220 ILCS 5/13-502.5
2021 Illinois Compiled Statutes|Chapter 220 - UTILITIES|220 ILCS 5/ - Public Utilities Act.|Article XIII - Telecommunications

(Section scheduled to be repealed on December 31, 2026)Sec. 13-502.5. Services alleged to be improperly classified.(a) Any action or proceeding pending before the Commission upon the  effective date of this amendatory Act of  the 92nd General Assembly in which it  is alleged that a telecommunications carrier has improperly classified services  as competitive, other than a case pertaining to Section 13-506.1,  shall be abated and shall not be maintained or continued.(b) All retail telecommunications services provided to business end users by  any telecommunications carrier subject, as of May 1, 2001, to alternative  regulation  under an alternative regulation plan pursuant to Section 13-506.1 of this Act  shall be  classified as competitive as of the effective date of this amendatory Act of  the 92nd  General Assembly without further Commission review. Rates for retail  telecommunications services provided to business end users with 4 or fewer  access lines  shall not exceed the rates the carrier charged for those services on May 1,  2001. This  restriction upon the rates of retail telecommunications services provided to business end  users shall remain in force and effect through July 1, 2005; provided, however, that  nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit reduction of those rates. Rates for  retail telecommunications services provided to business end users with 5 or  more access  lines shall not be subject to the restrictions set forth in this subsection.(c) All retail vertical services, as defined herein, that are provided by a  telecommunications carrier subject, as of May 1, 2001, to alternative  regulation under an  alternative regulation plan pursuant to Section 13-506.1 of this Act shall be  classified as  competitive as of June 1, 2003 without further Commission review. Retail  vertical  services shall include, for purposes of this Section, services available on a  subscriber's  telephone line that the subscriber pays for on a periodic or per use basis, but  shall not  include caller identification and call waiting.(d) Any action or proceeding before the Commission upon the effective date  of this amendatory Act of the 92nd General Assembly, in which it is alleged  that a telecommunications carrier has improperly classified services as  competitive, other than a case pertaining to Section 13-506.1, shall be abated  and the services the classification of which is at issue  shall  be deemed  either competitive or noncompetitive as set forth in this Section. Any  telecommunications carrier subject to an action or proceeding in which it is  alleged that the telecommunications carrier has improperly classified services  as competitive shall be deemed liable to refund, and shall refund, the sum of  $90,000,000 to that class or those classes of its customers that were alleged  to have paid rates in excess of noncompetitive rates as the result of the  alleged improper classification. The telecommunications carrier shall make  the refund no later than 120 days after the effective date of this amendatory  Act of the 92nd General Assembly.(e) Any telecommunications carrier subject to an action or proceeding in  which  it is alleged that the telecommunications carrier has improperly classified  services as competitive shall also pay the sum of $15,000,000 to the Digital  Divide Elimination Fund established pursuant to Section 5-20 of the Eliminate  the Digital Divide Law, and shall further pay the sum of $15,000,000 to the  Digital Divide Elimination Infrastructure Fund established pursuant to Section  13-301.3 of this Act. The telecommunications carrier shall make each of these  payments  in 3 installments of $5,000,000, payable on July 1 of 2002, 2003, and 2004.  The  telecommunications carrier shall have no further  accounting for these payments, which shall be used for the purposes established  in the Eliminate the Digital Divide Law.(f) All other services shall be classified pursuant to Section 13-502 of  this  Act.  (Source: P.A. 100-20, eff. 7-1-17.)