2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-SEVEN - Public Service (§§ 1 — 2641) › PART II - Communications (§§ 265 — 539) › Chapter 19 - Puerto Rico Telecommunications Act of 1996 (§§ 265 — 272) › Subchapter I - General Provisions (§§ 265 — 265a) › § 265a - Definitions

(a) Local exchange carrier.— Shall mean any person engaged in rendering the local telecommunications exchange service or exchange access. This term does not include persons who render commercial mobile radio services under § 332(c) of the Federal Communications Act, except to the extent that the Federal Communications Commission determines that said service should be included within that term.
(b) Incumbent local exchange service carriers.— Shall mean the Puerto Rico Telephone Company, while there is no effective competition in the market.
(c) Intrastate long distance service carrier.— Shall mean any person engaged in rendering long distance intrastate services.
(d) Commercial mobile radio service carrier.— Shall mean any person engaged in rendering commercial mobile radio services as defined by the Federal Communications Act.
(e) Competitive access service carrier.— Shall mean any person engaged in rendering exchange access services in competition with the local exchange service carrier.
(f) Exchange access.— Shall mean the offering of access to telecommunications services or facilities in order to originate or terminate long distance telephone services.
(g) Affiliate.— Shall mean a person who, directly or indirectly possesses or controls, is possessed or controlled by, or is jointly possessed or controlled with, another person. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “possess” shall mean having proprietary interest or its equivalent, of more than ten percent (10%).
(h) Bill and keep.— Shall mean the mutual billing and accounting system which two telecommunications companies with interconnected networks shall charge each other, resulting in a rate of zero dollars ($0) for terminating traffic in both directions.
(i) Cable company.— Shall mean any person who possesses, controls operates, or manages any plant, equipment, and facilities used to receive, amplify, modify, and distribute through coaxial cable, fiber optics, metal, or any other kind of cable, the signal originated by one or more television stations, programming services transmitted by wires, wireless, satellite, or any other medium. The signals that can be projected in cinematography halls or that are received free of cost via satellite and that are not broadcast outside of the place where they are received are hereby excluded from this definition. Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) companies shall be excluded from this definition.
(j) Telecommunications company.— Shall mean any person who, whether partially or totally, directly or indirectly, possesses, controls, administers, operates, manages, supplies, or resells, any telecommunications service in Puerto Rico, including services of access to the network; Provided, That those cable companies which render telecommunications services shall be deemed to be telecommunications companies for the purposes of this chapter.
(k) Eligible telecommunications company.— Shall mean a telecommunications company which the Board designates to provide universal service in a specific geographical area.
(l) Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) companies.— Licensed entities that operate satellites in the Ku-band fixed satellite service under Part 100 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America; or any distributor providing a sufficient number of channels (as specified in FCC Regulations) using a fixed satellite system in the Ku-band to offer video programming directly to consumers in Puerto Rico, who is licensed under Part 25 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations and has administrative and customer service offices or departments in and/or outside Puerto Rico.
(m) Reciprocal compensation.— Shall mean that flow of compensation between the networks interconnected by the traffic originating in the network of the telecommunications company which originates the call and vice versa.
(n) Symmetrical compensation.— Shall mean that the amount of traffic units compensation is equal in both directions between telecommunications companies whose networks are interconnected.
(o) Effective competition.— Shall mean that situation by which no telecommunications company has control of the market. Regarding cable service, the phrase “effective competition” shall have the same meaning as that indicated in the Federal Cable Television Act.
(p) Market control.— Shall mean the capacity of one person to exert control over the prices, terms or availability of goods or services, or the availability or functionality of substitutes in the market, pertinent to said goods and services.
(q) Imposition of provider (Slamming).— Shall mean to subscribe a person to the services of a telecommunications company without the person’s authorization.
(r) Imposition of an additional surcharge (Cramming).— Shall mean charging a person for telecommunications services that were not expressly requested, authorized or contracted by the person.
(s) Board.— Shall mean the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Puerto Rico.
(t) Federal Communications Act.— Shall mean the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended, which includes, in its totality, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
(u) Federal Cable Television Act.— Shall mean the “Cable Act of 1984”, as amended by the “Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992”, and the “Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996”.
(v) Parity in dialing.— Shall mean the capacity of a person not affiliated to a local exchange service carrier, to provide telecommunications services so that his/her subscribers shall be enabled to automatically send, without having to use any access code whatsoever, his/her telecommunications to the telecommunications company of his/her choice, between two (2) or more telecommunications companies, including the local exchange service carrier.
(w) Registry.— Shall mean the telephone list that the Regulatory Board shall create of the persons who are not interested in receiving telephonic promotions.
(x) Person.— Shall mean any person, whether natural or juridical, including, but without it being a limitation, any individual, corporation, partnership, association, trust, agency, public instrumentality or corporation, cooperative, cooperative association, special employee-owned corporations, or any combination of these, created, organized or existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States of America, of any state of the Union, of any foreign state or country.
(y) Number portability.— Shall mean the capacity of the users of a telecommunications service to retain, at the same location, his/her existing telecommunications numbers, without impairing their quality, trustworthiness or convenience, when he/she changes from one telecommunications company to another.
(z) Competitive service.— Shall mean a telecommunications service where no single person exerts market control.
(aa) Intrastate long distance service.— Shall mean service provided exclusively within Puerto Rico other than a local service and for which the client must pay a fee apart from the fees imposed by the local service.
(bb) Telecommunications service.— Shall mean the offer of telecommunications directly to the public through payment, or to such classes of subscribers who actually make the service available directly to the public, regardless of the installations or means used. No part of this subsection shall be interpreted to include transmission services through radio, television cable service, including the multichannel multipoint distribution service or common television antennas.
(cc) Intrastate telecommunications service.— Shall mean the provision of telecommunications services originating and terminating in Puerto Rico.
(dd) Local telecommunications service.— Shall mean a telecommunications service rendered within a local area.
(ee) Noncompetitive service.— Shall mean a telecommunications service where market control is exerted.
(ff) Long distance telephone service.— Shall mean non-local telecommunications service.
(gg) Universal service.— Shall mean an evolving level of basic telecommunications services in Puerto Rico, as established by the Board from time to time, pursuant to the Federal Communications Act.
(hh) Easements.— Shall mean for the purposes of this chapter, any post, channel, conduit, or easement which is owned or controlled by a cable telecommunications and/or television company.
(ii) Emergency Alert System.— Shall mean the manner or means used by the President of the United States of America and other authorized officers to immediately communicate or warn the public of any national or local emergency situations under the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996.
(jj) Telecommunications.— Shall mean the transmission of information selected by the subscriber, between points specified by the subscriber, without changing the format or content of the information sent and received.
(kk) Damages and losses.— Shall exclusively mean the economic damages suffered by the consumer that directly arise from noncompliance with this chapter, the regulations approved by the Board and/or the service contract between the consumer and the telecommunications or television cable company.
(ll) User.— Shall mean a natural or juridical person that is not a telecommunications or television cable company certified by the Board that receives telecommunications or television cable services.
(mm) Internet Access Centers.— Municipal service centers where information, assistance, and help are available for anyone who requires the use of information and communication technologies to access the Internet free of charge and on equal conditions.
History —Sept. 12, 1996, No. 213, § I-3; Sept. 2, 1999, No. 302, § 1; Sept. 2, 1999, No. 303, § 1; Aug. 26, 2005, No. 101, § 3; Nov. 4, 2005, No. 138, § 2; May 16, 2006, No. 94, § 1; July 28, 2010, No. 101, § 2; Feb. 18, 2011, No. 11, § 1.