Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a system of charges to compensate exchange common carriers for exchange access and to change the system of jurisdictional separation of property and expenses in force on the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the FCC to ascertain and apportion, by regulation, the costs incurred by exchange carriers to provide exchange access. Requires such regulation to provide for the ascertainment and apportionment of the costs of exchange access between exchange (local) service and interexchange (long distance) service in a manner that ensures the universal availability of basic communications service at reasonable rates. Requires the FCC to ensure that the costs of nontraffic-sensitive facilities used to provide exchange access are allocated to interexchange service in a specified ratio. Directs the FCC to establish uniform practices that ensure that the costs allocated to interexchange service are recovered from interexchange carriers and customers of interexchange services.
Requires that an exchange carrier retain any terminal equipment which it provided on December 31, 1982, and continue to make the equipment available to customers under tariffs in force as of such date until the equipment is fully depreciated except that: (1) State commissions shall permit increases in such tariffs to reflect any reasonable increases in the costs of providing such equipment; and (2) the customer may purchase such equipment for a price fixed by the State commission. Authorizes exchange carriers to offer other terminal equipment to the public at any time after January 1, 1984, if the equipment: (1) is manufactured by unaffiliated persons; and (2) is offered through a separate subsidiary which meets specified requirements.
Directs the FCC to require all telecommunications services provided by an interexchange carrier certified by the FCC to originate and terminate over the facilities of a local exchange common carrier.
Prohibits the FCC from having any jurisdiction over State regulation of depreciation rates for telephone equipment used for intrastate telephone service.
Grants the States exclusive jurisdiction over the provision of intrastate telecommunication service.
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce.
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