An Act To 0 Ensure Regulatory Parity among Telecommunications Providers
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1466
Committee Amendment CA_A_H399 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,A " 
to H.P. 1075, L.D. 1466, Bill, "An Act To 
0 
Ensure Regulatory Parity among Telecommunications Providers" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'Resolve, To Direct the Public Utilities Commission To Develop a Plan To Reform 
Telecommunications Regulation' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and before the summary and 
inserting the following: 
'Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, in order to ensure the Public Utilities Commission has adequate time to 
develop a plan for reforming telecommunications regulation for consideration by the 
Legislature in the second regular session, it is necessary that this resolve take effect 
immediately; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, be it 
Sec. 1. 
Regulatory reform plan. 
Resolved: 
That the Public Utilities 
Commission, refened to in this resolve as "the commission," shall develop a plan to 
ref 01111 telecommunications regulation in the State in accordance with the following. 
1. The plan must be consistent with the following legislative findings: 
A. A plan for regulatory reform is needed because of the competition that exists in 
the telecommunications industry, which continues to grow and which the Legislature 
seeks to promote; 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~~COM:vHTTEE AMENDMEKT)\ "to H.P. 1075. LD. 1466 
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B. 
Regulatory burdens should be the minimum necessary to protect the public 
welfare and, to the maximum extent practicable, the regulatory burdens on different 
modes of providing telecommunications services should bc the same; 
C. Regulatory reform may not rcsult in any provider being required to submit to a net 
increase in regulatory burden. This does not prcclude reforms that establish options 
under which a provider may choose for its own benefit to take on new regulatory 
obligations, such as provider-of-last-resort obligations, or reforms that replace 
existing regulatory requirements with more appropriate requirements as long as no 
provider is required to submit to a net increasc in regulatory burden; and 
D. Regulatory refonn may not relieve any provider from complying with wholesale 
obligations under either state or federal law, including but not limited to those 
relating to access to network elements, interconnection, inter-carrier compensation, 
pole attachments, switched access and any other obligations established under the 
federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and must preserve any related 
rights of any provider under that Act. 
2. 
Tn developing the plan, the commission shall consider, at a 1111111mum, the 
following: 
A. The extent of existing and anticipated competition for residential and business 
serVIces; 
B. The characteristics of provider-of-last-resort service and the obligations and 
support mechanisms, if any, that should accompany provider-of.-last-resort service; 
C. The extent to which any telecommunications provider should be able to choose to 
be subject to particular regulatory provisions; 
D. The implications of federal support mechanisms, preemption of state regulation of 
certain services and other federal issues; 
E. 
The degree, if any, to which any services, including provider-of-last-resort 
services, should be subject to cost-of-service regulation; 
F. The need for a robust telecommunications infrastructure in the State; and 
G. The status of eligible telecommunications carriers. 
3. In developing the plan, the commission: 
A. ?hall seek input from interested pmiies but is not required to conduct an 
adjudicatOly proceeding; and 
B. Shall examine the current regulatOlY structme in accordance with the findings in 
subsection 1 and may not presume existing laws and rules are appropriately designed 
for the cunent competitive environment. 
4. The commission shall submit its plan to the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, 
Utilities and Technology by December 31, 2011. The plan must describe necessary 
changes to law, rules or procedures and any other necessary actions to implement the 
plan. To the maximum extent practicable, the commission shall establish target dates for 
implementation of the clements of the plan that are no later than 90 days after the 
adjoul11l11ent of the Second Regular Session of the 125th Legislature. The commission 
shall include with the plan a draft of any legislation necessary to implement the plan and, 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
CO,\1MITTEE A\lIEND.\1ENT" H " 
to H.P. 1075, LD. 1466 
consistent with the requirements of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, 
changes to fules necessary to implement the plan. 
The Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology may report out a 
bill to reform telecommunications regulation to the Second Regular Session of the 125th 
Legislature; and be it further 
Sec. 2. Action on filings. Resolved: That, consistent with the purposes of this 
resolve and the findings in section 1, the commission shall seek to process any filings 
submitted by telephone utilities for exemptions under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
35-A with as much deliberative speed as possible, within the constraints of existing 
resources; and be it further 
Sec. 3. Specific regulatory modifications. Resolved: That the following 
modifications to telecommunications regulation are made. Except as otherwise may be 
provided by superseding legislation implementing the plan developed under section 1, the 
provisions of this section apply between the effective date of this resolve and 90 days 
after the adjournment of the Second Regular Session of the 125th Legislature. 
For 
purposes of this section, "incumbent local exchange catTier" has the same meaning as in 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 9216, subsection 1, paragraph B. 
1. 
The commission may not enforce provisions of any order establishing an 
alternative fonn of regulation pursuant to Title 35-A, chapter 91 that prohibit an 
incumbent local exchange carrier from charging rates for nonresidential service that are 
below the long-nm incremental cost of providing that service or that establish some other 
minimum price requirement for services to nonresidential customers. 
2. 
The commission may not enforce provisions of any order establishing an 
altemative form of regulation pursuant to Title 35-A, chapter 91 that impose on an 
incumbent local exchange canier multiplier penalties for repeated failures to meet service 
quality index perfonnance standards with respect to any actions, inactions or other 
performance of that CalTIer occurring after July 31, 20 I O. 
Nothing in this subsection 
affects the authotity of the commission to impose base penalties for violations of service 
quality index perfonnance standards or to require continued payment of penalties that 
have been established for violations that occuned prior to August L 2010. 
The 
Legislature finds that the provisions of this subsection are appropriate because of 
extraordinarily compelling and unique circumstances, including but not limited to 
dramatic changes in the telecommunications market in recent years, the bankruptcy and 
subsequent emergence from bankruptcy of the largest telecommunications provider in the 
State and, as reflected in the findings in section L the need for regulatory refonn of the 
telecommunications industry. The commission shall include with the plan submitted 
under section 1, subsection 4 the service quality performance data required to be 
submitted to the commission by incumbent local exchange caniers affected by this 
subsection, together with any summary or analysis the commission may develop to assist 
the Legislature in reviewing whether this subsection has had any effect on service quality 
performance. 
3. The commission may not require any local exchange carrier to prepare or submit 
pursuant to section 3 of the commission's rulc Chaptcr 140: Utility Scrvice Area and 
Infrastructure Maps, or pursuant to any similar provision of any successor rule, 
infrastructure maps: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
of(~ 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 1075, L.D. 1466 
A. In a format different from or that contain a level of detail that is greater than the 
maps most recently submitted by that utility pursuant to that rule prior to the effective 
date of this resolve; or 
B. Depicting the infrastructure connecting interoffice facilities to remote terminals 
and digital loop carriers. 
4. The commission may not require any telecommunications carrier, pursuant to the 
commission's rule Chapter 200: Telecommunications Carrier Outage Reporting, to submit 
notices of unscheduled service outages or notices of restorations of service earlier than 7 
calendar days following the restoration of service. 
5. Notwithstanding Title 35-A, section 708, a reorganization of an incumbent local 
exchange carrier is not subject to commission approval unless the reorganization results 
in a merger, sale or transfer of a controlling interest of the incumbent local exchange 
carrier or any entity that owns more than 50% of the incumbent local exchange carrier. 
For purposes of this subsection, "controlling interest" has the same meaning as that term 
is 
used in the 
commission's rule 
Chapter 280: 
Provision of Competitive 
Telecommunications Services, Section 12(B). 
6. The commission may not enforce its rule Chapter 230: Installation, Maintenance 
and Ownership of Customer Premises Wire; and be it further 
Sec. 4. 
Rescinded or.der. 
Resolved: 
That, notwithstanding any contrary 
provision of law in effect on the effective date of this resolve, the commission may not 
regulate interconnected voice over Internet protocol service as a telephone service under 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A unless otherwise directed by law enacted after the 
effective date of this resolve and any commission order that is inconsistent with this 
prohibition is void. It is the intent of the Legislature in establishing this prohibition that 
interconnected voice over Internet protocol service be treated and providers of such 
service conduct themselves in accordance with those requirements and practices that 
existed prior to the issuance by the commission of its October 27, 2010 order, in docket 
number 2008-421, including but not limited to requirements or practices relating to the 
payment of fees, assessments or other charges, the filing of reports and any other 
regulatory or procedural matters. 
Notwithstanding any limitation that the findings in section 1, subsection 1, paragraph 
C might impose on the commission as a result of the regulatory effects of this section, the 
commission may, free of any such limitations, examine and develop recommendations 
regarding interconnected voice over Internet protocol service when developing its plan 
pursuant to section 1. 
Emergency clause. 
In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment replaces the bill with a resolve that directs the Public Utilities 
Commission to develop a plan to reform telecommunications regulation and to process 
any filings submitted by telephone utilities for exemptions under the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 35-A with as much deliberative speed as possible, within the constraints of 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 'A" to H.P. 1075, L.D. 1466 
existing resources. It also makes several discrete changes to the regulatory structure 
pending the opportunity to implement the plan for regulatory reform. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05/19/11 ;tvac=. 
LD 1466 
LR 2104(02) 
An Act To Ensure Regulatory Parity among Telecommunications Providers 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "~,, 
Committee: Energy, Utilities and Technology 
fiscal Note Required: Yes 
( 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Requiring the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop a plan to reform telecommunications regulation subject 
to the criteria set forth in this bill and to submit the plan to the joint standing committee of the Legislature with 
jurisdiction by December 31, 2011 will result in minor cost increases which the PUC can absorb within existing 
budgeted resources. 
LR2104(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1