Sections 86-1601 to 86-1611 shall be known and may be cited as the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act.

(1) Carrier of last resort means a facilities-based telecommunications company, as determined by the commission, not inconsistent with the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, which receives or has received high-cost support from the federal Universal Service Fund or the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund and has the obligation to provide voice communications service, upon reasonable request, to all residential and single-line business customers within a defined service or geographic area;

(3) Deregulated carrier means an electing local exchange carrier for which all of such carrier's markets have been deregulated;

(4) Electing local exchange carrier means a telecommunications company holding a certificate to offer local exchange telecommunications services within Nebraska issued on or before February 8, 1996, or a carrier that has received a certificate in conjunction with the acquisition of a certificate issued on or before February 8, 1996;

(5) Transitioning carrier means an electing local exchange carrier for which at least one, but not all, of such carrier's exchanges has been deregulated; and

(6) Voice communications service means (a) the transmission, conveyance, or routing of real-time, two-way voice communications to a point or between or among points by or through any electronic, radio, satellite, cable, optical, microwave, wireline, wireless, or other medium or method, regardless of the protocol used, (b) the ability to receive and terminate voice calls to and from the public switched telephone network, or (c) voice over Internet protocol service as defined in section 86-121.01.

(1) The commission may require disclosure of information from telecommunications carriers as necessary to implement and enforce the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act.

(2) The commission may maintain the confidentiality of any information collected under the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act that is claimed to be confidential for containing proprietary or commercial information and withhold such information from public disclosure pursuant to subdivision (3) of section 84-712.05.

(3) The Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act shall not affect or modify:

(a) The enforcement of criminal or civil laws, including, but not limited to, laws concerning consumer protection and unfair or deceptive trade practices which apply generally to the conduct of business;

(b) Any entity's obligations or rights or commission authority under section 86-122 and under 47 U.S.C. 251 and 252, as such sections existed on January 1, 2019, and any carrier-to-carrier tariff rates, wholesale service quality standards, interconnection agreements, or other obligations for which the commission has jurisdiction under state or federal law;

(c) Any requirement to contribute to any fund administered by the commission authorized by the 911 Service System Act, the Telecommunications Relay System Act, or the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund Act;

(d) Any commission jurisdiction over intrastate switched access rates, terms, and conditions, including the resolution of disputes arising from, and implementation of federal and state law with respect to, intercarrier compensation;

(e) The eligibility and requirements for the receipt of funds from the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund and the rules, regulations, and orders under the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund Act or the receipt of funds from the federal Universal Service Fund, regardless of the unregulated status of the provider's service under the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act;

(f) Any entity's rights and obligations with respect to (i) registration under section 86-125, (ii) the use of public streets, roads, highways, and rights-of-way, or (iii) a certificate of public convenience and necessity or a permit;

(g) The commission's authority under the 911 Service System Act or the Telecommunications Relay System Act;

(i) The commission's authority to apply or enforce statutory or regulatory provisions against an incumbent local exchange carrier in a deregulated exchange if such statutory or regulatory provisions could otherwise be applicable to a competitive local exchange carrier.

Cross References

Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund Act, see section 86-316.
911 Service System Act, see section 86-1032.
Rural Communications Sustainability Act, see section 86-1501.
Telecommunications Relay System Act, see section 86-301.

(1) Notwithstanding any other provisions of Chapters 75 and 86, only an electing local exchange carrier may initiate a proceeding to deregulate one of such carrier's exchanges. The commission may hold a hearing on the application and receive testimony from the applicant and any other interested person. No later than one hundred twenty days after the date the commission receives an application to initiate such proceeding, the commission shall determine whether the regulated exchange should be deregulated or remain regulated and issue a final order classifying the exchange in accordance with this section. An electing local exchange carrier may file an application with the commission to deregulate an exchange of the carrier that the commission previously determined should remain regulated upon a material change in the exchange including the entrance of additional carriers providing voice communications service by carriers previously operating in the exchange. The commission may set an application fee at an amount to cover the commission's cost of processing such application.

(2)(a) In making a determination under subsection (1) of this section, the commission shall presume that an exchange is competitive and that deregulation of the exchange is in the public interest if, in addition to the electing local exchange carrier, there are at least two other carriers, including one wireline or cable carrier, providing voice communications service in at least ninety percent of the household locations outside of tribal areas known at the time of application in the exchange. The presumption may be rebutted by evidence sufficient to determine that:

(i) More than ten percent of the household locations outside of tribal areas known at the time of application in the exchange do not have, in addition to the electing local exchange carrier, at least two other carriers, including one wireline or cable carrier, providing voice communications service; or

(ii) Household locations outside of tribal areas known at the time of application in the exchange have no carrier other than the electing local exchange carrier capable of providing voice communications service to locations known at the time of application. For purposes of this subdivision (2)(a)(ii), voice communications shall not include the transmission, conveyance, or routing of real-time, two-way voice communications to a point or between or among points by or through satellite.

(b) In making a determination under subsection (1) of this section, the commission may determine that an exchange should be deregulated if, in addition to the electing local exchange carrier, at least two other carriers are providing, or are capable of providing, voice communications service in at least seventy-five percent of the household locations outside of tribal areas known at the time of application in the exchange.

(c) In determining whether household locations are capable of being provided voice communications services by a carrier other than the electing local exchange carrier, the commission shall consider evidence related to vacant locations, declination of service to the location, and other evidence related to inaccuracies in the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection or other data related to service capability for the location.

(d) For the purposes of this subsection, an electing local exchange carrier may rely on data available to the carrier regarding the voice communications service capability, including, but not limited to, data from the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Data Collection that is available at the time of the application.

(e) If the commission deregulates an exchange under this section and the deregulation results in a regulated carrier no longer regulated or a transitioning carrier no longer meeting the definition of a transitioning carrier, the commission shall issue an order reclassifying such carrier as a deregulated carrier.

(b) Comply with standards or reporting requirements related to quality of retail service;

(c) Comply with restrictions on rates for retail telecommunications services, including advanced telecommunications services, unless the restrictions are a condition of receiving grant funds administered by the commission or imposed for compliance with sections 86-139 to 86-157; or

(2) The commission shall not provide a deregulated carrier with any funds from the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of Chapter 86, the commission shall have only the authority over a deregulated carrier provided under the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act. If there is a conflict between the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act and the other applicable provisions of Chapter 86, the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act shall control.

(4) Nothing in this section affects the continuing applicability of sections 86-122 to 86-124.

(5) The commission may receive, mediate, and hear complaints filed by any retail or wholesale customers against a deregulated carrier that are in the scope of the commission's authority provided under Chapter 86.

(6) A telecommunications company or communications provider shall not be required to fulfill the obligations of a carrier of last resort in an exchange that has been deregulated, unless such telecommunications company or communications provider consents to fulfilling such obligations.

Except as provided by section 86-1607, a transitioning carrier is governed by the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act and the provisions of Chapters 75 and 86 that applied to the carrier immediately before the date the carrier was classified as a transitioning carrier. If there is a conflict between the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act and other applicable provisions of Chapter 86, the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act shall control.

(1) A transitioning carrier is no longer required to do the following in the deregulated exchange:

(b) Comply with standards or reporting requirements related to quality of retail service; or

(c) Comply with a pricing requirement for retail service unless the requirement is a condition of receiving grant funds administered by the commission.

(2) A transitioning carrier is not eligible to receive funds from the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund for deregulated exchanges and the commission shall, to the extent feasible in the funding formula, reduce a transitioning carrier's allocation of funds from the Nebraska Telecommunications Universal Service Fund to account for deregulated exchanges.

In an exchange that remains regulated, a transitioning carrier shall price the carrier's retail services in accordance with the provisions that applied to that carrier immediately before the date the carrier was classified by the commission as a transitioning carrier.

Nothing in the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act shall relieve a telecommunications or communications provider from the requirements in section 86-124.

A telecommunications company seeking to discontinue service in a deregulated exchange shall be exempt from subdivision (1)(a) of section 86-134. A telecommunications company seeking to discontinue service in a deregulated exchange shall be solely subject to subdivision (1)(b) of section 86-134.

The commission may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations and conduct any proceedings necessary to administer and enforce the Telecommunications Exchange Deregulation Act, including rules and regulations to determine whether an exchange should remain regulated, be deregulated, or be reregulated.