Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4901:1 - Utilities › Chapter 4901:1-6 - Retail Telecommunication Services › Section 4901:1-6-12 - Service requirements for BLES

Current through all regulations
			 passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) A local exchange carrier (LEC) providing
			 basic local exchange service (BLES) shall conduct its operations so as to
			 ensure that the service is available, adequate, and reliable consistent with
			 sections
			 4927.07,
			 4927.10 and
			 4927.11 of the Revised
			 Code.
(B) The fact
			 that a LEC providing BLES fails to comply with any provision(s) within this
			 chapter, or with other applicable federal or state telecommunications law, does
			 not by itself constitute inadequate service as a matter of law. Rather, the
			 question as to whether BLES is legally inadequate requires a formal
			 determination by the commission, preceded by a hearing pursuant to section
			 4927.21 of the Revised Code
			 unless the hearing is waived by the complainant and the respondent.
(C) A LEC shall provide BLES pursuant to the
			 following standards:
(1) BLES shall be
			 installed within five business days of the receipt by a telephone company of a
			 completed application for new access line service, unless the customer requests
			 or agrees to a later date.
(2) The
			 requirement to install BLES in paragraph (C)(1) of this rule is not applicable
			 where any of the following exist:
(a) A
			 customer or applicant has not met pertinent tariff requirements.
(b) The need for special equipment or
			 service.
(c) Military action, war,
			 insurrection, riot, or strike.
(d)
			 The customer misses an installation appointment.
(3) A LEC shall make reasonable efforts to
			 repair a BLES outage within twenty-four hours, excluding Sundays and legal
			 holidays, after the outage is reported to the telephone company.
(4) A BLES service outage or
			 service-affecting problem shall be repaired within seventy-two hours after it
			 is reported to the telephone company.
(5) If a BLES outage is reported to the
			 telephone company and lasts more than seventy-two hours, the LEC shall credit
			 every affected BLES customer, of which the LEC is aware, in the amount of one
			 month's charges for BLES.
(6) The
			 customer credit in paragraph (C)(5) of this rule is not applicable if the
			 condition or failure to repair occurs as a result of any of the following:
(a) A customer's negligent or willful
			 act.
(b) Malfunction of
			 customer-owned telephone equipment or inside wire.
(c) Military action, war, insurrection, riot,
			 or strike.
(d) Customer missing a
			 repair appointment.
(7)
			 No LEC shall establish a due date for payment earlier than fourteen consecutive
			 days after the date the bill is postmarked for a bill for BLES provided to
			 customers. The postmark date may appear on the bill rather than on the
			 envelope, as long as the postmark date is never earlier than the date the bill
			 actually enters the mail.
(8) A LEC
			 may disconnect BLES for nonpayment of any amount past due on a billed account
			 not earlier than fourteen days after the due date of the customer's bill,
			 provided that the customer is given notice of the disconnection seven days
			 before the disconnection.
(9) Such
			 notice of disconnection may be included on the customer's next bill, provided
			 the bill is postmarked at least seven days prior to the date of disconnection
			 of service reflected on the bill, and provided that the disconnection language
			 is clearly highlighted such that it stands apart from the customer's regular
			 bill language. The notice shall identify the total dollar amount that must be
			 paid to maintain BLES, the earliest date disconnection may occur, and the
			 following statement:
"If you have a complaint in regard to this disconnection notice
				that cannot be resolved after you have called (name of the utility), or for
				general utility information, residential and business customers may contact the
				public utilities commission of Ohio (PUCO) for assistance at 1-800-686-7826
				(toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays, or at
http://www.puco.ohio.gov
. Hearing
				or speech impaired customers may contact the PUCO via 7-1-1 (Ohio relay
				service)."
For residential disconnection notices, the text shall also
				include:
"The Ohio consumers' counsel (OCC) represents residential
				utility customers in matters before the PUCO. The OCC can be contacted at
				1-877-742-5622 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays, or at
http://www.pickocc.org
."
(10) A LEC may require a deposit,
			 not to exceed two hundred thirty percent of a reasonable estimate of one
			 month's service charges, for the installation of BLES for any person that it
			 determines, in its discretion, is not creditworthy.
(11) A LEC shall, unless prevented from doing
			 so by circumstances beyond the telephone company's control or unless the
			 customer requests otherwise, reconnect a customer whose basic local exchange
			 service was disconnected for nonpayment of past due charges not later than one
			 business day after the day the earlier of the following occurs:
(a) The receipt by the LEC of the full amount
			 of past due charges.
(b) The
			 receipt by the LEC of the first payment under a mutually agreed upon payment
			 arrangement.