386.020. Definitions. - Missouri Statutes

Definitions.

386.020. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrasesmean:

(1) "Alternative local exchange telecommunications company", a localexchange telecommunications company certified by the commission to providebasic or nonbasic local telecommunications service or switched exchangeaccess service, or any combination of such services, in a specificgeographic area subsequent to December 31, 1995;

(2) "Alternative operator services company", any certificatedinterexchange telecommunications company which receives more than fortypercent of its annual Missouri intrastate telecommunications servicerevenues from the provision of operator services pursuant to operatorservices contracts with traffic aggregators;

(3) "Basic interexchange telecommunications service" includes, at aminimum, two-way switched voice service between points in different localcalling scopes as determined by the commission and shall include otherservices as determined by the commission by rule upon periodic review andupdate;

(4) "Basic local telecommunications service", two-way switched voiceservice within a local calling scope as determined by the commissioncomprised of any of the following services and their recurring andnonrecurring charges:

(a) Multiparty, single line, including installation, touchtonedialing, and any applicable mileage or zone charges;

(b) Assistance programs for installation of, or access to, basiclocal telecommunications services for qualifying economically disadvantagedor disabled customers or both, including, but not limited to, lifelineservices and link-up Missouri services for low-income customers ordual-party relay service for the hearing impaired and speech impaired;

(c) Access to local emergency services including, but not limited to,911 service established by local authorities;

(d) Access to basic local operator services;

(e) Access to basic local directory assistance;

(f) Standard intercept service;

(g) Equal access to interexchange carriers consistent with rules andregulations of the Federal Communications Commission;

(h) One standard white pages directory listing.

Basic local telecommunications service does not include optional toll-freecalling outside a local calling scope but within a community of interest,available for an additional monthly fee or the offering or provision ofbasic local telecommunications service at private shared-tenant servicelocations;

(5) "Cable television service", the one-way transmission tosubscribers of video programming or other programming service and thesubscriber interaction, if any, which is required for the selection of suchvideo programming or other programming service;

(6) "Carrier of last resort", any telecommunications company which isobligated to offer basic local telecommunications service to all customerswho request service in a geographic area defined by the commission andcannot abandon this obligation without approval from the commission;

(7) "Commission", the "Public Service Commission" hereby created;

(8) "Commissioner", one of the members of the commission;

(9) "Competitive telecommunications company", a telecommunicationscompany which has been classified as such by the commission pursuant tosection 392.245 or 392.361, RSMo;

(10) "Competitive telecommunications service", a telecommunicationsservice which has been classified as such by the commission pursuant tosection 392.245, RSMo, or to section 392.361, RSMo, or which has become acompetitive telecommunications service pursuant to section 392.370, RSMo;

(11) "Corporation" includes a corporation, company, association andjoint stock association or company;

(12) "Customer-owned pay telephone", a privately ownedtelecommunications device that is not owned, leased or otherwise controlledby a local exchange telecommunications company and which providestelecommunications services for a use fee to the general public;

(13) "Effective competition" shall be determined by the commissionbased on:

(a) The extent to which services are available from alternativeproviders in the relevant market;

(b) The extent to which the services of alternative providers arefunctionally equivalent or substitutable at comparable rates, terms andconditions;

(c) The extent to which the purposes and policies of chapter 392,RSMo, including the reasonableness of rates, as set out in section 392.185,RSMo, are being advanced;

(d) Existing economic or regulatory barriers to entry; and

(e) Any other factors deemed relevant by the commission and necessaryto implement the purposes and policies of chapter 392, RSMo;

(14) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures and personalproperty operated, controlled, owned, used or to be used for or inconnection with or to facilitate the generation, transmission,distribution, sale or furnishing of electricity for light, heat or power;and any conduits, ducts or other devices, materials, apparatus or propertyfor containing, holding or carrying conductors used or to be used for thetransmission of electricity for light, heat or power;

(15) "Electrical corporation" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person,their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever,other than a railroad, light rail or street railroad corporation generatingelectricity solely for railroad, light rail or street railroad purposes orfor the use of its tenants and not for sale to others, owning, operating,controlling or managing any electric plant except where electricity isgenerated or distributed by the producer solely on or through privateproperty for railroad, light rail or street railroad purposes or for itsown use or the use of its tenants and not for sale to others;

(16) "Exchange", a geographical area for the administration oftelecommunications services, established and described by the tariff of atelecommunications company providing basic local telecommunicationsservice;

(17) "Exchange access service", a service provided by a localexchange telecommunications company which enables a telecommunicationscompany or other customer to enter and exit the local exchangetelecommunications network in order to originate or terminate interexchangetelecommunications service;

(18) "Gas corporation" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person,their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever,owning, operating, controlling or managing any gas plant operating forpublic use under privilege, license or franchise now or hereafter grantedby the state or any political subdivision, county or municipality thereof;

(19) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures and personalproperty owned, operated, controlled, used or to be used for or inconnection with or to facilitate the manufacture, distribution, sale orfurnishing of gas, natural or manufactured, for light, heat or power;

(20) "Heating company" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person,their lessees, trustees or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever,owning, operating, managing or controlling any plant or property formanufacturing and distributing and selling, for distribution, ordistributing hot or cold water, steam or currents of hot or cold air formotive power, heating, cooking, or for any public use or service, in anycity, town or village in this state; provided, that no agency or authoritycreated by or operated pursuant to an interstate compact establishedpursuant to section 70.370, RSMo, shall be a heating company or subject toregulation by the commission;

(21) "High-cost area", a geographic area, which shall follow exchangeboundaries and be no smaller than an exchange nor larger than a localcalling scope, where the cost of providing basic local telecommunicationsservice as determined by the commission, giving due regard to recovery ofan appropriate share of joint and common costs as well as those costsrelated to carrier of last resort obligations, exceeds the rate for basiclocal telecommunications service found reasonable by the commission;

(22) "Incumbent local exchange telecommunications company", a localexchange telecommunications company authorized to provide basic localtelecommunications service in a specific geographic area as of December 31,1995, or a successor in interest to such a company;

(23) "Interconnected voice over Internet protocol service", servicethat:

(a) Enables real-time, two-way voice communications;

(b) Requires a broadband connection from the user's location;

(c) Requires Internet protocol-compatible customer premisesequipment; and

(d) Permits users generally to receive calls that originate on thepublic switched telephone network and to terminate calls to the publicswitched telephone network;

(24) "Interexchange telecommunications company", any company engagedin the provision of interexchange telecommunications service;

(25) "Interexchange telecommunications service", telecommunicationsservice between points in two or more exchanges;

(26) "InterLATA", interexchange telecommunications service betweenpoints in different local access and transportation areas;

(27) "IntraLATA", interexchange telecommunications service betweenpoints within the same local access and transportation area;

(28) "Light rail" includes every rail transportation system in whichone or more rail vehicles are propelled electrically by overhead catenarywire upon tracks located substantially within an urban area and areoperated exclusively in the transportation of passengers and their baggage,and including all bridges, tunnels, equipment, switches, spurs, tracks,stations, used in connection with the operation of light rail;

(29) "Line" includes route;

(30) "Local access and transportation area" or "LATA", contiguousgeographic area approved by the U.S. District Court for the District ofColumbia in United States v. Western Electric, Civil Action No. 82-0192that defines the permissible areas of operations for the Bell Operatingcompanies;

(31) "Local exchange telecommunications company", any company engagedin the provision of local exchange telecommunications service. A localexchange telecommunications company shall be considered a "large localexchange telecommunications company" if it has at least one hundredthousand access lines in Missouri and a "small local exchangetelecommunications company" if it has less than one hundred thousand accesslines in Missouri;

(32) "Local exchange telecommunications service", telecommunicationsservice between points within an exchange;

(33) "Long-run incremental cost", the change in total costs of thecompany of producing an increment of output in the long run when thecompany uses least cost technology, and excluding any costs that, in thelong run, are not brought into existence as a direct result of theincrement of output. The relevant increment of output shall be the levelof output necessary to satisfy total current demand levels for the servicein question, or, for new services, demand levels that can be demonstrablyanticipated;

(34) "Municipality" includes a city, village or town;

(35) "Nonbasic telecommunications services" shall be all regulatedtelecommunications services other than basic local and exchange accesstelecommunications services, and shall include the services identified inparagraphs (d) and (e) of subdivision (4) of this section. Any retailtelecommunications service offered for the first time after August 28,1996, shall be classified as a nonbasic telecommunications service,including any new service which does not replace an existing service;

(36) "Noncompetitive telecommunications company", atelecommunications company other than a competitive telecommunicationscompany or a transitionally competitive telecommunications company;

(37) "Noncompetitive telecommunications service", atelecommunications service other than a competitive or transitionallycompetitive telecommunications service;

(38) "Operator services", operator-assisted interexchangetelecommunications service by means of either human or automated callintervention and includes, but is not limited to, billing or completion ofcalling card, collect, person-to-person, station-to-station or third numberbilled calls;

(39) "Operator services contract", any agreement between a trafficaggregator and a certificated interexchange telecommunications company toprovide operator services at a traffic aggregator location;

(40) "Person" includes an individual, and a firm or copartnership;

(41) "Private shared tenant services" includes the provision oftelecommunications and information management services and equipment withina user group located in discrete private premises as authorized by thecommission by a commercial-shared services provider or by a userassociation, through privately owned customer premises equipment andassociated data processing and information management services and includesthe provision of connections to the facilities of local exchangetelecommunications companies and to interexchange telecommunicationscompanies;

(42) "Private telecommunications system", a telecommunications systemcontrolled by a person or corporation for the sole and exclusive use ofsuch person, corporation or legal or corporate affiliate thereof;

(43) "Public utility" includes every pipeline corporation, gascorporation, electrical corporation, telecommunications company, watercorporation, heat or refrigerating corporation, and sewer corporation, asthese terms are defined in this section, and each thereof is herebydeclared to be a public utility and to be subject to the jurisdiction,control and regulation of the commission and to the provisions of thischapter;

(44) "Railroad" includes every railroad and railway, other thanstreet railroad or light rail, by whatsoever power operated for public usein the conveyance of persons or property for compensation, with allbridges, ferries, tunnels, equipment, switches, spurs, tracks, stations,real estate and terminal facilities of every kind used, operated,controlled or owned by or in connection with any such railroad;

(45) "Railroad corporation" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person,their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever,owning, holding, operating, controlling or managing any railroad or railwayas defined in this section, or any cars or other equipment used thereon orin connection therewith;

(46) "Rate", every individual or joint rate, fare, toll, charge,reconsigning charge, switching charge, rental or other compensation of anycorporation, person or public utility, or any two or more such individualor joint rates, fares, tolls, charges, reconsigning charges, switchingcharges, rentals or other compensations of any corporation, person orpublic utility or any schedule or tariff thereof;

(47) "Resale of telecommunications service", the offering orproviding of telecommunications service primarily through the use ofservices or facilities owned or provided by a separate telecommunicationscompany, but does not include the offering or providing of private sharedtenant services;

(48) "Service" includes not only the use and accommodations affordedconsumers or patrons, but also any product or commodity furnished by anycorporation, person or public utility and the plant, equipment, apparatus,appliances, property and facilities employed by any corporation, person orpublic utility in performing any service or in furnishing any product orcommodity and devoted to the public purposes of such corporation, person orpublic utility, and to the use and accommodation of consumers or patrons;

(49) "Sewer corporation" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership or person,their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court, owning,operating, controlling or managing any sewer system, plant or property, forthe collection, carriage, treatment, or disposal of sewage anywhere withinthe state for gain, except that the term shall not include sewer systemswith fewer than twenty-five outlets;

(50) "Sewer system" includes all pipes, pumps, canals, lagoons,plants, structures and appliances, and all other real estate, fixtures andpersonal property, owned, operated, controlled or managed in connectionwith or to facilitate the collection, carriage, treatment and disposal ofsewage for municipal, domestic or other beneficial or necessary purpose;

(51) "Street railroad" includes every railroad by whatsoever type ofpower operated, and all extensions and branches thereof and supplementaryfacilities thereto by whatsoever type of vehicle operated, for public usein the conveyance of persons or property for compensation, mainly providinglocal transportation service upon the streets, highways and public placesin a municipality, or in and adjacent to a municipality, and including allcars, buses and other rolling stock, equipment, switches, spurs, tracks,poles, wires, conduits, cables, subways, tunnels, stations, terminals andreal estate of every kind used, operated or owned in connection therewithbut this term shall not include light rail as defined in this section; andthe term "street railroad" when used in this chapter shall also include allmotor bus and trolley bus lines and routes and similar local transportationfacilities, and the rolling stock and other equipment thereof and theappurtenances thereto, when operated as a part of a street railroad ortrolley bus local transportation system, or in conjunction therewith orsupplementary thereto, but such term shall not include a railroadconstituting or used as part of a trunk line railroad system and any streetrailroad as defined above which shall be converted wholly to motor busoperation shall nevertheless continue to be included within the term streetrailroad as used herein;

(52) "Telecommunications company" includes telephone corporations asthat term is used in the statutes of this state and every corporation,company, association, joint stock company or association, partnership andperson, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any courtwhatsoever, owning, operating, controlling or managing any facilities usedto provide telecommunications service for hire, sale or resale within thisstate;

(53) "Telecommunications facilities" includes lines, conduits, ducts,poles, wires, cables, crossarms, receivers, transmitters, instruments,machines, appliances and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus,property and routes used, operated, controlled or owned by anytelecommunications company to facilitate the provision oftelecommunications service;

(54) "Telecommunications service", the transmission of information bywire, radio, optical cable, electronic impulses, or other similar means.As used in this definition, "information" means knowledge or intelligencerepresented by any form of writing, signs, signals, pictures, sounds, orany other symbols. Telecommunications service does not include:

(a) The rent, sale, lease, or exchange for other value received ofcustomer premises equipment except for customer premises equipment owned bya telephone company certificated or otherwise authorized to providetelephone service prior to September 28, 1987, and provided under tariff orin inventory on January 1, 1983, which must be detariffed no later thanDecember 31, 1987, and thereafter the provision of which shall not be atelecommunications service, and except for customer premises equipmentowned or provided by a telecommunications company and used for answering911 or emergency calls;

(b) Answering services and paging services;

(c) The offering of radio communication services and facilities whensuch services and facilities are provided under a license granted by theFederal Communications Commission under the commercial mobile radioservices rules and regulations;

(d) Services provided by a hospital, hotel, motel, or other similarbusiness whose principal service is the provision of temporary lodgingthrough the owning or operating of message switching or billing equipmentsolely for the purpose of providing at a charge telecommunications servicesto its temporary patients or guests;

(e) Services provided by a private telecommunications system;

(f) Cable television service;

(g) The installation and maintenance of inside wire within acustomer's premises;

(h) Electronic publishing services;

(i) Services provided pursuant to a broadcast radio or televisionlicense issued by the Federal Communications Commission; or

(j) Interconnected voice over Internet protocol service;

(55) "Telephone cooperative", every corporation defined as atelecommunications company in this section, in which at least ninetypercent of those persons and corporations subscribing to receive localtelecommunications service from the corporation own at least ninety percentof the corporation's outstanding and issued capital stock and in which nosubscriber owns more than two shares of the corporation's outstanding andissued capital stock;

(56) "Traffic aggregator", any person, firm, partnership orcorporation which furnishes a telephone for use by the public and includes,but is not limited to, telephones located in rooms, offices and similarlocations in hotels, motels, hospitals, colleges, universities, airportsand public or customer-owned pay telephone locations, whether or not coinoperated;

(57) "Transitionally competitive telecommunications company", aninterexchange telecommunications company which provides any noncompetitiveor transitionally competitive telecommunications service, except for aninterexchange telecommunications company which provides only noncompetitivetelecommunications service;

(58) "Transitionally competitive telecommunications service", atelecommunications service offered by a noncompetitive or transitionallycompetitive telecommunications company and classified as transitionallycompetitive by the commission pursuant to section 392.361 or 392.370, RSMo;

(59) "Water corporation" includes every corporation, company,association, joint stock company or association, partnership and person,their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever,owning, operating, controlling or managing any plant or property, dam orwater supply, canal, or power station, distributing or selling fordistribution, or selling or supplying for gain any water;

(60) "Water system" includes all reservoirs, tunnels, shafts, dams,dikes, headgates, pipes, flumes, canals, structures and appliances, and allother real estate, fixtures and personal property, owned, operated,controlled or managed in connection with or to facilitate the diversion,development, storage, supply, distribution, sale, furnishing or carriage ofwater for municipal, domestic or other beneficial use.

(RSMo 1939 § 5578, A.L. 1947 V. II p. 338, A.L. 1957 p. 502, A.L. 1967 p. 578, A.L. 1983 S.B. 401, A.L. 1987 H.B. 360, A.L. 1988 S.B. 481, A.L. 1990 H.B. 1315, A.L. 1996 H.B. 876 merged with S.B. 507 merged with S.B. 780, A.L. 2005 S.B. 237, A.L. 2008 H.B. 1779)

Prior revisions: 1929 § 5122; 1919 § 10411