Title 47 — Telegraphs, Telephones, and RadiotelegraphsRelease 119-73

§258 Illegal changes in subscriber carrier selections

Title 47 › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - COMMON CARRIERS › Part Part II— - Development of Competitive Markets › § 258

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Telecom carriers must not switch a customer’s local or long‑distance phone provider unless they follow verification rules set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). State regulators can still enforce those rules for calls that stay inside a state. If a carrier breaks the verification rules and still bills the customer, it must pay the customer’s former carrier back for all charges the customer paid after the improper switch, under FCC procedures. Those payments do not stop other legal actions.

Full Legal Text

Title 47, §258

Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)No telecommunications carrier shall submit or execute a change in a subscriber’s selection of a provider of telephone exchange service or telephone toll service except in accordance with such verification procedures as the Commission shall prescribe. Nothing in this section shall preclude any State commission from enforcing such procedures with respect to intrastate services.

(b)Any telecommunications carrier that violates the verification procedures described in subsection (a) and that collects charges for telephone exchange service or telephone toll service from a subscriber shall be liable to the carrier previously selected by the subscriber in an amount equal to all charges paid by such subscriber after such violation, in accordance with such procedures as the Commission may prescribe. The remedies provided by this subsection are in addition to any other remedies available by law.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

47 U.S.C. § 258

Title 47 — Telegraphs, Telephones, and Radiotelegraphs

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73