Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Article 21, Chapter 9, Title 58 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 58-9-2515. Nothing in this article expands, diminishes, or otherwise affects any existing jurisdiction of the commission over any local exchange provider, prepaid wireless provider, CMRS provider, or VoIP provider; or any services provided by any such provider."
SECTION 2. Article 21, Chapter 9, Title 58 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 58-9-2535.
(A) A local exchange provider must
collect the dual party relay charge established in Section
58-9-2530(A) on each local exchange access facility. For bills
rendered on or after the effective date of this act, for any
individual local exchange access facility that is capable of
simultaneously carrying multiple voice and data transmissions, a
subscriber must be billed a number of dual party relay charges
equal to:
(1)
the number of outward voice transmission paths activated
on such a facility in cases where the number of activated
outward voice transmission paths can be modified by the
subscriber only with the assistance of the service supplier; or
(2)
five, where the number of activated outward voice
transmission paths can be modified by the subscriber without the
assistance of the service supplier. The total number of dual
party relay charges is subject to a maximum of fifty such
charges per account.
(a)
A billed subscriber must be liable for any dual party
relay charge imposed under this subsection until it has been
paid to the local exchange provider. A local exchange provider
has no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the
collection of the dual party relay charges for which a
subscriber is billed.
(b)
Local exchange providers that collect dual party relay
charges are entitled to retain two percent of the gross dual
party relay charges remitted to the Office of Regulatory Staff
as an administrative fee. Within forty-five days of the end of
the month during which such charges were collected, each local
exchange provider shall file with the Office of Regulatory
Staff, a return showing the total amount of dual party relay
charges collected for the month and, at the same time, shall
remit to the Office of Regulatory Staff the charges collected
for that month less the administrative fee.
(c)
Dual party relay charges imposed under this subsection
must be added to the billing by the local exchange provider to
its subscriber and may be stated separately.
(B) A CMRS provider
must collect the dual party relay charge established in Section
58-9-2530(A) for each CMRS connection for which there is a
mobile identification number containing an area code assigned to
South Carolina by the North American Numbering Plan
Administrator; however, trunks or service lines used to supply
service to CMRS providers must not be subject to a dual party
relay charge. Prepaid wireless telecommunications service is
subject to subsection (D) and not to this subsection.
(1)
A billed subscriber must be liable for any dual party
relay charge imposed under this subsection until it has been
paid to the CMRS provider. A CMRS provider has no obligation to
take any legal action to enforce the collection of the dual
party relay charges for which a subscriber is billed.
(2)
CMRS providers that collect dual party relay charges are
entitled to retain two percent of the gross dual party relay
charges remitted to the department as an administrative fee. On
or before the twentieth day of the second month succeeding each
monthly collection of the dual party relay charges, every CMRS
provider shall file with the department a return under oath, in
a form prescribed by the department, showing the total amount of
charges collected for the month and, at the same time, shall
remit to the department the fees collected for that month. The
department shall transfer all charges remitted to it to the
operating fund.
(3)
Dual party relay charges imposed under this subsection
must be added to the billing by the CMRS provider to its
subscriber and may be stated separately.
(C) A VoIP provider
must collect the dual party relay charge established in Section
58-9-2530(A) on each VoIP service line. This dual party relay
charge must be sourced at the service address in the case of
fixed VoIP service, or in the same manner as CMRS is sourced
pursuant to the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, Public
Law 106-252, codified at 4 U.S.C. Sections 116 through 126.
(1)
A billed subscriber must be liable for any dual party
relay charge imposed under this subsection until it has been
paid to the VoIP provider. A VoIP provider has no obligation to
take any legal action to enforce the collection of the dual
party relay charges for which a subscriber is billed. For bills
rendered on or after the effective date of this act, for any
VoIP service line that is capable of simultaneously carrying
multiple voice and data transmissions, a VoIP subscriber must be
billed a number of dual party relay charges equal to:
(a)
the number of outward voice transmission paths activated
on such a VoIP service line in cases where the number of
activated outward voice transmission paths can be modified by
the subscriber only with the assistance of the VoIP provider; or
(b)
five, where the number of activated outward voice
transmission paths can be modified by the subscriber without the
assistance of the VoIP provider. The total number of dual party
relay charges is subject to a maximum of fifty such charges per
account.
(2)
VoIP providers that collect dual party relay charges are
entitled to retain two percent of the gross dual party relay
charges remitted to the department as an administrative fee.
Within forty-five days of the end of the month during which such
charges were collected, each VoIP provider shall file with the
department a return under oath, in a form prescribed by the
department, showing the total amount of dual party relay charges
collected for the month and, at the same time, shall remit to
the department the charges collected for that month less the
administrative fee. The department shall transfer all charges
remitted to it to the operating fund.
(3)
Dual party relay charges imposed under this subsection
must be added to the billing by the VoIP provider to its
subscriber and may be stated separately.
(D) A prepaid wireless
seller must collect the dual party relay charge established in
Section 58-9-2530(A) from a prepaid wireless consumer with
respect to each prepaid wireless retail transaction occurring in
this State. The amount of the dual party relay charge either
must be separately stated on an invoice, receipt, or other
similar document that is provided to the prepaid wireless
consumer by the prepaid wireless seller; or otherwise disclosed
to the prepaid wireless consumer.
(1)
For the purposes of this subsection, a prepaid wireless
retail transaction must be sourced as provided in Section
12-36-910(B)(5)(b).
(2)
The dual party relay charge is the liability of the
prepaid wireless consumer and not the prepaid wireless seller or
of any prepaid wireless provider. However, the prepaid wireless
seller is liable to remit to the department all dual party relay
charges that the prepaid wireless seller collects from prepaid
wireless consumers as provided in this subsection.
(3)
A prepaid wireless seller is entitled to retain three
percent of the gross dual party relay charges remitted to the
department as an administrative fee. A prepaid wireless seller
must remit the remainder of the dual party relay charges
collected to the department on a monthly, quarterly, or annual
basis. The department shall transfer all charges remitted to it
to the operating fund.
(4)
The audit and appeal procedures applicable pursuant to
Chapter 36, Title 12 shall apply to the dual party relay
charge.
(5)
The department shall establish procedures by which a
prepaid wireless seller may document that a sale is not a
prepaid wireless retail transaction, which procedures shall
substantially coincide with the procedures for documenting sale
for resale transactions pursuant to Section 12-36-950.
(E) If a billed
subscriber purchases a service that is both a CMRS service and a
VoIP service, and there is a single active mobile telephone
number or successor dialing protocol associated with the
service, then only the CMRS dual party relay charges that are
subject to subsection (B) shall apply to the service. Similarly,
if an exchange access facility is also a VoIP service line, then
only the dual party relay charges that are subject to subsection
(A) shall apply to the service.
(F) For services for
which a bill is rendered prior to the effective date of this
act, no subscriber or consumer is liable to any person or entity
for a different dual party relay charge than the consumer or
subscriber has been billed, and no local exchange provider, CMRS
provider, VoIP provider, prepaid wireless provider, or prepaid
wireless seller is liable to any person or entity for billing,
collecting, or remitting a different dual party relay charge
than is required by this article, or both.
(G) Neither the State,
any political subdivision of the State, nor an intergovernmental
agency may require any service provider to impose, collect, or
remit a tax, fee, surcharge, or other charge for dual party
relay funding purposes other than the dual party relay charges
set forth in this article."
SECTION 3. Section 58-9-2510 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 318 of 2006, is further amended to read:
"Section 58-9-2510.
As used in this article:
(1)
'CMRS connection' means each mobile number
assigned to a CMRS customer.
(2)
'Commercial Mobile Radio Service' (CMRS) means
commercial mobile radio service under Sections 3(27) and 332(d),
Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. Section 151,
et seq., Federal Communications Commission Rules, and the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. The term includes
any wireless two-way communication device, including
radio-telephone communications used in cellular telephone
service, personal communication service, or the functional
and/or competitive equivalent of a radio-telephone
communications line used in cellular telephone service, a
personal communication service, or a network radio access line.
The term does not include services that do not provide access to
911 service, a communication channel suitable only for data
transmission, a wireless roaming service or other nonlocal radio
access line service, or a private telecommunications
system.
(13)
'Commission' means the Public Service
Commission.
(24)
'Deaf person' means an individual who
is unable to hear and understand oral communication, with or
without the assistance of amplification devices.
(5)
'Department' means the Department of
Revenue.
(36)
'Dual party relay system' or
'DPR' means a procedure in which a deaf, hearing, or speech
impaired TDD user can communicate with an intermediary party,
who then orally relays the first party's message or request to a
third party, or a procedure in which a party who is not deaf or
hearing or speech impaired can communicate with an intermediary
party who then relays the message or request to a TDD user.
(3.57)
'Dual sensory impaired person' means an individual
who is deaf/blind or has both a permanent hearing impairment and
a permanent visual impairment.
(8)
'Exchange access facility' means the access from
a particular telephone subscriber's premises to the telephone
system of a service supplier. Exchange access facilities
include service supplier provided access lines, PBX trunks, and
Centrex network access registers, all as defined by the South
Carolina Public Service Commission. Exchange access facilities
do not include service supplier owned and operated telephone pay
station lines, or wide area telecommunications service (wats),
foreign exchange (fx), or incoming lines.
(49)
'Hard of hearing person' means
an individual who has suffered a permanent hearing loss which is
severe enough to necessitate the use of amplification devices to
hear oral communication.
(510)
'Hearing impaired person' means a person who is deaf or
hard of hearing.
(11)
'Local exchange provider' means a local exchange
telephone company operating in this State.
(612)
'Operating fund' means the Dual Party Relay Service
Operating Fund which is a specific fund to be created by the
commission and established, invested, managed, and maintained
for the exclusive purpose of implementing the provisions of this
chapter according to commission regulations.
(13)
'Prepaid wireless consumer' means a person or
entity that purchases prepaid wireless telecommunications
service in a prepaid wireless retail transaction.
(14)
'Prepaid wireless provider' means a person or
entity that provides prepaid wireless telecommunications service
pursuant to a license issued by the Federal Communications
Commission.
(15)
'Prepaid wireless retail transaction' means the
purchase of prepaid wireless telecommunications service from a
prepaid wireless seller for any purpose other than resale.
(16)
Prepaid wireless seller' means a person or
entity that sells prepaid wireless telecommunications service to
another person or entity for any purpose other than resale.
(17)
'Prepaid wireless telecommunications service'
means any commercial mobile radio service that allows a caller
to dial 911 to access the 911 system, which service must be paid
for in advance and is sold in units or dollars which decline
with use in a known amount.
(7)
'Regulatory staff' means the executive director or
the executive director and the employees of the Office of
Regulatory Staff. (
818)
'Speech impaired person' means an individual
who has suffered a loss of oral communication ability which
prohibits normal use of a standard telephone handset.
(19)
'Subscriber' means any person, company,
corporation, business, association, or party not exempt from
county or municipal taxes or utility franchise assessments who
is provided telephone (local exchange access facility) service
or CMRS service or VoIP service.
(920)
'Telecommunications device' or 'telecommunications
device for the deaf, hearing, or speech impaired' or 'TDD' or
'TTY' means a keyboard mechanism attached to or in place of a
standard telephone by some coupling device used to transmit or
receive signals through telephone lines.
(21)
'Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service'
means interconnected VoIP service as that term is defined in 47
C.F.R. Section 9.3 as may be amended.
(22)
'Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider'
means a person or entity that provides VoIP service.
(23)
'Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscriber'
means a person or entity that purchases VoIP service from a VoIP
provider. (24)
'Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP) service line' means a VoIP service that offers an active
telephone number or successor dialing protocol assigned by a
VoIP service provider to a customer that has outbound calling
capability."
SECTION 4. Section 58-9-2530(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 318 of 2006, is further amended to read:
"(A) The
commission may require all local exchange telephone
companies each local exchange provider, CMRS
provider, and VoIP provider operating in this State to
impose a monthly dual party relay charge not to exceed
twenty-five ten cents on all
residential and business local exchange access
facilities, and each prepaid wireless seller to
impose a dual party relay charge of the same amount on each
wireless retail transaction, as necessary to fund the
establishment and operation of a dual party relay system and a
distribution system of TTY's and other related
telecommunications devices in this State. The amount of the
dual party relay charge must be determined by the
commission based upon the amount of funding necessary to
accomplish the purposes of this article and provide dual party
telephone relay services on a continuous basis, and the
amount of the charge must be uniform among all local exchange
providers, CMRS providers, VoIP providers, and prepaid wireless
sellers. If assessed, the local exchange companies
shall collect the charge from their customers and transfer
the All dual party relay charge monies collected
and remitted to the department in accordance with Section
58-9-2535 must be transferred to the operating fund, which
must be administered by the Office of Regulatory Staff. The
dual party relay charge collected and remitted by
the local exchange companies in accordance with this
article is not subject to any tax, fee, or assessment, nor
may it be considered revenue of the a
local exchange companies provider, CMRS
provider, VoIP provider, prepaid wireless provider, or prepaid
wireless seller. The commission may provide for the funding
of the dual party relay system through contributions from other
sources. The fund must be established, invested, and managed
for the exclusive purpose of implementing the provisions of this
article according to regulations promulgated by the
commission."
SECTION 5. Section 58-9-2540 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect January 1, 2015. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.