H 4286 General Bill, By Vaughn, Anderson, Askins, Cato, Cobb-Hunter, Davenport, 
Easterday, Fair, Harvin, Haskins, R.J. Herdklotz, M.F. Jaskwhich, Jennings, 
Kirsh, Knotts, Mason, McMahand, Rice, Tripp, Walker, Wilkins and Young-Brickell
 A Bill to amend Sections 23-47-10, 23-47-20, and 23-47-50, Code of Laws of
 South Carolina, 1976, relating to definitions used in the Public Safety
 Communications Center Law (E-911), minimum requirements for E-911 systems,
 surcharges to support each system, so as to provide that wire and nonwire
 telephone subscribers are equally subject to surcharges necessary to support
 the 911 system.

   05/31/95  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-108
   05/31/95  House  Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry HJ-109
   04/16/96  House  Tabled in committee Labor, Commerce and Industry

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-47-10, 23-47-20, AND 23-47-50, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS USED IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER LAW (E-911), MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR E-911 SYSTEMS, SURCHARGES TO SUPPORT EACH SYSTEM, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT WIRE AND NONWIRE TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS ARE EQUALLY SUBJECT TO SURCHARGES NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THE 911 SYSTEM.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 23-47-10(11) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(11) `Exchange wire and nonwire access facility' means the access from a particular telephone subscriber's premises device to the telephone system of a service supplier. Exchange wire and nonwire 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, and the access from an individual service subscriber's telephone device to the to the service supplier. Exchange wire and nonwire 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."

SECTION 2. Section 23-47-10(17) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(17) `Service supplier' means a person, company, or corporation, public or private, providing local exchange telephone service, and subject to regulation by the South Carolina Public Service Commission including nonwire service suppliers."

SECTION 3. Section 23-47-10(19) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(19) `Telephone subscriber' or `subscriber' means a person or entity to whom exchange telephone service, either residential or commercial, including nonwire subscribers, is provided and in return for which the person or entity is billed on a monthly basis. When the same person, business, or organization has several telephone access lines, each exchange wire and nonwire access facility constitutes a separate subscription."

SECTION 4. Section 23-47-20(C)(14) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(14) capabilities to have cellular phones nonwire devices routed to 911;"

SECTION 5. The last paragraph of Section 23-47-50(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"Start-up includes a combination of recurring and nonrecurring costs and up to a maximum of fifty local exchange lines an account. No single account may be charged for more than fifty local exchange wire and nonwire access facilities. All 911 charges for nonwire telephone subscribers must be collected by the local governments based upon the billed address for that nonwire subscriber."

SECTION 6. Section 23-47-50(B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 245 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(B) Every local telephone subscriber, including every individual nonwire, served by the 911 system is liable for the 911 charge imposed. A service supplier has no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of the 911 charges for which a subscriber is billed. However, a collection action may be initiated by the local government that imposed the charges. Reasonable costs and attorney's fees associated with that collection action may be awarded to the local government collecting the 911 charges."

SECTION 7. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.