE BILL 6329
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Stanford and Hasegawa
Read first time 01/29/26. Referred to Committee on Environment,
Energy & Technology.
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(1) "Broadband service" means a mass market retail service that 1
provides the capability to transmit data from all or substantially 2
all internet endpoints, including any capabilities that are 3
incidental to and enable the operation of the communications service. 4
"Broadband service" does not include dial-up services.5
(2) "Internet service provider" means any person, business, or 6
organization qualified to do business in this state that provides 7
individuals, corporations, or other entities with the ability to 8
connect to the internet with a broadband service. 9
(3) "Jitter" means the variance in end-to-end delay of 10
information traveling on a network. Jitter is measured through the 11
difference between actual time of arrival and expected time of 12
arrival. 13
(4) "Latency" means the measure of time it takes in milliseconds, 14
defined as either one-way or round trip, for a packet to travel from 15
one point in a network to another. 16
(5) "Packet loss" is defined as the event where sent information 17
is not acknowledged by the receiver or it is received with a round 18
trip latency delay that is greater than three seconds.19
(6) "Voice over internet protocol" or "VoIP" means an 20
interconnected voice over internet protocol service that:21
(a) Enables real-time two-way voice communications;22
(b) Requires a broadband connection from the user's location;23
(c) Requires internet protocol compatible customer premises 24
equipment; and 25
(d) Permits users generally to receive calls that originate on 26
the public switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the 27
public switched telephone network. 28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The utilities and transportation 29
commission shall be authorized to exercise oversight in regard to 30
internet service providers that provide broadband and voice over 31
internet protocol services. The commission is authorized to exercise 32
oversight of internet service providers that is separate and distinct 33
from telecommunications companies.34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The utilities and transportation 35
commission shall make rules necessary to implement effective 36
oversight of the quality, reliability, and resiliency of broadband 37
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service and VoIP service. The rules must include, but are not limited 1
to: 2
(a) Resiliency and reliability of broadband infrastructure;3
(b) Reporting by internet service providers regarding network 4
reliability and outages; 5
(c) Requirements related to broadband services maintaining their 6
networks to ensure reliable, safe, and adequate services;7
(d) Regular assessments of the adequacy of the broadband service 8
provider's plans for emergency preparedness and postemergency network 9
restoration; 10
(e) Establishment of minimum power backup requirements for 11
broadband service providers; 12
(f) Establishment of minimum customer service standards that may 13
include: 14
(i) Standard operating hours for customer service centers and 15
alternative means of accessing customer support; 16
(ii) Criteria for maximum response times from customer support 17
representatives; 18
(iii) Access to in-person or mail customer service inquiries;19
(iv) Maximum allowable timelines for management of billing 20
inquiries; and 21
(v) Exemptions when the above requirements do not need to be met;22
(g) Establishment of minimum latency, jitter, packet loss, and 23
network delivery standards, as well as standard reporting procedures 24
for these metrics; and 25
(h) Minimum data collection and reporting requirements related to 26
the deployment and availability of services, including pricing and 27
adoption of VoIP and broadband services. 28
(2) Based on complaints received or data collected from service 29
providers, the utilities and transportation commission may conduct 30
evaluations and audits of a provider's facilities and infrastructure 31
used to provide broadband or VoIP services in order to evaluate 32
service quality, public safety, or network resiliency.33
(3) The utilities and transportation commission may order a 34
broadband service provider to undertake remedial actions if the 35
utilities and transportation commission finds that the practices, 36
facilities, or service of any broadband service provider are:37
(a) Unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper, or inadequate to 38
ensure network reliability, resiliency, and public safety; and39
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(b) Fail to meet the standards adopted by rule as required by 1
subsection (1) of this section. 2
(4) Beginning July 1, 2027, the utilities and transportation 3
commission shall report annually to the appropriate committees of the 4
legislature on progress toward achieving goals of resiliency, public 5
safety, and quality of broadband and VoIP services.6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Every internet service provider shall file 7
with the utilities and transportation commission and shall print and 8
keep open to public inspection schedules in such form as the 9
commission may prescribe, showing all rates and charges made, 10
established or enforced, or to be charged or enforced, all forms of 11
contract or agreement, all rules and regulations relating to rates, 12
charges or service, used or to be used, and all general privileges 13
and facilities granted or allowed by such internet service provider.14
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) Internet service providers are 15
required to complete service orders within five business days unless 16
one or more of the following circumstances exists:17
(a) Declaration of a state of emergency by the governor related 18
to disasters or electric grid outages; 19
(b) Natural catastrophes, with the exception of drought, that are 20
not declared as states of emergency; 21
(c) Active public safety power shutoffs; 22
(d) Third-party cable cuts; 23
(e) Incidents of cable theft or vandalism; 24
(f) Unplanned loss of commercial power that exceeds any 25
applicable state or federal backup power requirements;26
(g) Customer's request to change appointment; and27
(h) Lack of access to premises. 28
(2) All applicable exemptions must be substantiated by an 29
incident report, police report, customer service request report, or 30
other relevant information that documents allowable exemption events.31
(3) Internet service providers shall compile monthly reports 32
about service orders and submit that data to the utilities and 33
transportation commission. 34
(4) If a service order is not fulfilled within five business 35
days, the commission shall assess a base fine amount of $5 per day 36
beginning on the sixth day as an automatic customer credit. This 37
automatic customer credit is required to be reflected on the 38
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customer's bill within 60 days after the last day of the initial 1
billing period for the fulfilled service order. For unfulfilled 2
service orders, checks must be sent to the customer within 60 days 3
from the end of the calendar month. This automatic customer credit 4
fine mechanism will continue until service orders are fulfilled.5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) Internet service providers are 6
required to restore broadband outage tickets within 24 hours unless a 7
circumstance described in section 6(1) of this act is present.8
(2) For outage tickets that are not repaired within 24 hours, the 9
utilities and transportation commission shall assess an automatic 10
customer credit equal to 1/30th of the service's monthly bill for 11
each day that exceeds the 24-hour repair standard for each access 12
line. Applicable automatic customer credit must be reflected on the 13
customer's bill within 60 days after the last day of the billing 14
period during which the credit applies. 15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) Every internet service provider 16
subject to regulation by the utilities and transportation commission 17
shall, on or before the date specified by the commission for filing 18
annual reports under RCW 80.04.080, file with the commission a 19
statement on oath showing its gross operating revenue from intrastate 20
operations for the preceding calendar year or portion thereof and pay 21
to the commission a fee equal to one-tenth of one percent of the 22
first $50,000 of gross operating revenue, plus four-tenths of one 23
percent of any gross operating revenue in excess of $50,000. However, 24
the commission may, by rule, set minimum fees that do not exceed the 25
cost of collecting the fees. The commission may, by rule, waive any 26
or all of the minimum fee established pursuant to this subsection.27
(2) Any payment of the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this 28
section made after its due date shall include a late fee of two 29
percent of the amount due. Delinquent fees shall accrue interest at 30
the rate of one percent per month. 31
Sec. 9. RCW 80.01.040 and 2007 c 234 s 1 are each amended to 32
read as follows: 33
The utilities and transportation commission shall:34
(1) Exercise all the powers and perform all the duties prescribed 35
by this title and by Title 81 RCW, or by any other law.36
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(2) Regulate in the public interest, as provided by the public 1
service laws, all persons engaging in the transportation of persons 2
or property within this state for compensation. 3
(3) Regulate in the public interest, as provided by the public 4
service laws, the rates, services, facilities, and practices of all 5
persons engaging within this state in the business of supplying any 6
utility service , broadband service, or commodity to the public for 7
compensation. 8
(4) Make rules and regulations necessary to carry out its other 9
powers and duties. 10
Sec. 10. RCW 80.04.010 and 2025 c 263 s 1 are each amended to 11
read as follows: 12
The definitions in this section apply throughout this title 13
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 14
(1) "Automatic location identification" means a system by which 15
information about a caller's location, including the seven-digit 16
number or ((ten-digit)) 10-digit number used to place a 911 call or a 17
different seven-digit number or ((ten-digit)) 10-digit number to 18
which a return call can be made from the public switched network, is 19
forwarded to a public safety answering point for display.20
(2) "Automatic number identification" means a system that allows 21
for the automatic display of the seven-digit or ((ten-digit)) 10-22
digit number used to place a 911 call. 23
(3) "Battery charging facility" includes a "battery charging 24
station" and a "rapid charging station" as defined in RCW 82.08.816.25
(4) "Cogeneration facility" means any machinery, equipment, 26
structure, process, or property, or any part thereof, installed or 27
acquired for the primary purpose of the sequential generation of 28
electrical or mechanical power and useful heat from the same primary 29
energy source or fuel. 30
(5) "Commission" means the utilities and transportation 31
commission. 32
(6) "Commissioner" means one of the members of such commission.33
(7) "Competitive telecommunications company" means a 34
telecommunications company which has been classified as such by the 35
commission pursuant to RCW 80.36.320. 36
(8) "Competitive telecommunications service" means a service 37
((which)) that has been classified as such by the commission pursuant 38
to RCW 80.36.330. 39
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(9) "Corporation" includes a corporation, company, association or 1
joint stock association. 2
(10) "Department" means the department of health.3
(11) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures , and 4
personal property operated, owned, used , or to be used for or in 5
connection with or to facilitate the generation, transmission, 6
distribution, sale, or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or 7
power for hire; and any conduits, ducts , or other devices, materials, 8
apparatus, or property for containing, holding , or carrying 9
conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for 10
light, heat, or power. 11
(12)(a) "Electrical company" includes any corporation, company, 12
association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their 13
lessees, trustees , or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever 14
(other than a railroad or street railroad company generating 15
electricity solely for railroad or street railroad purposes or for 16
the use of its tenants and not for sale to others), and every city or 17
town owning, operating , or managing any electric plant for hire 18
within this state. An electrical company may own, operate, or manage 19
any thermal energy network within this state. 20
(b) "Electrical company" does not include a company or person 21
employing a cogeneration facility solely for the generation of 22
electricity for its own use or the use of its tenants or for sale to 23
an electrical company, state or local public agency, municipal 24
corporation, or quasi municipal corporation engaged in the sale or 25
distribution of electrical energy, but not for sale to others, unless 26
such company or person is otherwise an electrical company.27
(13) "Facilities" means lines, conduits, ducts, poles, wires, 28
cables, cross-arms, receivers, transmitters, instruments, machines, 29
appliances, instrumentalities and all devices, real estate, 30
easements, apparatus, property , and routes used, operated, owned , or 31
controlled by any telecommunications company to facilitate the 32
provision of telecommunications service. 33
(14) "Gas company" includes every corporation, company, 34
association, joint stock association, partnership , and person, their 35
lessees, trustees, or receiver appointed by any court whatsoever, and 36
every city or town, owning, controlling, operating , or managing any 37
gas plant within this state. A gas company may own, control, operate, 38
or manage any thermal energy network within this state.39
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(15) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures , and personal 1
property, owned, leased, controlled, used , or to be used for or in 2
connection with the transmission, distribution, sale , or furnishing 3
of natural gas, or the manufacture, transmission, distribution, sale , 4
or furnishing of other type gas, for light, heat, or power.5
(16) "LATA" means a local access transport area as defined by the 6
commission in conformance with applicable federal law.7
(17) "Local exchange company" means a telecommunications company 8
providing local exchange telecommunications service.9
(18) "Noncompetitive telecommunications service" means any 10
service ((which)) that has not been classified as competitive by the 11
commission. 12
(19) "Person" includes an individual, a firm, or partnership.13
(20) "Private shared telecommunications services" includes the 14
provision of telecommunications and information management services 15
and equipment within a user group located in discrete private 16
premises in building complexes, campuses, or high-rise buildings, by 17
a commercial shared services provider or by a user association, 18
through privately owned customer premises equipment and associated 19
data processing and information management services and includes the 20
provision of connections to the facilities of a local exchange and to 21
interexchange telecommunications companies. 22
(21) "Private switch automatic location identification service" 23
means a service that enables automatic location identification to be 24
provided to a public safety answering point for 911 calls originating 25
from station lines served by a private switch system.26
(22)(a) "Private telecommunications system" means a 27
telecommunications system controlled by a person or entity for the 28
sole and exclusive use of such person, entity, or affiliate thereof, 29
including the provision of private shared telecommunications services 30
by such person or entity. 31
(b) "Private telecommunications system" does not include a system 32
offered for hire, sale, or resale to the general public.33
(23) "Public service company" includes every gas company, 34
electrical company, telecommunications company, wastewater company, 35
and water company. Ownership or operation of a cogeneration facility 36
does not, by itself, make a company or person a public service 37
company. 38
(24) "Radio communications service company" includes every 39
corporation, company, association, joint stock association, 40
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partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers 1
appointed by any court, and every city or town making available 2
facilities to provide radio communications service, radio paging, or 3
cellular communications service for hire, sale, or resale.4
(25) "Service" is used in this title in its broadest and most 5
inclusive sense. 6
(26) "System of sewerage" means collection, treatment, and 7
disposal facilities and services for sewerage, or storm or surface 8
water runoff. 9
(27) "Telecommunications" is the transmission of information by 10
wire, radio, optical cable, electromagnetic, or other similar means. 11
As used in this definition, "information" means knowledge or 12
intelligence represented by any form of writing, signs, signals, 13
pictures, sounds, or any other symbols. Telecommunications does not 14
include broadband service as defined in section 2 of this act.15
(28)(a) "Telecommunications company" includes every corporation, 16
company, association, joint stock association, partnership , and 17
person, their lessees, trustees , or receivers appointed by any court 18
whatsoever, and every city or town owning, operating , or managing any 19
facilities used to provide telecommunications for hire, sale, or 20
resale to the general public within this state. 21
(b) "Telecommunications company" does not include internet 22
service providers that are subject to the laws and rules adopted 23
under sections 2 through 7 of this act.24
(29) "Thermal energy" means piped noncombustible fluids used for 25
transferring heat into and out of buildings for the purpose of 26
either: (a) Eliminating any resultant on-site greenhouse gas 27
emissions of all types of heating and cooling processes including, 28
but not limited to, comfort heating and cooling, domestic hot water, 29
and refrigeration; (b) improving energy efficiency; or (c) both (a) 30
and (b) of this subsection. 31
(30)(a) "Thermal energy company" means any private person, 32
company, association, partnership, joint venture, or corporation 33
engaged in or proposing to engage in thermal energy services, and may 34
additionally engage in developing and producing thermal energy.35
(b) A thermal energy company does not include any gas company, 36
electrical company, or public utility district that owns, controls, 37
operates, or manages a thermal energy network. 38
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(c) A thermal energy company does not include a homeowners' 1
association providing service to units solely within its own 2
buildings. 3
(d) A thermal energy company does not include a company that 4
develops, produces, or provides thermal energy independently from the 5
company involved in the thermal energy distribution system.6
(31) "Thermal energy network" means all real estate, fixtures, 7
and personal property operated, owned, used, or to be used for or in 8
connection with or to facilitate a utility-scale distribution 9
infrastructure project that supplies thermal energy. A thermal energy 10
network may not rely on combustion to create thermal energy, except 11
for emergency backup purposes. 12
(32) "Thermal energy services" means transmitting, distributing, 13
delivering, furnishing, or selling to or for the public thermal 14
energy from a thermal energy system for any beneficial use other than 15
electricity generation and includes such ancillary services as energy 16
audits, metering, billing, maintenance, and repairs related to 17
thermal energy. 18
(33) "Thermal energy system" means any system that provides 19
thermal energy for space heating, space cooling, or process uses from 20
a central plant, distributed plant, or combined heat and power 21
facility, and that distributes the thermal energy to two or more 22
buildings through a network of pipes. A thermal energy system 23
includes, but is not limited to, a thermal energy network.24
(34)(a) "Wastewater company" means a corporation, company, 25
association, joint stock association, partnership , and person, their 26
lessees, trustees, or receivers that owns or proposes to develop and 27
own a system of sewerage that is designed for a peak flow of 27,000 28
to 100,000 gallons per day if treatment is by a large on -site 29
sewerage system, or to serve ((one hundred)) 100 or more customers.30
(b) For purposes of commission jurisdiction, wastewater company 31
does not include: (i) Municipal, county, or other publicly owned 32
systems of sewerage; or (ii) wastewater company service to customers 33
outside of an urban growth area as defined in RCW 36.70A.030.34
(35)(a) "Water company" includes every corporation, company, 35
association, joint stock association, partnership , and person, their 36
lessees, trustees , or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, 37
and every city or town owning, controlling, operating, or managing 38
any water system for hire within this state. 39
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(b) For purposes of commission jurisdiction, "water company" does 1
not include any water system serving less than 100 customers where 2
the average annual gross revenue per customer does not exceed $300 3
per year, which revenue figure may be increased annually by the 4
commission by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW to reflect 5
the rate of inflation as determined by the implicit price deflator of 6
the United States department of commerce. The measurement of 7
customers or revenues must include all portions of water companies 8
having common ownership or control, regardless of location or 9
corporate designation. 10
(c) "Control" is defined by the commission by rule and does not 11
include management by a satellite agency as defined in chapter 12
70A.100 RCW if the satellite agency is not an owner of the water 13
company. 14
(d) "Water company" also includes, for auditing purposes only, 15
nonmunicipal water systems ((which)) that are referred to the 16
commission pursuant to an administrative order from the department, 17
or the city or county as provided in RCW 80.04.110.18
(e) Water companies exempt from commission regulation are subject 19
to the provisions of chapter 19.86 RCW. A water company cannot be 20
removed from regulation except with the approval of the commission. 21
Water companies subject to regulation may petition the commission for 22
removal from regulation if the number of customers falls below 100 or 23
the average annual revenue per customer falls below $300. The 24
commission is authorized to maintain continued regulation if it finds 25
that the public interest so requires. 26
(36) "Water system" includes all real estate, easements, 27
fixtures, personal property, dams, dikes, head gates, weirs, canals, 28
reservoirs, flumes , or other structures or appliances operated, 29
owned, used, or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate 30
the supply, storage, distribution, sale, furnishing, diversion, 31
carriage, apportionment , or measurement of water for power, 32
irrigation, reclamation, manufacturing, municipal, domestic , or other 33
beneficial uses for hire. 34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 8 of this act 35
constitute a new chapter in Title 80 RCW.36
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. This act may be known and cited as the 1
broadband resiliency, public safety, and quality act.2
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