MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2007 Regular Session
To: Public Utilities
By: Senator(s) White, Flowers
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-5-303 AND 19-5-313, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE VOICE OVER INTERNET PROTOCOL SERVICES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE SERVICES SUBJECT TO WIRELINE EMERGENCY E-911 CHARGES; TO ESTABLISH A PROCEDURE FOR SERVICE SUPPLIERS TO REPORT TO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DISTRICTS REGARDING SERVICES AND COLLECTIONS; TO PROVIDE A CIVIL PENALTY IN CASES WHERE SERVICE PROVIDERS FAIL TO MAKE REPORTS OR AUDITS REQUIRED BY LAW; TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-5-331 AND 19-5-333, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE PREPAID CELLULAR TELEPHONE SERVICE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICE BOARD AND TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO REQUIRE AUDITS OF CMRS SERVICE PROVIDERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 19-5-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-5-303. For purposes of Sections 19-5-301 through 19-5-317, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Exchange access facilities" shall mean all lines provided by the service supplier for the provision of local exchange service as defined in existing general subscriber services tariffs.
(b) "Tariff rate" shall mean the rate or rates billed by a service supplier as stated in the service supplier's tariffs and approved by the Public Service Commission, which represent the service supplier's recurring charges for exchange access facilities, exclusive of all taxes, fees, licenses or similar charges whatsoever.
(c) "District" shall mean any communications district created pursuant to Sections 19-5-301 et seq., or by local and private act of the State of Mississippi.
(d) "Service supplier" shall mean any person providing exchange telephone service or VoIP service to any service user throughout the county.
(e) "Service user" shall mean any person, not otherwise exempt from taxation, who is provided exchange telephone service or VoIP service in the county or state.
(f) "E911" shall mean Enhanced Universal Emergency Number Service or Enhanced 911 Service, which is a telephone exchange communications service whereby a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) designated by the county or local communications district may receive telephone calls dialed to the telephone number 911. E911 Service includes lines and equipment necessary for the answering, transferring and dispatching of public emergency telephone calls originated by persons within the serving area who dial 911. Enhanced 911 Service includes the displaying of the name, address and other pertinent caller information as may be supplied by the service supplier.
(g) "Basic 911" shall mean a telephone service terminated in designated Public Safety Answering Points accessible by the public through telephone calls dialed to the telephone number 911. Basic 911 is a voice service and does not display address or telephone number information.
(h) "Shared tenant services (STS)" shall mean any telephone service operation supplied by a party other than a regulated local exchange telephone service supplier for which a charge is levied. Such services shall include, but not be limited to, apartment building systems, hospital systems, office building systems and other systems where dial tone is derived from connection of tariffed telephone trunks or lines connected to a private branch exchange telephone system.
(i) "Private branch exchange (PBX)" shall mean any telephone service operation supplied by a party other than a regulated local exchange telephone service supplier for which a charge is not levied. Such services are those where tariffed telephone trunks or lines are terminated into a central switch which is used to supply dial tone to telephones operating within that system.
(j) "Off-premise extension" shall mean any telephone connected to a private branch exchange or a shared tenant service which is in a different building or location from the main switching equipment and, therefore, has a different physical address.
(k) "Centrex" or "ESSX" shall mean any variety of services offered in connection with any tariffed telephone service in which switching services and other dialing features are provided by the regulated local exchange telephone service supplier.
(l) "Commercial mobile radio service" or "CMRS" shall mean commercial mobile radio service under Sections 3(27) and 332(d) of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 USCS Section 151 et seq., and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66. The term includes the term "wireless" and service provided by any wireless real time two-way voice communication device, including radio-telephone communications used in cellular telephone service, personal communication service, or the functional 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 service whose customers do not have access to 911 or to a 911-like service, to a communication channel suitable only for data transmission, to a wireless roaming service or other nonlocal radio access line service, or to a private telecommunications system.
(m) "Telecommunicator" shall mean any person engaged in or employed as a telecommunications operator by any public safety, fire or emergency medical agency whose primary responsibility is the receipt or processing of calls for emergency services provided by public safety, fire or emergency medical agencies or the dispatching of emergency services provided by public safety, fire or emergency medical agencies and who receives or disseminates information relative to emergency assistance by telephone or radio.
(n) "Public safety answering point (PSAP)" shall mean any point of contact between the public and the emergency services such as a 911 answering point or, in the absence of 911 emergency telephone service, any other point of contact where emergency telephone calls are routinely answered and dispatched or transferred to another agency.
(o) "Local exchange telephone service" shall mean all lines provided by a service supplier as defined in existing general subscriber tariffs.
(p) "VoIP service" means interconnected voice over Internet protocol service as defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47, Part 9, Section 9.3, as amended.
SECTION 2. Section 19-5-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-5-313. (1) The board of supervisors may levy an emergency telephone service charge in an amount not to exceed One Dollar ($1.00) per residential telephone subscriber line per month and Two Dollars ($2.00) per commercial telephone subscriber line per month for exchange telephone service. Any emergency telephone service charge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed throughout the entirety of the district to the greatest extent possible in conformity with availability of such service in any area of the district. Those districts which exist on the date of enactment of Chapter 539, Laws of 1993, shall convert to the following structure for service charge levy: If the current charge is five percent (5%) of the basic tariff service rate, the new collection shall be Eighty Cents ($.80) per month per residential subscriber line and One Dollar and Sixty Cents ($1.60) per month per commercial subscriber line. The collections may be adjusted as outlined in Chapter 539, Laws of 1993, and within the limits set forth herein. The fees levied by authority of this subsection shall also be levied on subscribers to interconnected voice over Internet protocol services or VoIP service.
(2) If the proceeds generated by the emergency telephone service charge exceed the amount of monies necessary to fund the service, the board of supervisors may authorize such excess funds to be expended by the county and the municipalities in the counties to perform the duties and pay the costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets, as provided by Section 65-7-143. The board of supervisors shall determine how the funds are to be distributed in the county and among municipalities in the county for paying the costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets. The board of supervisors may temporarily reduce the service charge rate or temporarily suspend the service charge if the proceeds generated exceed the amount that is necessary to fund the service and/or to pay costs relating to identifying roads, highways and streets. Such excess funds may also be used in the development of county or district communications and paging systems when used primarily for the alerting and dispatching of public safety entities and for other administrative costs such as management personnel, maintenance personnel and related building and operational requirements. Such excess funds may be placed in a depreciation fund for emergency and obsolescence replacement of equipment necessary for the operation of the overall 911 emergency telephone and alerting systems.
(3) No such service charge shall be imposed upon more than twenty-five (25) exchange access facilities per person per location. Trunks or service lines used to supply service to CMRS providers shall not have a service charge levied against them. Every billed service user shall be liable for any service charge imposed under this section until it has been paid to the service supplier. The duty of the service supplier to collect any such service charge shall commence upon the date of its implementation, which shall be specified in the resolution for the installation of such service. Any such emergency telephone service charge shall be added to and may be stated separately in the billing by the service supplier to the service user.
(4) The service supplier shall have no obligation to take any legal action to enforce the collection of any emergency telephone service charge. However, the service supplier shall annually provide the board of supervisors and board of commissioners with a list of the amount uncollected, together with the names and addresses of those service users who carry a balance that can be determined by the service supplier to be nonpayment of such service charge. The service charge shall be collected at the same time as the tariff rate in accordance with the regular billing practice of the service supplier. Good faith compliance by the service supplier with this provision shall constitute a complete defense to any legal action or claim which may result from the service supplier's determination of nonpayment and/or the identification of service users in connection therewith.
(5) The amounts collected by the service supplier attributable to any emergency telephone service charge shall be due the county treasury monthly. The amount of service charge collected each month by the service supplier shall be remitted to the county no later than sixty (60) days after the close of the month. A return, in such form as the board of supervisors and the service supplier agree upon, shall be filed with the county, together with a remittance of the amount of service charge collected payable to the county. The service supplier shall maintain records of the amount of service charge collected for a period of at least two (2) years from date of collection. The board of supervisors and board of commissioners shall receive an annual audit of the service supplier's books and records with respect to the collection and remittance of the service charge. From the gross receipts to be remitted to the county, the service supplier shall be entitled to retain as an administrative fee, an amount equal to one percent (1%) thereof. From and after March 10, 1987, the service charge is a county fee and is not subject to any sales, use, franchise, income, excise or any other tax, fee or assessment and shall not be considered revenue of the service supplier for any purpose.
(6) In order to provide additional funding for the district, the board of commissioners may receive federal, state, county or municipal funds, as well as funds from private sources, and may expend such funds for the purposes of Section 19-5-301 et seq.
(7) (a) For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2007, and for the following fiscal year, the service supplier shall provide each emergency communications district with a sworn copy of an emergency telephone service charge billing history for the district detailing by month the number of residential and commercial customers; the amount billed in emergency telephone service charges; any adjustments, amounts uncollectible and administrative fees, as well as any other items related to the collection and remittance of emergency telephone service charges; and the net amount remitted to the district.
(b) For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2009, each service supplier shall provide to each emergency communications district an audit conducted by an independent certified public accounting firm of the service supplier's books and records with respect to the collection and remittance of the emergency telephone service charges.
(c) For fiscal years beginning October 1, 2010, each service supplier shall adhere to the following ongoing three-year cycle of reporting: sworn statements for two (2) years as described in paragraph (a) of this subsection followed by an independent audit as described in paragraph (b) of this subsection.
(8) In instances wherein a service supplier fails to provide an audit or sworn billing history as required in subsection (7) of this section, a county may make demand upon the service supplier by certified mail seeking delivery to the affected district of the required audit or sworn billing history. In the event that the service supplier fails to respond, the county may proceed in chancery court against the supplier for an injunction directing compliance with this subsection and a civil penalty of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) against any supplier who fails to provide the required reports. Any such penalty shall be paid to the emergency communications district of whose benefit the civil action was commenced. A county may seek assistance from the Attorney General or the District Attorney in seeking remedies provided herein.
SECTION 3. Section 19-5-331, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-5-331. As used in Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341, the following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) The terms "board" and "CMRS Board" mean the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telephone Services Board.
(b) The term "automatic number identification" or "ANI" means an Enhanced 911 Service capability that enables the automatic display of the ten-digit wireless telephone number used to place a 911 call and includes "pseudo-automatic number identification" or "pseudo-ANI," which means an Enhanced 911 Service capability that enables the automatic display of the number of the cell site and an identification of the CMRS provider.
(c) The term "commercial mobile radio service" or "CMRS" means commercial mobile radio service under Sections 3(27) and 332(d) of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 USCS Section 151 et seq., and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, Public Law 103-66. The term includes the term "wireless" and service provided by any wireless real time two-way voice communication device, including radio-telephone communications used in cellular telephone service, personal communication service, or the functional or competitive equivalent of a radio-telephone communications line used in cellular telephone service, a personal communication service, specialized mobile radio service, or a network radio access line. The term includes services that are prepaid as well as those billed periodically by a CMRS provider. The term does not include service whose customers do not have access to 911 or to a 911-like service, to a communication channel suitable only for data transmission, to a wireless roaming service or other nonlocal radio access line service, or to a private telecommunications system.
(d) The term "commercial mobile radio service provider" or "CMRS provider" means a person or entity who provides commercial mobile radio service or CMRS service.
(e) The term "CMRS connection" means each mobile handset telephone number assigned to a CMRS customer with a place of primary use in the State of Mississippi.
(f) The term "CMRS Fund" means the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Fund required to be established and maintained pursuant to Section 19-5-333.
(g) The term "CMRS service charge" means the CMRS emergency telephone service charge levied and maintained pursuant to Section 19-5-333 and collected pursuant to Section 19-5-335.
(h) The term "distribution formula" means the formula specified in Section 19-5-333(c) by which monies generated from the CMRS service charge are distributed on a percentage basis to emergency communications districts and to the CMRS Fund.
(i) The term "ECD" means an emergency communications district created pursuant to Section 19-5-301 et seq., or by local and private act of the State of Mississippi.
(j) The term "Enhanced 911," "E9ll," "Enhanced E911 system" or "E911 system" means an emergency telephone system that provides the caller with emergency 911 system service, that directs 911 calls to appropriate public safety answering points by selective routing based on the geographical location from which the call originated, and that provides the capability for automatic number identification and other features that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may require in the future.
(k) The term "exchange access facility" means an "exchange access facility" as defined by Section 19-5-303.
(l) The term "FCC Order" means Federal Communications Commission orders, rules and regulations issued with respect to implementation of Basic 911 or Enhanced 911 and other emergency communication services.
(m) The term "place of primary use" means the street address representative of where the customer's use of mobile telecommunications services primarily occurs, which must be either the residential street address or the primary business street address of the customer.
(n) The term "service supplier" means a "service supplier" as defined by Section 19-5-303.
(o) The term "technical proprietary information" means technology descriptions, technical information or trade secrets and the actual or developmental costs thereof which are developed, produced or received internally by a CMRS provider or by a CMRS provider's employees, directors, officers or agents.
SECTION 4. Section 19-5-333, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
19-5-333. (1) There is created a Commercial Mobile Radio Service (CMRS) Board, consisting of seven (7) members to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The members of the board shall be appointed as follows:
(a) One (1) member from the Northern Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the Mississippi 911 Coordinators Association;
(b) One (1) member from the Central Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the Mississippi Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communication Officers;
(c) One (1) member from the Southern Public Service Commission District selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the National Emergency Numbering Association;
(d) Two (2) members who are wireless provider representatives;
(e) One (1) member who is a consumer representing the state at large with no affiliation to the three (3) trade associations or the wireless providers; and
(f) One (1) member who is a member of the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Association selected from two (2) nominees submitted to the Governor by the association.
The initial terms of the board members, as appointed after July 1, 2002, shall be staggered as follows: the members appointed under paragraph (d) shall serve a term of two (2) years; the member appointed under paragraph (e)shall serve a term of one (1) year. After the expiration of the initial terms, the term for all members shall be four (4) years.
(2) The board shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To collect and distribute a CMRS emergency telephone service charge on each CMRS customer whose place of primary use is within the state. The rate of such CMRS service charge shall be One Dollar ($1.00) per month per CMRS connection. The CMRS service charge shall have uniform application and shall be imposed throughout the state. The board is authorized to receive all revenues derived from the CMRS service charge levied on CMRS connections in the state and collected pursuant to Section 19-5-335. The service charge provided in this paragraph shall also be imposed on customers who procure prepaid CMRS.
(b) To establish and maintain the CMRS Fund as an insured, interest-bearing account into which the board shall deposit all revenues derived from the CMRS service charge levied on CMRS connections in the state and collected pursuant to Section 19-5-335. The revenues which are deposited into the CMRS Fund shall not be monies or property of the state and shall not be subject to appropriation by the Legislature. Interest derived from the CMRS Fund shall be divided equally to pay reasonable costs incurred by providers in compliance with the requirements of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341 and to compensate those persons, parties or firms employed by the CMRS Board as contemplated in paragraph (d) of this subsection. The interest income is not subject to the two percent (2%) cap on administrative spending established in Section 19-5-335(3).
(c) To establish a distribution formula by which the board will make disbursements of the CMRS service charge in the following amounts and in the following manner:
(i) Out of the funds collected by the board, thirty percent (30%) shall be deposited into the CMRS Fund, and shall be used to defray the administrative expenses of the board in accordance with Section 19-5-335(3) and to pay the actual costs incurred by such CMRS providers in complying with the wireless E911 service requirements established by the FCC Order and any rules and regulations which are or may be adopted by the FCC pursuant to the FCC Order, including, but not limited to, costs and expenses incurred for designing, upgrading, purchasing, leasing, programming, installing, testing or maintaining all necessary data, hardware and software required in order to provide such service as well as the incremental costs of operating such service. Sworn invoices must be presented to the board in connection with any request for payment and approved by a majority vote of the board prior to any such disbursement, which approval shall not be withheld or delayed unreasonably. In no event shall any invoice for payment be approved for the payment of costs that are not related to compliance with the wireless E911 service requirements established by the FCC Order and any rules and regulations which are or may be adopted by the FCC pursuant to the FCC Order, and any rules and regulations which may be adopted by the FCC with respect to implementation of wireless E911 services.
(ii) The remainder of all funds collected by the board, which shall not be less than seventy percent (70%) of the total funds collected by the board, shall be distributed by the board monthly based on the number of CMRS connections in each ECD for use in providing wireless E911 service, including capital improvements, and in their normal operations. For purposes of distributing the funds to each ECD, every CMRS provider shall identify to the CMRS Board the ECD to which funds should be remitted based on zip code plus four (4) designation, as required by the federal Uniform Sourcing Act.
An ECD board that has within its jurisdiction zip code designations that do not adhere to county lines shall assist CMRS providers in determining the appropriate county to which funds should be distributed.
(d) To contract for the services of accountants, attorneys, consultants, engineers and any other persons, firms or parties the board deems necessary to effectuate the purposes of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341.
(e) To obtain from an independent, third-party auditor retained by the board annual reports to the board no later than sixty (60) days after the close of each fiscal year, which shall provide an accounting for all CMRS service charges deposited into the CMRS Fund during the preceding fiscal year and all disbursements to ECDs during the preceding fiscal year. The board shall provide a copy of the annual reports to the Chairmen of the Public Utilities Committees of the House of Representatives and Senate.
(f) To retain an independent, third-party accountant who shall audit CMRS providers at the discretion of the CMRS Board to verify the accuracy of each CMRS providers' service charge collection. The information obtained by the audits shall be used solely for the purpose of verifying that CMRS providers accurately are collecting and remitting the CMRS service charge and may be used for any legal action initiated by the board against CMRS providers.
(g) To levy interest charges at the legal rate of interest established in Section 75-17-1 on any amount due and outstanding from any CMRS provider who fails to remit service charges in accordance with Section 19-5-335(1).
(h) To promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to effect the provisions of Sections 19-5-331 through 19-5-341.
(i) To make the determinations and disbursements as provided by Section 19-5-333(2)(c).
(j) To maintain a registration database of all CMRS providers and to impose an administrative fine on any provider that fails to comply with the registration requirements in Section 19-5-335.
(3) The CMRS service charge provided in subsection (2)(a) of this section and the service charge provided in Section 19-5-357 to fund the training of public safety telecommunicators shall be the only charges assessed to CMRS customers relating to emergency telephone services.
(4) The board shall serve without compensation; however, members of the board shall be entitled to be reimbursed for actual expenses and travel costs associated with their service in an amount not to exceed the reimbursement authorized for state officers and employees in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(5) It is the Legislature's intent to ensure that the State of Mississippi shall be Phase I compliant by July 1, 2005. For purposes of this subsection, Phase I compliant means the mandate by the FCC that requires any carrier when responding to a PSAP to define and deliver data related to the cell site location and the caller's call-back number.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.