OAR 860-032-0012: Retail Telecommunications Service Standards for Competitive Telecommunications Providers

Every large telecommunications utility, as defined in OAR 860-023-0001(2), must adhere to the standards in OAR 860-023-0055. Every small telecommunications utility, as defined in 860-034-0010(3)(a) must adhere to the standards in 860-034-0390. Every competitive telecommunications provider, as defined in ORS 759.005(1), that maintains more than 1,000 access lines on a statewide basis, must adhere to the following service standards: (1) Definitions. (a) "Access Line" — A facility engineered with dialing capability to provide retail telecommunications service that connects a customer's service location to the Public Switched Telephone Network; (b) "Average Busy Season Busy Hour" — The hour that has the highest average traffic for the three highest months, not necessarily consecutive, in a 12-month period. The busy hour traffic averaged across the busy season is termed the average busy season busy hour traffic; (c) "Average Speed of Answer" — The average time that elapses between the time the call is directed to a representative and the time it is answered; (d) "Blocked Call" — A properly dialed call that fails to complete to its intended destination except for a normal busy (60 interruptions per minute); (e) "Customer" — Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, municipality, cooperative, organization, governmental agency, or other legal entity that has applied for, been accepted, and is currently receiving local exchange telecommunications service; (f) "Exchange" — Geographic area defined by maps filed with and approved by the Commission for the provision of local exchange telecommunications service; (g) "Final Trunk Group" — A last-choice trunk group that receives overflow traffic and that may receive first-route traffic for which there is no alternative route; (h) "Force Majeure"— Circumstances beyond the reasonable control of a competitive telecommunications provider, including but not limited to, delays caused by: (A) A vendor in the delivery of equipment, where the competitive telecommunications provider has made a timely order of equipment; (B) Local, state, federal, or tribal government authorities in approving easements or access to rights of way, where the competitive telecommunications provider has made a timely application for such approval; (C) The customer, including but not limited to, the customer's construction project or lack of facilities, or failure to provide access to the customer's premises; (D) Uncontrollable events, such as explosion, fire, floods, frozen ground, tornadoes, severe weather, epidemics, injunctions, wars, acts of terrorism, strikes or work stoppages, and negligent or willful misconduct by customers or third parties, including but not limited to, outages originating from introduction of a virus onto the provider's network; (i) "Held Order for Lack of Facilities" — Request for access line service delayed beyond the initial commitment date due to lack of facilities. An access line service order includes an order for new service, transferred service, additional lines, or change of service; (j) "Initial Commitment Date" — The initial date pledged by the competitive telecommunications provider to provide a service, facility, or repair action. This date is within the minimum time set forth in these rules or a date determined by good faith negotiations between the customer and the competitive telecommunications provider; (k) "Network Interface" — The point of interconnection between the competitive telecommunications provider's communications facilities and customer terminal equipment, protective apparatus, or wiring at a customer's premises. The network interface must be located on the customer's side of the competitive telecommunications provider's protector; (l) "Retail Telecommunications Service" — A telecommunications service provided for a fee to customers. Retail telecommunications service does not include a service provided by a competitive telecommunications provider to another competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility, unless the competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility receiving the service is the end user of the service; (m) "Service Area" — The entire geographic area the Commission has certified a competitive telecommunications provider to serve. A competitive telecommunications provider may petition the Commission to designate a different geographic area as its service quality reporting area. (n) "Tariff" — A schedule showing rates, tolls, and charges that the competitive telecommunications provider has established for a retail service; (o) "Trouble Report" — A report of a malfunction that affects the functionality and reliability of retail telecommunications service on existing access lines, switching equipment, circuits, or features made up to and including the network interface, to a competitive telecommunications provider by or on behalf of that competitive telecommunications provider's customer, which affects the functionality and reliability of retail telecommunications service; (p) "Wire Center" — A facility where local telephone subscribers' access lines converge and are connected to switching equipment that provides access to the Public Switched Telephone Network, including remote switching units and host switching units. A wire center does not include collocation arrangements in a connecting competitive telecommunications provider's wire center or broadband hubs that have no switching equipment. (2) Measurement and Reporting Requirements. A competitive telecommunications provider must take the measurements required by this rule and report them to the Commission as specified. Reported measurements must be reported to the first significant digit (i.e., one number should be reported to the right of the decimal point). The service quality objective service levels set forth in sections 4 through 8 of this rule apply only to normal operating conditions and do not establish a level of performance to be achieved during force majeure events. (3) Additional Reporting Requirements. The Commission may require a competitive telecommunications provider to submit additional reports on any item covered by this rule. (4) Provisioning and Held Orders for Lack of Facilities. The representative of the competitive telecommunications provider must give a retail customer an initial commitment date of not more than six business days after a request for access line service, unless a later date is determined through good faith negotiations between the customer and the competitive telecommunications provider. The competitive telecommunications provider may change the initial commitment date only if requested by the customer. When establishing the initial commitment date, the competitive telecommunications provider may take into account the actual time required for the customer to meet prerequisites; e.g., line extension charges or trench and conduit requirements. If a request for service becomes a held order for lack of facilities, the serving competitive telecommunications provider must, within five business days, send or otherwise provide the customer a written commitment to fill the order. (a) Measurement: (A) Commitments Met — A competitive telecommunications provider must calculate the monthly percentage of commitments met for service, based on the initial commitment date, across its Oregon service territory. Commitments missed for reasons solely attributed to customers, another competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility may be excluded from the calculation of the "commitments met" results; (B) Held Orders for Lack of Facilities — A competitive telecommunications provider must determine the total monthly number of held orders, due to lack of facilities, not completed by the initial commitment date during the reporting month and the number of primary (initial access line) held orders, due to lack of facilities, over 30 days past the initial commitment date. (b) Objective Service Level: (A) Commitments Met — Each competitive telecommunications provider must meet at least 90 percent of its commitments for service. (B) Held Orders: (i) The number of held orders for the lack of facilities for each competitive telecommunications provider must not exceed the greater of two per wire center, or designated service area, per month averaged over the entire Oregon geographic area served by the competitive telecommunications provider, or five held orders for lack of facilities per 1,000 inward orders and (ii) The total number of primary held orders for lack of facilities in excess of 30 days past the initial commitment date must not exceed 10 percent of the total monthly held orders for lack of facilities within the entire Oregon geographic area served by the competitive telecommunications provider. (c) Reporting Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission the percentage of commitments met for service, total number of held orders for lack of facilities, and the total number of primary held orders for lack of facilities over 30 days past the initial commitment date. (d) Retention Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must maintain records about held orders for lack of facilities for one year. The record must explain why each order is held and the initial commitment date. (5) Trouble Reports. Each competitive telecommunications provider must maintain an accurate record of all reports of malfunction made by its customers. (a) Measurement: A competitive telecommunications provider must determine the number of customer trouble reports that were received during the month. The competitive telecommunications provider must relate the count to the total working access lines within a reporting wire center, or designated service area. A competitive telecommunications provider need not report those trouble reports that were caused by circumstances beyond its control. The approved trouble report exclusions are: (A) Cable Cuts: A competitive telecommunications provider may take an exclusion if the "buried cable location" (locate) was either not requested or was requested and was accurate. If a competitive telecommunications provider or the provider's contractor caused the cut, the exclusion can only be used if the locate was accurate and all general industry practices were followed; (B) Internet Service Provider (ISP) Blockage: If an ISP does not have enough access trunks to handle peak traffic; (C) Modem Speed Complaints: An exclusion may be taken if the copper cable loop is tested at the subscriber location and the objective service levels in section 10 of this rule were met; (D) No Trouble Found: Where no trouble is found, one exemption may be taken. If a repeat report of the same trouble is received within a 30-day period, the repeat report and subsequent reports must be counted; (E) New Feature or Service: Trouble reports related to a customer's unfamiliarity with the use or operation of a new (within 30 days) feature or service; (F) No Access: An exclusion may be taken if a repair appointment was kept and the copper based access line at the nearest accessible terminal met the objective service levels in section 10 of this rule. If a repeat trouble report is received within the following 30-day period, the repeat report and subsequent reports must be counted; (G) Subsequent Tickets/Same Trouble/Same Access Line: Only one trouble report for a specific complaint for the same access line should be counted within a 48-hour period. All repeat trouble reports after the 48-hour period must be counted; (H) Non-Regulated or Deregulated Equipment: Trouble associated with such equipment should not be counted; (I) Trouble with Other Competitive Telecommunications Providers or Telecommunications Utilities: A trouble report caused solely by another competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility; (J) Lightning Strikes: Trouble reports received for damage caused by lightning strikes can be excluded if all accepted grounding, bonding, and shielding practices were followed by the competitive telecommunications provider, at the damaged location; and (K) Other exclusions: As approved by the Commission. (b) Objective Service Level: A competitive telecommunications provider must maintain service so that the monthly trouble report rate, after approved trouble report exclusions, does not exceed: (A) For wire centers, or designated service areas with more than 1,000 access lines: two per 100 working access lines per wire center, or designated service area, more than three times during a sliding 12-month period. (B) For wire centers, or designated service area, with 1,000 or less access lines: three per 100 working access lines per wire center, or designated service area, more than three times during a sliding 12-month period. (c) Reporting Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission: (A) The trouble report rate by wire center, or designated service area; (B) The reason(s) a wire center, or designated service area, meeting the standard (did not exceed the trouble report rate threshold for more than three of the last 12 months) exceeded a trouble report rate of 3.0 per 100 working access lines during the reporting month; (C) The reason(s) a wire center, or designated service area, not meeting the standard, after the exclusion adjustment, exceeded the trouble report rate threshold per 100 access lines during the reporting month; and (D) The access line count for each wire center, or designated service area. (d) Retention Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must maintain a record of reported trouble in such a manner that it can be forwarded to the Commission upon the Commission's request. The competitive telecommunications provider must keep all records for a period of one year. The record of reported trouble must contain as a minimum the: (A) Telephone number; (B) Date and time received; (C) Time cleared; (D) Type of trouble reported; (E) Location of trouble; and (F) Whether or not the present trouble was within 30 days of a previous trouble report. (6) Repair Clearing Time. This standard establishes the clearing time for all trouble reports from the time the customer reports the trouble to the competitive telecommunications provider until the trouble is resolved. The competitive telecommunications provider must provide each customer making a network trouble report with a commitment time when the competitive telecommunications provider will repair or resolve the problem. (a) Measurement: The competitive telecommunications provider must calculate the percentage of trouble reports cleared within 48 hours of receiving a report for each repair center, or designated service area. Alternatively, the competitive telecommunications provider may use the following weekend exception to calculate the percentage for trouble reports cleared for those reports that are received between 12 pm on Friday until 5 pm on Sunday. (A) The trouble reports cleared must be calculated for reports received between 12 pm Friday and 5 pm Saturday and cleared by 5 pm the following Monday for each repair center, or designated service area. (B) The trouble reports cleared must be calculated for reports received between 5 pm Saturday and 5 pm Sunday and cleared by 5 pm the following Tuesday for each repair center, or designated service area. Alternative weekend repair calculations must be aggregated into the calculation for the percentage of trouble reports cleared within 48 hours. (b) Objective Service Level: A competitive telecommunications provider must monthly clear at least 90 percent of all trouble reports within 48 hours of receiving a report for each repair center, or designated service area. Alternatively, for those reports that are received between 12 pm on Friday and 5 pm on Sunday, the competitive telecommunications provider may use the following weekend exception to calculate the percentage for trouble reports cleared: (A) The competitive telecommunications provider must clear 90 percent of all trouble reports received between 12 pm Friday and 5 pm Saturday by 5 pm the following Monday for each repair center or designated service area. (B) The competitive telecommunications provider must clear 90 percent of all trouble reports received between 5 pm Saturday and 5 pm Sunday by 5 pm the following Tuesday for each repair center or designated service area. In the standard or alternative calculation methods, trouble reports attributed solely to customers of another competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility may be excluded from the calculation of the “repair clearing time” results. (c) Reporting Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission the percentage of trouble reports cleared within 48 hours by each repair center, or designated service area with optional adjustments allowed for weekend repair exceptions described in (b). A competitive telecommunications provider must use its best efforts to complete out-of-service restorations for business customers. In addition, a competitive telecommunications provider must use its best efforts to complete out-of-service restorations for residential customers who have identified either a medical necessity or no access to an alternative means of voice or E-911 communications. (d) A competitive telecommunications provider must indicate in its report if it opts to use the alternative weekend exception period reporting. (e) Retention Requirement: None. (7) Blocked Calls. A competitive telecommunications provider must engineer and maintain all intraoffice, interoffice, and access trunking and associated switching components to allow completion of calls made during the average busy season busy hour without encountering blockage or equipment irregularities in excess of levels listed in subsection (7)(b) of this rule. (a) Measurement: (A) A competitive telecommunications provider must collect traffic data; i.e., peg counts and usage data generated by individual components of equipment or by the wire center as a whole, and calculate blockage levels of the interoffice final trunk groups. (B) System blockage is determined by special testing at the wire center. Commission Staff or a competitive telecommunications provider technician will place test calls to a predetermined test number, and the total number of attempted calls and the number of completed calls will be counted. The percentage of calls completed must be calculated. (b) Objective Service Level: (A) A competitive telecommunications provider must maintain interoffice final trunk groups to allow 99 percent completion of calls during the average busy season busy hour without blockage (P.01 grade of service); and (B) A competitive telecommunications provider must maintain its switch operation so that 99 percent of the calls do not experience blockage during the normal busy hour. (C) When a competitive telecommunications provider fails to maintain the interoffice final trunk group P.01 grade of service for four or more consecutive months, it will be considered out-of-standard until the condition is resolved. A single repeat blockage within two months of restoring the P.01 grade of service will be considered a continuation of the original blockage. (c) Reporting Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission: (A) Local and extended area service (EAS) final trunk groups that do not meet the objective service level for trunk group blockage, measured from each of its switches, regardless of the ownership of the terminating switch; (B) Its tandem switch final trunk group blockages associated with EAS traffic; (C) Any known cause for the blockage and actions to bring the trunks into standard; and (D) Identity of the competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility, if other than the reporting competitive telecommunications provider, responsible for maintaining those final trunk groups not meeting the standard. (d) Retention Requirement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must maintain records for one year. (8) Access to Competitive Telecommunications Provider Representatives. This rule sets the allowed time for competitive telecommunications provider business office or repair service center representatives to answer customer calls. (a) Measurement: (A) Direct Representative Answering: A competitive telecommunications provider must measure the answer time from the first ring at the competitive telecommunications provider business office or repair service center; (B) Driven, Automated, or Interactive Answering System: The option of transferring to the competitive telecommunications provider representative must be included in the initial local service-screening message. The competitive telecommunications provider must measure the answering time from the point a call is directed to its representatives; e.g., when the call leaves the Voice Response Unit; (C) Each competitive telecommunications provider must calculate: (i) The monthly percentage of the total calls placed to the business office and repair service center and the number of calls answered by representatives within 20 seconds; or (ii) The average speed of answer time for the total calls received by the business office and repair service center. (b) Objective Service Level: (A) No more than 1 percent of calls to the competitive telecommunications provider business office or repair service center may encounter a busy signal. (B) The competitive telecommunications provider representatives must answer at least 80 percent of calls within 20 seconds or have an average speed of answer time of 50 seconds or less. (c) Reporting Requirement: (A) Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission an exception report if busy signals were encountered in excess of 1 percent for either the business office or repair service center; and (B) Each competitive telecommunications provider must report monthly to the Commission the percentage of calls answered within 20 seconds or the average speed of answer time for both the business office and repair service center. Once a method of measurement is reported by the provider, that method can only be changed with permission of the Commission. (d) Retention Requirement: None. (9) Interruption of Service Notification. A competitive telecommunications provider must report significant outages that affect customer service. These interruptions could be caused by switch outage, electronic outage, cable cut, or construction. (a) Measurement: A competitive telecommunications provider must notify the Commission when an interruption occurs that exceeds any of the following thresholds: (A) Cable cuts, excluding service wires and wires placed in lieu of cable, or electronic outages lasting longer than 30 minutes and affecting 50 percent or more of in-service lines. (B) Toll or Extended Area Service isolation lasting longer than 30 minutes and affecting 50 percent or more of in-service lines. (C) Isolation of a central office (host or remote) from the E 9-1-1 emergency dialing code or isolation of a Public Safety Answering Position (PSAP). (D) Isolation of a wire center for more than 15 minutes. (E) Outage of the business office or repair center access system lasting longer than 15 minutes in those instances where the traffic cannot be re-routed to a different center. (b) Objective Service Level: Not applicable. (c) Reporting Requirement: A competitive telecommunications provider must report service interruptions to the Commission engineering staff by telephone, by facsimile, by electronic mail, or personally within two hours during normal work hours of the business day after the company becomes aware of such interruption of service. Interim reports will be given to the Commission as significant information changes (e.g., estimated time to restore, estimated impact to customers, cause of the interruption, etc.) until it is reported that the affected service is restored. (d) Retention Requirement: None. (10) Customer Access Line Testing. All customer access lines must be designed, installed, and maintained to meet the levels in subsection (b) of this section. (a) Measurement: Each competitive provider must make all loop parameter measurements at the network interface, or as close as access allows; (b) Objective Service Level: Each access line must meet the following levels: (A) Loop Current: The serving wire center loop current, when terminated into a 400-ohm load, must be at least 20 milliamperes; (B) Loop Loss: The maximum loop loss, as measured with a 1004-hertz tone from the serving wire center, must not exceed 8.5 decibels (dB); (C) Metallic Noise: The maximum metallic noise level, as measured on a quiet line from the serving wire center, must not exceed 20 decibels above referenced noise level — C message weighting (dBrnC); and (D) Power Influence: As a goal, power influence, as measured on a quiet line from the serving wire center, must not exceed 80 dBrnC. (c) Reporting Requirement: A competitive telecommunications provider must report measurement readings as directed by the Commission; (d) Retention Requirement: None. (11) Customer Access Lines and Wire Center Switching Equipment. All combinations of access lines and wire center switching equipment must be capable of accepting and correctly processing at least the following network control signals from the customer premises equipment. The wire center must provide dial tone and maintain an actual measured loss between interoffice and access trunk groups. (a) Measurement: Each competitive telecommunications provider must make measurements at or to the serving wire center; (b) Objective Service Level: (A) Dial Tone Speed. Ninety-eight percent of originating average busy hour call attempts must receive dial tone within three seconds; and (B) A competitive telecommunications provider must maintain all interoffice and access trunk groups so that the actual measured loss (AML) in no more than 30 percent of the trunks deviates from the expected measured loss (EML) by more than 0.7 dB and no more than 4.5 percent of the trunks deviates from EML by more than 1.7 dB. (c) Reporting Requirement: None. (d) Retention Requirement: None. (12) Special Service Access Lines. All special service access lines must meet the performance requirements specified in applicable competitive telecommunications provider tariffs or contracts. (13) Competitive Telecommunications Provider Interconnectivity. A competitive telecommunications provider connected to the facilities of another competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utility must operate its system in a manner that will not impede either company's ability to meet required standards of service. A competitive telecommunications provider must report interconnection operational problems promptly to the Commission. (14) Remedies for Violation of This Standard. (a) If a competitive telecommunications provider subject to this rule fails to meet a minimum service quality standard, the Commission must require the competitive telecommunications provider to submit a plan for improving performance as provided in ORS 759.450(5). If a competitive telecommunications provider does not meet the goals of its improvement plan within six months, or if the plan is disapproved by the Commission, the Commission may assess penalties in accordance with ORS 759.450(5) through (7). (b) In addition to the remedy provided under ORS 759.450(5), if the Commission believes that a competitive telecommunications provider subject to this rule has violated one or more of its service standards, the Commission must give the competitive telecommunications provider notice and an opportunity to request a hearing. If the Commission finds a violation has occurred, the Commission may require the competitive telecommunications provider to provide the following relief to the affected customers: (A) An alternative means of telecommunications service for violations of paragraph (4)(b)(B) of this rule; (B) Customer billing credits equal to the associated non-recurring and recurring charges of the competitive telecommunications provider for the affected service for the period of the violation; and (C) Other relief authorized by Oregon law. (15)(a) If the Commission determines that effective competition exists in one or more exchange(s), it may exempt all competitive telecommunications providers and telecommunications utilities providing telecommunications services in those exchanges from the requirements of this rule, in whole or in part. In making this determination, the Commission will consider: (A) The extent to which the service is available from alternative providers in the relevant exchange(s); (B) The extent to which the services of alternative providers are functionally equivalent or substitutable at comparable rates, terms, and conditions; (C) Existing barriers to market entry; (D) Market share and concentration; (E) Number of suppliers; (F) Price to cost ratios; (G) Demand side substitutability (e.g., customer perceptions of competitors as viable alternatives); and (H) Any other factors deemed relevant by the Commission. (b) When a competitive telecommunications provider petitions the Commission for exemption under this provision, the Commission must provide notice of the petition to all relevant competitive telecommunications providers and telecommunications utilities providing the applicable service(s) in the exchange(s) in question. The Commission will provide such notified competitive telecommunications providers and telecommunications utilities an opportunity to submit comments in response to the petition. The comments may include requests that, following the Commission's analysis outlined above in paragraphs (15)(a)(A) through (H), the commenting competitive telecommunications provider or telecommunications utilities be exempt from these rules for the applicable service(s) in the relevant exchange(s). (c) The Commission may grant a competitive telecommunications provider's petition for an exemption from service quality reporting requirements if the competitive telecommunications provider meets all service quality objective service levels set forth in sections (4) through (8) of this rule for the 12 months prior to the month in which the petition is filed.