PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES(By authority conferred on the public service commission by sections 202 and 213 of Act No. 179 of the Public Acts of 1991, as amended, being SS484.2202 and 484.2213 of the Michigan Compiled Laws) PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONSR 484.1 Applicability of rules; expiration date. Rule 1. (1) These rules apply to telecommunication services that are regulated by the Michigan public service commission. (2) Pursuant to section 604(1) of Act No. 179 of the Public Acts of 1991, as amended, being S484.2604(1) of the Michigan Compiled Laws, these rules shall expire January 1, 2001. If section 604(1) of Act No.179 of the Public Acts of 1991, as amended, being S484.2604(1) of the Michigan Compiled Laws, is amended or repealed, then these rules shall expire September 1, 2001. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.2 Definitions. Rule 2. As used in these rules: (a) "Answer" means that a provider's representative, voice response unit, or automated operator system is ready to render assistance or ready to accept information necessary to process the call.An acknowledgment that the customer is waiting on the line shall not constitute an answer. (b) "Basic local exchange service" or "local exchange service" means the provision of an access line and usage within a local calling area for the transmission of high-quality, 2-way interactive switched voice or data communication. (c) "Call" means an effort by a customer to obtain a telephone connection whether the connection is completed or not. (d) "Central office" means a switching unit in a telecommunication system which provides service to the general public and which has the necessary equipment and operating arrangements for terminating and interconnecting customer lines and trunks or trunks only. There may be more than 1 central office in a building. (e) "Commission" means the Michigan public service commission. (f) "Customer" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation, municipality, cooperative, organization, or governmental agency using a regulated telecommunication service. (g) "Customer trouble report" means an initial oral or written report from a customer relating to a defect, difficulty, or dissatisfaction with the operation of basic local exchange service. (h) "Exchange" means 1 or more contiguous central offices and all associated facilities within a geographic area in which local exchange telecommunication services are offered. (i) "Interexchange trunks" means a transmission medium and associated equipment that connects 2 exchanges. (j) "Line" means all of the following: (i) The conductor or conductors and supporting structures extending between customer stations and a central office or between offices, whether they are in the same or different communities. (ii) The conductors and circuit apparatus associated with a particular communication channel. (iii) Any communication channel or path between 2 points, regardless of the method of its derivation. (k) "Local calling area" means a geographic area encompassing 1 or more local communities as described in maps, tariffs, or rate schedules filed with and approved by the commission. (l) "Out of service" means the total inability to either make or receive calls due to a problem in a provider's basic local exchange service network. (m) "Provider of basic local exchange service" or "provider" means a person, firm, partnership, corporation, or an affiliated entity that is engaged in the business of furnishing telephone service for compensation within an exchange or within a connected system of exchanges located in 1 local calling area that provides telecommunication service of a character ordinarily furnished within a single exchange. (n) "Repeat report" means a customer trouble report regarding a basic local exchange access line that is received by a provider within 30 days after closing out a previous trouble report for the same access line in any of the following situations: (i) Both reports are related to the regulated network. (ii) One of the reports is related to the regulated network and the other report is closed as "NO TROUBLE FOUND." (iii) Both reports are closed as "NO TROUBLE FOUND." (o) "Tariff" means the documentation that describes rates, tolls, rentals, charges, classifications, and rules adopted by a provider and filed with the commission. (p) "Wire center area" means a central office and all associated facilities within a geographic area in which local exchange services are offered. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996. PART 2. RECORDS AND REPORTSR 484.21 Availability of records. Rule 21. All records required to determine compliance with these rules shall be made available to the commission or its staff upon request or pursuant to R 484.24. Records and reports constituting or incorporating trade secrets or commercial or financial information that are made available to the commission or its staff shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant to section 210 of Act No. 179 of the Public Acts of 1991, as amended, being S484.2210 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.22 Retention of records. Rule 22. All records required by these rules shall be preserved in summary form for not less than 3 years and in detail for the immediate past 12 months, unless otherwise specified by the commission. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.23 Reports. Rule 23. (1) Each provider shall maintain its records in sufficient detail to permit review of its service performance. The records shall be made available to the commission or its staff within 10 working days of a request for their production. (2) Each provider shall report promptly to the commission any specific occurrence or development that disrupts the service of a substantial number of its customers or that may impair its ability to furnish service to a substantial number of customers. The provider shall report all disruptions or developments that represent the lesser of 25% or 2,000 of the access lines by exchange for 1 hour or more.Notification shall be provided to the commission within 90 minutes during normal business hours or, if the disruption occurs during the evening or weekend, within 90 minutes of the commencement of the next business day. In addition, a final report shall be filed with the commission within 30 days of the disruption and shall include all of the following information: (a) The reason for the disruption. (b) The geographic area affected by the disruption. (c) The number of customers affected. (d) The type of services affected. (e) The impact upon the provider of the service disruption. (f) Whether the service disruption was avoidable or unavoidable. (g) An explanation of the provider's remedy for the immediate service disruption. (h) A description of the actions that the provider has or could take to avoid future disruptions. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.24 Data to be filed with the commission. Rule 24. On a quarterly basis, each provider shall furnish monthly summaries, records, and other information that the provider determines are necessary for the staff to investigate, and for the commission to resolve, quality of service issues related to regulated telecommunication services. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996. PART 3. CUSTOMER RELATIONSR 484.31 Business offices. Rule 31. (1) Business offices shall be adequately staffed with qualified persons to provide all of the following services: (a) Convenient access to information relating to services and rates. (b) Timely processing of applications for service. (c) Explanations of charges on bills. (d) Adjustments for erroneous charges. (e) Other services and information available from the provider. (2) Customers shall be provided with toll-free calling to business offices. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.32 Adjustments to customer's bill for service outage. Rule 32. (1) If a customer's service is reported or is found to be out of service and remains out of service for more than 24 hours, then 1 of the following adjustments shall be made to the customer's bill in the next billing period in which it is practicable to do so: (a) If the duration of the outage is less than 5 days of a month, then the appropriate credit shall be the prorated amount of the customer's monthly service rate. (b) If the duration of the outage is 5 days or longer, then the appropriate credit is the credit owed pursuant to subrule (1)(a) of this rule for the first 4 days of the outage plus an additional $5.00 per day for the fifth day and each subsequent day of the outage, up to the amount of the customer's monthly service rate. (2) An adjustment need not be made if the outage is caused by the customer or if a satisfactory replacement service is provided to the customer. (3) A provider may obtain an automatic waiver of the $5.00 per day credit required by subrule (1)(b) of this rule by notifying the commission that the outage was the result of a catastrophic event. However, a provider's declaration that the outage resulted from a catastrophic event does not relieve the provider of the responsibility to adjust a customer's bill by the prorated amount of the customer's monthly service rate for the duration of the outage. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.33 Directory error. Rule 33. (1) If there is an error in the listed number of a customer in a provider's directory, then the provider shall intercept all calls to the listed number for the remaining life of the currently published directory, subject to equipment limitations and number availability. (2) If there is an error or omission in the name listing of a customer in a provider's directory, then the customer's correct name and telephone number shall be in the files of the directory assistance for intercept operators and the correct number furnished to the calling party either upon request or interception. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.34 Number change. Rule 34. (1) When a customer's telephone number is changed, the provider shall intercept all calls to the customer's former number for not less than 3 months. The provider shall give the calling party the customer's new number, subject to equipment limitations, number availability, customer permission, and payment of the tariffed referral charge, if any. (2) When additions or changes in plant or any other provider operations necessitate changing telephone numbers to a group of customers, the provider shall give reasonable notice to all affected customers even though the additions or changes may be coincidental with a directory issue. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996. PART 4. ENGINEERINGR 484.41 Construction and engineering standards. Rule 41. Except as otherwise authorized by the commission or pursuant to applicable regulations adopted by a municipality, a provider's telecommunication facilities and physical plant shall be designed, engineered, constructed, maintained, and operated so as to do all of the following: (a) Comply with the provisions of R 460.813. (b) Comply with standards that are generally accepted by the telecommunication industry. (c) Accommodate the public. (d) Prevent interference with or from services furnished by other public utilities, if feasible. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.42 Electromagnetic interference; coordination efforts; standard; adoption by reference. Rule 42. The telecommunication facilities and physical plant of a provider of basic local exchange service shall be designed in accordance with industry standards to prevent electromagnetic interference from alternating current power systems. The provider shall engage in prior coordination with power utilities in the area before placing new plant or making major changes in existing plant likely to be affected by the power utility's facilities. The coordination efforts shall be governed by American national standards institute standard ANSI/IEEE 776 entitled "Guide for Inductive Coordination of Electrical Supply and Communications Lines," (1993), which is adopted by reference in these rules and which is available for purchase from the Michigan Public Service Commission, P.O.Box 30221, Lansing, Michigan 48909, or from the American National Standards Institute, 11 West 42nd Street, 13th Floor, New York, New York 10036 ((212) 642-4900), at a cost as of the time of adoption of these rules of $80.00. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.43 Grounding of transmission facilities. Rule 43. A provider shall consult and coordinate its activities with existing electric and natural gas utilities and other companies having transmission or distribution facilities in the general vicinity of planned telecommunication facility construction before construction to minimize the occurrence of voltage and grounding problems. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.44 Emergency operations. Rule 44. (1) A provider shall make reasonable arrangements to cope with all of the following situations: (a) Emergency power interruptions. (b) Unusual and prolonged increases in traffic on its lines. (c) Illnesses of its personnel. (d) Fires. (e) Storms. (f) Other emergencies. (2) A provider shall inform its employees about procedures to be followed in an emergency to prevent or minimize the interruption or impairment of telecommunication services. (3) Each of a provider's central offices shall be equipped with no less than 3 hours of peak load battery reserve if permanent auxiliary emergency power is installed or not less than 4 hours of battery reserve if permanent auxiliary emergency power is not installed.In any event, a provider shall ensure that mobile power units are available to be delivered and connected to a central office within 4 hours of any power outage or within the hours of the battery reserve, whichever is greater, at locations without permanent auxiliary emergency power. (4) A provider shall have current written emergency procedures that aredirected at the prompt restoration of telephone service during abnormal conditions. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996. PART 5. MAINTENANCER 484.51 Maintenance of plant and equipment. Rule 51. (1) A provider shall adopt and pursue a maintenance program designed to achieve efficient operation of its system which permits the rendering of safe, adequate, and continuous service. (2) Maintenance shall include keeping all plant and equipment in safe and serviceable repair. At a minimum, a provider shall do all of the following: (a) Repair or replace broken, damaged, or deteriorated parts. (b) Readjust adjustable apparatus and equipment that is found to be in unsatisfactory operating condition. (c) To the extent practicable, correct all of the following electrical faults: (i) Leakage or poor insulation. (ii) Noise induction. (iii) Cross talk. (iv) Poor transmission characteristics. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.52 Customer repair requests. Rule 52. (1) A provider shall do all of the following: (a) Provide for the receipt of customer repair requests at all hours. (b) Make a full and prompt investigation of all complaints. (c) Render reasonable assistance to the customer to identify a cause for the outage or other trouble. (d) Maintain an accurate record of repair requests by telephone number or circuit number, as appropriate, that includes all of the following information: (i) Appropriate identification of the customer or service affected. (ii) The time, date, and nature of the report. (iii) The action taken to clear the repair request or satisfy the complaint. (iv) The date and time of repair clearance or other disposition. (2) A provider shall maintain adequate personnel to answer customers' repair calls within a monthly average of 25 seconds. A provider shall take corrective action and submit a written report to the commission if its monthly average rate for answering customers' repair calls exceeds 25 seconds for 3 consecutive months. (3) A provider shall arrange to clear all repair requests of anemergency nature at all hours consistent with the needs of customers and the safety of the provider's personnel. (4) Unless the customer agrees to alternative arrangements, a provider shall arrange to clear nonemergency service repair requests within a monthly average clearing time of 36 hours or less. A provider shall take corrective action and submit a written report to the commission if its monthly average clearing time exceeds 36 hours for three consecutive months. (5) A provider shall submit to the commission annually, a quarterly summary of customer repeat trouble reports. A provider shall maintain detailed information regarding customer repeat trouble reports on a monthly basis for review by the commission or its staff. (6) A record required by subrule (1)(d) of this rule shall be available to the commission or its staff upon request. The record shall be retained as specified in R 484.22. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.53 Inspections and tests. Rule 53. A provider shall adopt a written program that includes periodic and routine testing and inspecting of all of the following: (a) Interoffice trunking, both before and after being placed in service. (b) Central office switching and billing equipment. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.54 Planned service interruptions. Rule 54. If a service interruption is necessary to perform work on a line or other equipment, then a provider shall perform the work in a manner that will cause minimal inconvenience to its customers. If it is reasonably anticipated that the service interruption will be for more than 15 minutes, then the provider shall schedule the work at a time that will cause the least inconvenience to its customers. The provider shall provide emergency service, as required, for the duration of a planned service interruption. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996. PART 6. QUALITY OF SERVICER 484.61 General practices. Rule 61. (1) A provider shall employ prudent management and engineering practices, including the use of reliable procedures for forecasting future demand for service. It shall conduct studies and maintain records to determine whether regulated telecommunication services will meet all of the standards set forth in R 484.1 to R 484.67. (2) A provider shall have sufficient equipment for providing high quality telephone service and shall employ an adequate operating force at all times. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.62 Level of service measurements; commission notification. Rule 62. Upon request of the commission or its staff, a provider shall make measurements to determine the level of service for each item included in this part. A provider shall notify the commission or its staff in conformity with the requirements of R 484.24 of measurements and summaries of any of the applicable items included in this part that have been generated by the provider. A provider shall retain records as specified in R 484.21 and R 484.22. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.63 Service order commitments; rate of met commitments. Rule 63. A provider shall perform adequate scheduling so as to provide service to a customer at a mutually agreed upon time. On a monthly basis, 90% of the commitments to customers with respect to the date of installation of primary basic local exchange service shall be met. A provider shall take corrective action and submit a written report to the commission if a rate of met commitments falls below 90% for 3 consecutive months. Customer-caused delay or customer-missed appointments shall not be figured into the rate of met commitments. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.64 Local directory assistance; answer time. Rule 64. As applicable to providers who provide local directory assistance to customers or other providers, calls requesting local directory assistance shall be answered within 10 seconds. A provider shall take corrective action and submit a written report to the commission if its average answer time per month for local directory assistance calls is more than 10 seconds for 3 consecutive months. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.65 Customer trouble reports; rate. Rule 65. (1) A provider shall maintain service so that the average monthly rate of initial customer trouble reports in any wire center area is not more than 6 per 100 access lines per month, exclusive of all of the following: (a) Reports concerning interexchange calls. (b) Trouble found in equipment that is not the provider's. (c) Nonregulated customer premises equipment or inside wiring. (2) For the purpose of administering this rule, each party line customer shall be considered to have 1 local access line. Multiple trouble reports that are attributable to a common cause or defect shall not be aggregated.Rather, a separate report shall be counted for each customer line reported in trouble. (3) A provider shall take corrective action and shall submit a written report to the commission if a customer trouble report rate is more than 6 per 100 access lines per month in a wire center area for 3 consecutive months. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.66 Customer line transmission requirements. Rule 66. Industry standards shall determine the design criteria for all customer loops, exclusive of the inside wire and customer premises equipment, as follows: (a) Loss - The customer loop loss shall be less than 8.5 decibels when measured to a milliwatt reference. A provider shall take corrective action and report to the commission pursuant to R 484.24 if a customer loop loss is more than 8.5 decibels. (b) Current - The customer loop shall have more than 20 milliamperes of circuit current when measured at the network interface. A provider shall take corrective action and report to the commission pursuant to R 484.24 if a customer loop current is less than 20 milliamperes. (c) Noise - The customer loop shall have a circuit noise level of less than 20 decibels-reference noise calibration. A provider shall take corrective action and report to the commission pursuant to R 484.24 if a customer loop noise level is more than 20 decibels-reference noise calibration. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.R 484.67 Interoffice trunk transmission requirements. Rule 67. Interoffice trunks shall have a transmission loss within plus or minus 3.6 decibels of the engineered measured loss. A provider shall take corrective action and report to the commission pursuant to R 484.24 if a reading is outside plus or minus 3.6 decibels. History: 1996 MR 7, Eff. July 17, 1996.