II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1897

To require accurate billing by telecommunications carriers with respect to

the costs and fees resulting from the enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 1, 1998

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, and Mr. KERREY) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To require accurate billing by telecommunications carriers

with respect to the costs and fees resulting from the

enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings:

6 (1) Billing practices by telecommunications car7 riers may not reflect accurately the cost or basis of

8 the additional telecommunications services and bene-
2

•S 1897 IS

1 fits that consumers receive as a result of the enact2 ment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public

3 Law 104–104) and other Federal regulatory actions

4 taken since the enactment of that Act.

5 (2) Congress has never enacted a law with the

6 intent of permitting providers of telecommunications

7 services to misrepresent to customers the costs of

8 providing services or the services provided.

9 (3) Certain providers of telecommunications

10 services have established new, specific charges on

11 customer bills commonly known as ‘‘line-item

12 charges’’.

13 (4) Certain providers of telecommunications

14 services have described such charges as ‘‘Federal

15 Universal Service Fees’’ or similar fees.

16 (5) Such charges have generated significant

17 confusion among customers regarding the nature of

18 and scope of universal service and of the fees associ19 ated with universal service.

20 (6) The State of New York is considering ac21 tion to protect consumers by requiring telecommuni22 cations carriers to disclose fully in the bills of all

23 classes of customers the fee increases and fee reduc24 tions resulting from the enactment of the Tele-
3

•S 1897 IS

1 communications Act of 1996 and other regulatory

2 actions taken since the enactment of that Act.

3 (7) The National Association of Regulatory

4 Utility Commissioners adopted a resolution in Feb5 ruary 1998 supporting action by the Federal Com6 munications Commission to require interstate car7 riers to provide accurate customer notice regarding

8 the implementation and purpose of end user charges.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to re10 quire the Federal Communications Commission and the

11 Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers of tele12 communications services by assuring accurate cost report13 ing and billing practices by telecommunications carriers

14 nationwide.

15 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS CAR16 RIERS BILLING PRACTICES.

17 (a) INVESTIGATION.—

18 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The Federal Communica19 tions Commission and the Federal Trade Commis20 sion shall jointly conduct an investigation of the bill21 ing practices of telecommunications carriers.

22 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the investiga23 tion is to determine whether the bills sent by car24 riers to their customers accurately assess and cor25 rectly characterize any additional fees paid by such
4

•S 1897 IS

1 customers for telecommunications services as a re2 sult of the enactment of the Telecommunications Act

3 of 1996 (Public Law 104–104) and other Federal

4 regulatory actions taken since the enactment of that

5 Act.

6 (b) DETERMINATIONS.—In carrying out the inves7 tigation under subsection (a), the Federal Communica8 tions Commission and the Federal Trade Commission

9 shall determine the following:

10 (1) The amount, if any, of additional fees im11 posed by telecommunications carriers on their cus12 tomers as a result of the requirements of the Tele13 communications Act of 1996 (including the amend14 ments made by that Act) and other Federal regu15 latory actions taken since the enactment of that Act

16 during the period beginning on June 30, 1997, and

17 ending on the date of enactment of that Act.

18 (2) In the event that additional fees described

19 in paragraph (1) are being imposed, the following:

20 (A) Whether the amount of such fees accu21 rately reflect—

22 (i) the additional costs to carriers as

23 a result of the enactment of that Act (in24 cluding the amendments made by that Act)
5

•S 1897 IS

1 and other Federal regulatory actions taken

2 since the enactment of that Act; and

3 (ii) any reductions in costs, or other

4 financial benefits, to carriers as a result of

5 the enactment of that Act (including such

6 amendments) and other Federal regulatory

7 actions taken since the enactment of that

8 Act.

9 (B) Whether the bills that impose such

10 fees characterize correctly the nature and basis

11 of such fees.

12 (c) REVIEW OF RECORDS.—

13 (1) AUTHORITY.—For purposes of the inves14 tigation under subsection (a), the Federal Commu15 nications Commission and the Federal Trade Com16 mission may obtain from any telecommunications

17 carrier any record of the carrier that is relevant to

18 the investigation.

19 (2) USE.—The Federal Communications Com20 mission and the Federal Trade Commission may use

21 records obtained under this subsection only for pur22 poses of the investigation.

23 (d) DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that the Fed25 eral Communications Commission or the Federal
6

•S 1897 IS

1 Trade Commission determine as a result of the in2 vestigation under subsection (a) that the bills sent

3 by a telecommunications carrier to its customers

4 does not accurately assess or correctly characterize

5 any fee addressed in the investigation, the Federal

6 Communications Commission or the Federal Trade

7 Commission, as the case may be, shall take such ac8 tions against the carrier as such Commission is au9 thorized to take under law.

10 (2) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS.—If the Federal

11 Communications Commission or the Federal Trade

12 Commission determines that such Commission does

13 not have adequate authority under law to take ap14 propriate actions under paragraph (1), the Federal

15 Communications Commission and the Federal Trade

16 Commission shall notify Congress of that determina17 tion in the report under subsection (e).

18 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days after the date

19 of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications

20 Commission and the Federal Trade Commission shall

21 jointly submit to Congress a report on the results of the

22 investigation under subsection (a). The report shall in23 clude the determination, if any, of either Commission

24 under subsection (d)(2) and any recommendations for fur-
7

•S 1897 IS

1 ther legislative action that the Commissions consider ap2 propriate.

3 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS

4 CARRIERS IMPOSING CERTAIN FEES FOR

5 SERVICES.

6 (a) REQUIREMENTS.—Any telecommunications car7 rier that includes on any of the bills sent to its customers

8 a charge described in subsection (b) shall—

9 (1) specify in the bill imposing such charge any

10 reduction in charges or fees allocable to all classes

11 of customers (including customers of residential

12 basic service, customers of other residential services,

13 small business customers, and other business cus14 tomers) by reason of any regulatory action of the

15 Federal Government; and

16 (2) submit to the Federal Communications

17 Commission the reports required to be submitted by

18 the carrier to the Securities and Exchange Commis19 sion under sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities

20 and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m(a),

21 78o(d)).

22 (b) COVERED CHARGES.—Subsection (a) applies in

23 the case of the following charges:
8

•S 1897 IS

1 (1) Any specific charge included after June 30,

2 1997, if the imposition of the charge is attributed to

3 a regulatory action of the Federal Government.

4 (2) Any specific charge included before that

5 date if the description of the charge is changed after

6 that date to attribute the imposition of the charge

7 to a regulatory action of the Federal Government.

Æ