65-37-103 - Retail offering of combinations or bundles of products or services. - Tennessee Statutes

65-37-103. Retail offering of combinations or bundles of products or services.

(a)  (1)  The Tennessee regulatory authority (TRA) shall retain regulatory jurisdiction established in this title for specific, individual telecommunications services. Except as provided in this section, the TRA shall not assert regulatory jurisdiction over the retail offering of combinations or bundles of products or services, whether or not such combinations or bundles of products or services are subject to a tariff or other regulatory filing with the TRA as of May 28, 2005, and whether or not comprised of products or services provided by a local exchange carrier alone or with another company. Nothing in this section shall require any company to engage in joint marketing with another company when it does not choose to do so.

     (2)  In order to transition to the changes in regulatory jurisdiction established by this part, telecommunications carriers shall provide customers with the following notice, as part of the terms and conditions for bundles or combinations: “This offer contains telecommunications services that are also available separately. Should you desire to purchase only the telecommunications services included in this offer, without additional products or services, you may purchase those telecommunications services individually at prices posted on [company website] or filed with the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.”

     (3)  The TRA shall issue a statewide public service announcement, no less than once per year, to inform Tennesseans that telecommunications services they purchase may be available at different prices, depending upon whether they are bought individually or bought bundled, and to inform Tennesseans that functionally equivalent services may be available from providers who do not offer service using wire line technology. Scripts for these announcements shall be posted for comments from industry and consumers or their representatives before being used and shall not favor any one provider or technology over others.

(b)  Unless otherwise agreed by the end-user, the terms and conditions established by tariffs or other filings at the TRA for combinations or bundles of products or services shall remain effective as to end-users who have selected such combinations or bundles prior to May 28, 2005, for the duration of a term selected by the end-user. If no term was selected by the end-user for a combination or bundle of products or services, or if no term limit applied to such combination or bundle, then the terms and conditions governing that combination or bundle of products or services, at the time the end-user subscribed, shall remain in effect until the end-user agrees or elects otherwise or until the end-user is noticed of a change in terms by the service provider. Terms and conditions originally established by approved tariffs, which are changed and noticed to customers subsequent to May 28, 2005, shall bind end-users. End-users who terminate service within thirty (30) days of issuance of the notice of a change in such terms and conditions shall not be affected by such changed terms and conditions for the period between issuance of the notice and termination of service.

(c)  Nothing in this section shall affect, alter or be construed to affect or alter the applicability of state or federal antitrust law or federal telecommunications law or the TRA's authority under federal telecommunications laws.

(d)  Any provider of local exchange service shall permit any end-user of basic local exchange telephone service to terminate that service upon request and shall take all administrative steps necessary, including “number portability,” as that term is used in 47 U.S.C. § 153(30), of the end-user's existing telephone number, to permit such end-user to begin receiving replacement service from another certificated provider in a timely manner.

(e)  Nothing in this section shall alter or expand the TRA's jurisdiction to hear complaints alleging price discrimination, as prohibited by Tennessee law, or anti-competitive practices regarding the provision of retail telecommunications services within its jurisdiction as its jurisdiction existed immediately prior to May 28, 2005, except to the extent that such jurisdiction is reduced pursuant to exemption by the TRA subsequent to May 28, 2005. This chapter does not confer jurisdiction on the TRA relating to services outside its jurisdiction as of May 28, 2005. In evaluating claims of anti-competitive practices in any retail telecommunications services market, the TRA shall apply applicable federal or state law and shall consider all relevant factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

     (1)  The geographical and economic extent of commercial demand for functionally-equivalent services;

     (2)  The number and relative longevity of companies providing functionally-equivalent services;

     (3)  The relative gain or loss of revenues attributable to functionally-equivalent services and customers who purchase functionally-equivalent services;

     (4)  The relative increase or decrease in facilities-based investment attributable to providing functionally-equivalent services;

     (5)  The degree to which marketing, pricing and business strategies are utilized to acquire or maintain revenues attributable to functionally-equivalent services and customers who purchase functionally-equivalent services; and

     (6)  The relationship between pricing policies and costs of functionally-equivalent services.

(f)  Nothing in this section shall alter the TRA's jurisdiction to review price regulation filings or conduct rate of return ratemaking analysis, as applicable, for incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) telecommunications providers. Revenue for telecommunications services provided in combinations or bundles shall be considered regulated revenue for purposes of price regulation or rate of return rate analysis.

[Acts 2005, ch. 270, § 4.]