Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 150-6-6 - Standards of quality of service6.1. Basic telephone company obligations. a. The telephone company shall provide tele- communications service to the public in its service area in accordance with its rules and tariffs approved by and on file with the Commission.b. The telephone company shall employ prudent management and engineering practices, including the employment of reliable procedures for forecasting future demand for service, to the end that reasonable margins of facilities and adequate personnel are available to ensure that service will meet the standards of quality described herein.c. The telephone company has the obligation of continually reviewing its operations to assure the furnishing of service in accordance with the standards set forth herein. Studies shall be made and records maintained to the extent, and with the frequency necessary, to determine that sufficient and suitable equipment and an adequate operating force are provided.d. The telephone company shall maintain records of its operations in sufficient detail as is necessary to permit review of service quality, and such records shall be made available for inspection by the Commission, upon request, at any time within the period prescribed for retention of such records.e. Where a telephone company is generally operated in conjunction with any other enterprise, suitable records shall be maintained so that the results of the telephone operation may be determined upon reasonable notice and request by the Commission.f. Suitable practices shall be adopted by the telephone company to ensure that employees are courteous, considerate, and efficient in the handling of all calls, and comply with the provisions of all applicable Federal and State laws in maintaining secrecy of communications.g. Upon reasonable request the telephone company shall provide verification of busy lines.h. Subscriber loop requirements. 1. Where analog voice telecommunications service is provided to a subscriber, the local distribution circuit (loop) shall meet the following specifications when measurements are taken at the local exchange carrier's NID connecting point: A. Loop current: 20 m/A to a 400 ohm load.B. Circuit loss: (-)8.5 db or less.C. Circuit noise: 20 dbmC or less.D. Power influence: 80 db or less.E. Balance (power influence minus circuit noise): 60 db or more.2. Where digital telecommunications service is provided to a subscriber, the local exchange carrier shall meet or exceed the minimum data transmission speed for the specific digital telecommunications service provided to the subscriber. Each digital telecommunications service offering shall be set forth in the carrier's Commission-approved tariff. 6.2. Service standards. a. Request for new service. 1. The telephone company shall endeavor to satisfy requests for the installation of local exchange service within five (5) working days after receipt of application.2. Installation intervals beyond five (5) working days are appropriate in those instances where a later installation date is requested by the applicant, where special equipment or services are involved, where installation personnel are busy restoring services due to interruption caused by emergency situations, where materials cannot be obtained through no fault of the company, and during unusual periods caused by seasonal factors or work stoppage. Normally, the telephone company is expected to complete at least ninety percent (90%) of requests for service within five (5) working days when no special equipment or significant construction is involved.3. Whenever, for any reason, the service installation cannot be made on the day requested by the applicant or within the prescribed interval, the applicant shall be notified promptly of the delay, the reason therefore, and the approximate date when the installation will take place.4. When the request for new service requires an unusually large amount of construction, the customer may be required to pay a portion or all of the costs associated with the required construction. However, these charges are applicable only when the revenue to be received by the telephone company or the immediate prospect of securing sufficient additional revenue, or both, does not justify the necessary investment.5. When the construction for which the telephone company has made a cash construction charge is utilized by the telephone company for the purpose of serving additional customers or for supporting other telephone facilities, the telephone company shall refund a portion or all of the amount charged. Refund periods must be consistent with those used to justify the necessary investment. Specific regulations for construction charges and refunds, relating to construction on public and private right-of-way, shall be detailed in each telephone company's tariff.b. Meeting commitments. The telephone company shall make reasonable efforts to fill, by the promised date, all regular orders for service, or for changes in existing services, for which a commitment has been made. Recognizing the many practical factors, such as the need to employ installation personnel to restore service interruptions caused by emergency situations, unusual weather conditions or other acts of God, as well as the need to avoid excessive costs, the satisfactory level of performance shall be to meet at least ninety percent (90%) of such commitments. Where the promised date cannot be met, the telephone company shall make reasonable efforts to inform the customer of the delay and a new appointment shall be made within a reasonable time.c. Held orders. 1. During such periods of time as the telephone company may not be able to provide initial local exchange service to an applicant or modify, as requested, a customer's existing service within thirty (30) days after the date the applicant or customer requests initial service or service modification, the telephone company shall keep a record, by exchange, showing the name and address of each applicant or customer, the date of application, the desired date for service, the type of service or service modification applied for, and the reason for the inability to provide the new service or service modification.2. When, because of shortage of facilities, the telephone company is unable to provide local exchange service on dates requested by an applicant, first priority shall be given to furnishing those services which are essential to public health and safety. In cases of prolonged shortage or other emergency, the Commission may require establishment of a priority plan subject to its approval for clearing held orders, and may request periodic reports concerning the progress being made.3. Intervals in excess of thirty (30) days may be appropriate in those instances requiring significant outside plant construction work or installation of additional switching location equipment, or when the applicant or subscriber requests new service or a service modification to be provided more than thirty (30) days beyond the date of the application.4. Whenever, for any reason, a request for service cannot be filled within the prescribed interval or on a date requested by the customer which is beyond the prescribed interval, the subscriber or applicant shall be notified promptly of the delay, the reason therefore, and the approximate date when the order will be filled. 6.3. Operator service requirements. a. The telephone company shall provide operator assistance service twenty-four (24) hours a day for all customers it serves.b. Adequate personnel shall be provided at operator offices with the objective that at least eighty-five percent (85%) of requests for assistance will be answered within ten (10) seconds.c. When an operator is notified by a customer that the customer has reached a wrong number, been cut off, or experienced poor transmission, the customer shall be given appropriate credit when the claim has been substantiated.6.4. Local dial service requirements. a. Switching location capability and equipment shall be provided to meet the following requirements: 1. Dial tone, or the functional equivalent, within three (3) seconds on at least ninety-eight percent (98%) of calls during the average busy season -- busy hour period.2. Satisfactory transmission quality on at least ninety-nine percent (99%) of all calls as measured by sampling or test calling procedures.3. Satisfactory completion of at least ninety-nine percent (99%) of all calls as measured by sampling or test calling procedures.b. With the exception of numbers that are changed coincident with the issuance of a new Directory, intercept services, either operator or mechanical, shall be provided for each non-working and changed telephone number for no less than sixty (60) days, in the case of residential telecommunications service, and no less than one (1) year, in the case of business telecommunications service. 1. Such intercept service shall, insofar as feasible and appropriate, provide the caller with the replacement telephone number if one exists.2. In instances where provision of a replacement number is infeasible or inappropriate, the intercept service shall inform the caller that the called number is a non-working number.3. A telephone number shall not be reassigned until the required intercept service has terminated in accordance with this subdivision. 6.5. Maintenance requirements. a. The telephone company shall adopt and pursue a maintenance program aimed at preventing service interruptions so as to achieve adequately reliable and efficient operation of its system.b. Maintenance shall include keeping all plant and equipment in a good state of repair consistent with the design capabilities of the plant affected.c. The telephone company shall keep a record of each interruption affecting service to an entire exchange, or any other significant portion of the company's telecommunications network. This record shall show the date, time, duration, extent, cause, and resolution of the interruption. A report shall be made that details how the telephone company plans to prevent recurrence of the service interruption. These records and reports shall be made available to Commission Staff upon request.d. When interruptions occur, the telephone company shall reestablish service with the shortest feasible delay. In general, out-of-service troubles should be cleared within twenty-four (24) hours of the time such troubles are reported or otherwise noticed by the telephone company, except when such service interruptions are caused by emergency situations or acts of God affecting such numbers of customers as to make twenty-four (24) hour service restoration infeasible.e. Whenever service must be interrupted for the purpose of working on transmission facilities or their supporting apparatus or switching location equipment, such work shall be done at a time which will cause the least inconvenience to subscribers, and those who will be most seriously affected by such interruption shall, insofar as feasible, be adequately notified in advance. The telephone company shall also notify the appropriate 9-1-1 answering center of any planned service interruption that will affect, for one (1) hour or more, two hundred (200) or more access lines served by that 9-1-1 answering point.f. Repair service shall be available on weekends and holidays, as well as weekdays, for basic service reported to be out of order. 1. Arrangements shall be made to receive customer trouble reports twenty-four (24) hours daily and to clear trouble as soon as feasible and at all hours for customers who express a bona fide emergency need for service, if clearing such trouble is consistent with the personal safety of telephone company personnel. An emergency shall consist of an immediate threat or significant potential threat to the customer's health, or the health of anyone in the customer's household, or to the customer's property.2. The telephone company shall provide to customers the telephone number to call for repair service, and calls to repair service shall be available, without charge, for calls placed from the exchange in which trouble is experienced. When trouble is apparently located in the connecting company facilities, the trouble report shall be referred by the telephone company to the connecting company.3. The telephone company shall provide clearly and list in the Directory the telephone number to use to call the telephone company's business office, and calls to the business office shall be available, without charge, for calls placed from any exchange to the business office for that exchange.g. The telephone company shall maintain an accurate record of trouble reports made by its customers. This record shall include appropriate identification of the customer or service affected, the time, date and nature of the report, the action taken to dispose of the report or satisfy the complaint, and the date and time of trouble clearance or other disposition. This record shall be available to the Commission or its authorized representatives upon request during usual business hours within the period prescribed for retention of such records.h. The telephone company shall take all reasonable actions to notify a 9-1-1 answering point, or appropriate emergency services personnel, of any service outage that affects, for one (1) hour or more, two hundred (200) or more access lines served by that 9-1-1 answering point.6.6. Transmission requirements. Telephone companies shall furnish and maintain adequate plant, equipment and facilities to provide satisfactory transmission of communications between customers in their service areas. Transmission shall be at adequate volume levels and free of excessive distortion. Levels of noise and cross-talk shall be such as not to impair communications.
6.7. Miscellaneous service requirements. a. In each exchange, at least one (1) public telephone will be available to the public on a twenty-four (24) hour basis. This public telephone shall be located in a prominent location, provided with a printed Directory and lighted at night, if practicable.b. The failure of commercial electrical power service to a location with basic local service shall generally not cause the basic local service at the location to fail.