BILL NUMBER: AB 2307	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Price

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2008

   An act to amend Section 2889.5 of the Public Utilities Code,
relating to telephone service.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2307, as introduced, Price. Telephone services: change in
telephone service provider.
   Existing law prohibits a telephone corporation, or any person,
firm, or corporation representing a telephone corporation, from
changing a subscriber's telephone service provider without specified
verification, including for residential service, independent
3rd-party verification meeting specified requirements, and
notification by the United States Postal Service.
   This bill would instead require telephone corporations to offer
customers the option of verifying the subscriber's decision to change
the residential telephone service provider by independent 3rd-party
verification and notification by United States mail.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 2889.5 of the Public Utilities Code is amended
to read:
   2889.5.  (a) No telephone corporation, or any person, firm, or
corporation representing a telephone corporation, shall make any
change or authorize a different telephone corporation to make any
change in the provider of any telephone service for which competition
has been authorized of a telephone subscriber until all of the
following steps have been completed:
   (1) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents shall
thoroughly inform the subscriber of the nature and extent of the
service being offered.
   (2) The telephone corporation, its representatives or agents shall
specifically establish whether the subscriber intends to make any
change in his or her telephone service provider, and explain any
charges associated with that change.
   (3) For sales of residential service, the  subscriber's
  subscriber shall be offered verification of the
subscriber's  decision to change his or her telephone service
provider  shall be confirmed  by an independent
third-party verification company. For purposes of this provision, the
confirmation by a third-party verification company shall be made as
follows:
   (A) The third-party verification company shall meet each of the
following criteria:
   (i) Be independent from the telephone corporation that seeks to
provide the subscriber's new service.
   (ii) Not be directly or indirectly managed, controlled, or
directed, or owned wholly or in part, by the telephone corporation
that seeks to provide the new service or by any corporation, firm, or
person who directly or indirectly manages, controls, or directs, or
owns more than 5 percent of the telephone corporation.
   (iii) Operate from facilities physically separate from those of
the telephone corporation that seeks to provide the subscriber's new
service.
   (iv) Not derive commissions or compensation based upon the number
of sales confirmed.
   (B) The telephone corporation seeking to verify the sale shall do
so by connecting the subscriber by telephone to the third-party
verification company or by arranging for the third-party verification
company to call the subscriber to confirm the sale.
   (C) The third-party verification company shall obtain the
subscriber's oral confirmation regarding the change, and shall record
that confirmation by obtaining appropriate verification data. The
record shall be available to the subscriber upon request. Information
obtained from the subscriber through confirmation shall not be used
for marketing purposes. Any unauthorized release of this information
is grounds for a civil suit by the aggrieved subscriber against the
telephone corporation or its employees who are responsible for the
violation.
   (D) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), a service
provider shall not be required to comply with these provisions when
the customer directly calls the local service provider to make
changes in service providers. However, a service provider shall not
avoid the verification requirements by asking a subscribing customer
to contact a local exchange service provider directly to make any
change in the service provider. A local exchange service provider
shall be required to comply with these verification requirements for
its own competitive services. However, a local exchange service
provider shall not be required to perform any verification
requirements for any changes solicited by another telephone
corporation.
   (4) For sales of residential service  to which 
 if the customer requests verification, pursuant to 
paragraph (3)  applies  , the telephone corporation
seeking to verify the change in service, in addition to the
requirements of paragraph (3), shall notify the subscriber by United
States Postal Service that the subscriber's telephone service
provider has been changed. The service provider that initiated the
change shall send that notice within 14 days of the date of the
change. The notice shall provide the subscriber with clear, legible
notice of the change in service provider, and shall include a
customer service telephone number for the subscriber to call if the
subscriber did not authorize the change in service. 
   (5) If the customer does not request verification pursuant to
paragraphs (3) and (4), confirmation shall be given pursuant to
Section 1120 of Part 64 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.  
   (5) 
    (6)    For sales of all nonresidential
services, the subscriber's decision to change his or her service
provider shall be confirmed through any of the following means:
   (A) Independent third-party verification, as set forth in
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
   (B) The telephone corporation shall mail to the subscriber an
information package seeking confirmation of his or her change in the
telephone corporation. The information package shall describe the new
service and shall include a postage prepaid postcard or mailer that
the subscriber can use to deny, cancel, or confirm a service order,
as soon as possible, and wait 14 days after the information package
is mailed before making the change in the telephone corporation. The
telephone corporation shall make the change only if the subscriber
does not cancel the change in service order.
   (C) Verify the subscriber's change in his or her telephone service
provider by obtaining the subscriber's signature on a document fully
explaining the nature and extent of the action. The document shall
be a separate document whose sole purpose is to explain the nature
and extent of the action.
   (D) Obtain the subscriber's authorization through an electronic
means that takes the information, including the calling number, and
confirms the change to which the subscriber has given his or her
consent. 
   (6) 
    (7)    Where the telephone corporation obtains
a written order for service, the document shall thoroughly inform the
subscriber of the nature and extent of the action. The subscriber
shall be furnished with a copy of the signed document. The subscriber
by his or her signature on the document shall indicate a full
understanding of the relationship being established with the
telephone corporation.  When   If  a
written subscriber solicitation or other document contains a letter
of agency authorizing a change in service provider, in combination
with other information including, but not limited to, inducements to
subscribers to purchase service, the solicitation shall include a
separate document whose sole purpose is to explain the nature and
extent of the action. If any part of a mailing to a prospective
subscriber is in language other than English, any written
authorization contained in the mailing shall be sent to the same
prospective subscriber in the same language. 
   (7) 
    (8)    The telephone corporation shall retain a
record of the verification of the sale for at least one year. These
records shall be made available to the subscriber, the Attorney
General, or the commission upon request.
   (b) If a residential or business subscriber that has not signed an
authorization notifies the telephone corporation within 90 days that
he or she does not wish to change telephone corporations, the
subscriber shall be switched back to his or her former telephone
corporation at the expense of the telephone corporation that
initiated the change.
   (c) For purposes of this section, competitive services are those
services where subscribers have the ability to presubscribe to a
telephone service provider.
   (d) When a subscriber changes telephone service providers, the
change shall be conspicuously noticed on the subscriber's bill.
Notice in the following form is deemed to comply with this
subdivision:
"NOTICE: Your local (or long distance) telephone service provider
has been changed from (name of prior provider) to (name of current
provider).
Cost of change: $ ____."

   (e) Any telephone corporation that violates the verification
procedures described in this section shall be liable to the telephone
corporation previously selected by the subscriber in an amount equal
to all charges paid by the subscriber after the violation.
   (f) In addition to the liability described in subdivision (e), any
telephone corporation that violates the verification procedures
described in this section shall credit to a subscriber any charges
paid by the subscriber in excess of the amount that the subscriber
would have been obligated to pay had the subscriber's telephone
service not been changed. The commission shall adopt regulations to
govern credits to subscribers pursuant to this subdivision.
   (g) The remedies provided by this section are in addition to any
other remedies available by law.
   (h) As described in federal law, no telephone corporation, or any
person, firm, or corporation representing a telephone corporation,
shall make any change or authorize a different telephone corporation
to make any change in the provider of any telephone service for which
competition has been authorized of a telephone subscriber without
having on file, or having instituted reasonable steps designed to
obtain, signed, dated orders for service from the subscriber. All
orders shall be in the form prescribed in federal law for letters of
agency. As described in federal law, the telephone corporation is
responsible for charges associated with disputed changes in telephone
service for which it cannot produce a signed, dated order for
service from the subscriber. This subdivision applies to all
intrastate services for which competition has been authorized.