Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 165 - Corporation Commission › Chapter 56 - Resellers of Interexchange Telecommunications Services › Subchapter 1 - General Provisions › Section 165:56-1-4 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this Chapter,
				  shall have the following meaning unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Authorized carrier"
means any
				  telecommunications carrier that submits a change, on behalf of an end-user, in
				  the end-user's selection of a provider of telecommunications service with the
				  end-user's authorization verified in accordance with the procedures specified
				  in this Chapter.
"Billing agent"
means an entity which provides
				  bills to an end-user for services received from a reseller.
"CIC"
means carrier identification code which
				  identifies a provider of toll services by a three or four-digit number.
"Class of service"
means a description of
				  service furnished a customer in terms of grade of service, type of rate,
				  location, and use.
"Clear and conspicuous"
means notice that would
				  be apparent to the reasonable consumer.
"Commission"
means the Oklahoma Corporation
				  Commission.
"Competitive service"
means a telecommunications
				  service determined by the Commission to be subject to effective competition for
				  a relative geographic and service(s) market, after notice and hearing.
"Complaint"
means any oral or written report
				  given to a reseller by an end-user of a reseller's service and/or the
				  Commission's Consumer Services Division relating to dissatisfaction with the
				  provision of or the rate(s) charged for the reseller's service(s). Each
				  complaint shall count as a separate report regardless of whether subsequent
				  reports relate to the same situation giving rise to the dissatisfaction with
				  the provision of or the rate(s) charged for the reseller's regulated
				  services.
"Cramming"
means the placement of unauthorized,
				  misleading, or deceptive charges on a customer's telephone bill for products or
				  services that were never ordered by the customer.
"Customer"
means any person, firm, partnership,
				  cooperative corporation, corporation, or lawful entity that receives regulated
				  telecommunications services provided by an entity reselling intrastate
				  telecommunications services.
"Customer class"
means class of service provided
				  to a group of customers.
"Customer trouble report"
means any oral or
				  written report given to the reseller's repair service or contact person, and/or
				  the Commission's Consumer Services Division by a customer relating to a defect
				  or difficulty or dissatisfaction with the provision of the telecommunications
				  service provided by the reseller.
"Deniable charge"
means a charge for those
				  regulated services for which nonpayment may result in a disconnection of basic
				  local service.
"Disconnection of service"
means an arrangement
				  made by the end-user or reseller for permanently discontinuing service by
				  terminating the contract and/or removing the telephone service from the
				  end-user's premises.
"End-user"
means the customer to whom a
				  telephone number is assigned.
"Exchange"
means a geographic area established
				  by a telephone company and approved by the Commission for the administration of
				  local telephone service in a specified area which usually embraces a city,
				  town, or village and its environs. It may consist of one or more central
				  offices together with associated plant used in furnishing communication service
				  in that area.
"Executing carrier"
means any telecommunications
				  carrier that affects a request that an end-user's telecommunications carrier be
				  changed. A carrier may be treated as an executing carrier, however, if it is
				  responsible for any unreasonable delays in the execution of carrier changes or
				  for the execution of unauthorized carrier changes, including fraudulent
				  authorizations.
"FCC"
means the Federal Communications
				  Commission.
"IXC"
means interexchange carrier or
				  interexchange company which is a carrier or company authorized by the
				  Commission to provide long distance communications services, but not local
				  exchange services, within the State of Oklahoma borders.
"Initial Tariffs"
means the first tariffs
				  approved after, or in conjunction with, the granting of a Certificate of
				  Convenience and Necessity.
"LATA"
means Local Access and Transport Area as
				  defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 Part 53.3.
"LEC"
means a local exchange company which is
				  providing local exchange service.
"Letter of Agency" ("LOA")
means the written
				  authorization that gives permission to change the customer's telecommunications
				  services and/or the customer's provider or to share that customer's network
				  information with representatives or associates of the telecommunication
				  company.
"New service provider"
means a service provider
				  that did not bill the end-user for service during the service provider's last
				  billing cycle. This definition excludes service providers which bill the
				  customer solely on a per transaction basis.
"Non-deniable charge"
means a charge for those
				  non-regulated services for which nonpayment shall not result in a disconnection
				  of basic local service.
"Not-regulated service"
means the offering of
				  service(s) where the rates and/or terms and conditions for such service(s) are
				  not regulated by the Commission. These would include any services offered from
				  FCC tariffs such as interstate service offerings and any taxes, fees and
				  surcharges applicable to those services, as well as any intrastate services not
				  contained in tariffs approved by the Commission.
"Regulated telecommunications service"
means the
				  offering of telecommunications service(s) directly to the public where the
				  rates and/or terms and conditions for such service(s) are regulated by the
				  Commission. These would include services offered from intrastate tariffs
				  approved by the Commission and any taxes, fees and surcharges applicable to
				  those services, and interstate services when the Commission is enforcing the
				  FCC slamming rules.
"Reseller"
means any person, partnership,
				  cooperative corporation, corporation, or lawful entity that offers
				  interex-change telecommunications services to the public through the use of the
				  transmission facilities of other carriers or a combination of its own
				  facilities and the transmission facilities of other carriers for resale to the
				  public for profit. The term "reseller" as used in this Chapter shall not
				  include LECs or IXCs, which shall be regulated as provided for by
				  165:55.
"Rules of Practice"
means OAC 165:5.
"Service"
means the offering of
				  telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of
				  users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the
				  facilities used. Service shall not include the provision of non
				  telecommunications services, including but not limited to the printing,
				  distribution, or sale of advertising in telephone directories, maintenance of
				  inside wire, customer premises equipment and billing and collection, nor does
				  it include the provision of mobile telephone service, enhanced services and
				  other services which are not-regulated.
"Service provider"
means any entity that offers
				  a product or service to a customer, the charge for which appears on the bill of
				  the billing agent. This definition shall include only providers that have
				  continuing relationships with the end-user that will result in periodic charges
				  on the end-user's bill, unless the service is subsequently canceled.
"Slamming"
means the unauthorized switching of
				  an end-user's presubscribed IXC or reseller.
"Streamlined tariff revision(s)"
means
				  revision(s) proposed by a reseller which will become effective without notice
				  and hearing or order of the Commission, in the time frame established in OAC
				  165:56-5-5,
				  unless suspended.
"Submitting carrier"
means any
				  telecommunications carrier that requests on the behalf of an end-user that the
				  end-user's telecommunications carrier be changed and seeks to provide retail
				  services to the end user. A carrier may be treated as a submitting carrier,
				  however, if it is responsible for any unreasonable delays in the submission of
				  carrier change requests or for the submission of unauthorized carrier change
				  requests, including fraudulent authorizations.
"Suspension of service"
means an arrangement
				  made at the initiative of the reseller for temporarily discontinuing service
				  without terminating the contract or removing the telephone service from the
				  customer's premises.
"Telecommunications company"
or
"Telecommunications carrier"
means a reseller.
"Telecommunications service"
means service
				  provided by a reseller including voice, data, and all other types of
				  communications services, under the reseller's tariffs on file with the Public
				  Utility Division of the Commission.
"Telephone bill"
means a billing agent's
				  invoice, issued in compliance with this Chapter, for products or services
				  rendered by itself and by a service provider(s), if any.
"Terms of Service"
means rates, charges and
				  terms and conditions for regulated services that a reseller elects to post, in
				  a searchable format, on a publicly available website.
"Territory"
means the reseller's area of
				  operation which may include the entire State of Oklahoma or some specified
				  portion thereof.
"Unauthorized carrier"
means any
				  telecommunications carrier that submits a change, on behalf of an end-user, in
				  the end-user's selection of a provider of telecommunications service but fails
				  to obtain the end-user's authorization verified in accordance with the
				  procedures specified in this Chapter.
"Unauthorized change"
means a change in an
				  end-user's selection of a provider of telecommunications service that was made
				  without authorization verified in accordance with the verification procedures
				  specified in this Chapter.
"Underlying carrier(s)"
means the provider of
				  facilities utilized by a reseller in the provisioning of its interexchange
				  service to its customers.
Added at 12 Ok Reg 2147,
				  eff 7-1-95; Amended at 14 Ok Reg 2855, eff 7-15-97; Amended at 15 Ok Reg 3075,
				  eff 7-15-98; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2290, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 18 Ok Reg 2437,
				  eff 7-1-01