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S. 210
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators McConnell, Rankin, Anderson, Moore, Holland, Fair, Martin, Leatherman, Peeler, Thomas, Hutto, Setzler, Ford, Ritchie, Mescher, Kuhn, Giese, J. Verne Smith, Ryberg, Hawkins and Verdin
Document Path: l:\council\bills\bbm\9380zw03.doc
Companion/Similar bill(s): 3344
Introduced in the Senate on January 16, 2003
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary
Summary: Telephones, broadband service defined; exempt from PSC regulation
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date Body Action Description with journal page number ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/16/2003 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-13 1/16/2003 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-13
View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
TO AMEND SECTION 58-9-10, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS PERTINENT TO THE REGULATION OF TELEPHONE COMPANIES, SO AS TO PROVIDE A DEFINITION FOR "BROADBAND SERVICE"; AND TO AMEND SECTION 58-9-280, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING A TELEPHONE COMPANY TO OBTAIN A CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY, SO AS TO EXEMPT BROADBAND SERVICE FROM REGULATION BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 58-9-10 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 354 of 1996, is further amended by adding an appropriately numbered item at the end:
"( ) The term 'broadband service' means any service that is used to provide access to the Internet and consists of or includes the offering of:
(a) a capability to transmit information at a rate that is generally not less than one hundred forty-four kilobits per second in at least one direction;
(b) any service that combines computer processing, information storage, protocol conversion, and wire routing with transmission to enable users to access Internet content and services; or
(c) any combination of services described in subitems (a) and (b) of this item."
SECTION 2. Section 58-9-280(G) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 354 of 1996, is amended to read:
"(G) Competition exists for a particular service if, for an identifiable class or group of customers in an exchange, group of exchanges, or other clearly defined geographical area, the service, its functional equivalent, or a substitute service is available from two or more providers. The commission shall not regulate broadband service as defined in Section 58-9-10. The commission shall not regulate any other a service for which competition exists if the market for that service is sufficiently competitive to protect the public interest. If the commission finds that competition exists for a particular service, but that service is not sufficiently competitive to protect the public interest, the commission shall provide appropriate regulatory and pricing flexibility to all providers of the service."
SECTION 3. Nothing in this act is intended to affect the Public Service Commission's jurisdiction with respect to any service other than broadband service.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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