Title 23 — Public Utilities and Regulated Industries

No member or shareholder shall be liable or responsible for any debts of the cooperative, and the property of the members and shareholders shall not be subject to execution therefor.

A.C.A. § 23-17-234Current through all legislation of the 2025 Regular Session.Arkansas Code of 1987 Annotated Official EditionCopyright © 2026 by the State of Arkansas All rights reserved

No cooperative shall be liable for damage resulting from loss, interruption, or diminished quality of service due to earthquake, flood, storm, infestation, pestilence, civil insurrection, act of war, act of terrorism, software or hardware failure, malfunction, or error, or any ca…

(a) Construction of telecommunications lines and facilities by a telecommunications company or cooperative as a minimum requirement shall comply with the standards of the National Electrical Safety Code of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in effect at the tim…

No suit shall be brought against any telecommunications company or cooperative by the reason of the installation, use, or maintenance of telecommunications lines, poles, equipment, or fixtures on any real property, or within any right-of-way of any public way, unless it is commen…

(a) (1) A cooperative shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative, other than an action by or in …

(a) A director shall discharge his or her duties as a director, including his or her duties as a member of a committee:(1) In good faith;(2) With the care an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances; and(3) In a manner he or she reas…

(a) When a cooperative formed under this subchapter declares capital credits and any capital credit which remains unclaimed one (1) year after notice of the capital credit was transmitted to the last known address of the beneficiary of the credit:(1) The cooperative shall not be …

(a) Any cooperative established under this subchapter may opt out of coverage under the Arkansas Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act, § 14-271-101 et seq., by providing written notice to the Arkansas Public Service Commission by first class mail. (b) Any references in th…

(1) Any cooperative organized prior to January 1, 1979, under the provisions of this subchapter may enter into an agreement with any other cooperative so organized for one of the cooperatives to acquire the other cooperative, subject to the following provisions:(1) Any agreement …

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Universal Telephone Service Act”.

The General Assembly finds and declares that changes in pricing for telephone services mandated by the Federal Communications Commission and made necessary by the divestiture of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company from American Telephone and Telegraph Company will cause significa…

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Commission” means the Arkansas Public Service Commission;(2) “Interexchange carriers” includes persons, corporations, or other organizations which provide communications services which interconnect with lo…

(a) There is created the Universal Telephone Service Fund to be established by assessing upon all interexchange carriers operating in this state a charge on interexchange communication services based on usage, revenue, volume, or other appropriate factors. (b) (1) The amount of t…

The Universal Telephone Service Fund shall be effective on the date the interstate Universal Service Fund or similar arrangement is established by the Federal Communications Commission unless the Arkansas Public Service Commission, prior to that date and after hearing, finds that…

(a) The Arkansas Public Service Commission shall allocate the Universal Telephone Service Fund among all local exchange carriers operating in Arkansas in such a manner as to moderate the disruptive effects of changes in methods of pricing of telephone services and to hold prices …

The Arkansas Public Service Commission may collect, administer, and distribute the Universal Telephone Service Fund, itself, or it may delegate to a trustee or other agent acting under its supervision the administration and distribution of the fund upon such conditions and securi…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Telecommunications Regulatory Reform Act of 2013”.

(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly in enacting this subchapter to:(1) Provide for a system of regulation of telecommunications services, consistent with the federal act, that assists in implementing the national policy of opening the telecommunications market to competi…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Access line” means a communications facility extending from a customer's premises to a serving central office comprising a subscriber line and, if necessary, a trunk facility;(2) “Access minute”, unless otherwise defined by the Arkansas Public …

(a) (1) The Arkansas High Cost Fund (AHCF) is established by this section in order to promote and assure the availability of universal service at rates that are reasonable and affordable and to provide for reasonably comparable services and rates between rural and urban areas.(2)…

(a) The incumbent local exchange carrier, its successors and assigns, that owns, maintains, and provides facilities for universal service within a local exchange area on February 4, 1997, shall be the eligible telecommunications carrier within the local exchange area. (b) The Ark…

(a) Any incumbent local exchange carrier may elect to have the rates, terms, and conditions for its telecommunications services determined pursuant to the provisions of this section. (b) An incumbent local exchange carrier shall file a notice of its intent with the Arkansas Publi…

(a) (1) The rates for basic local exchange service and switched-access services that were in effect in the date twelve (12) months prior to the date of filing of a notice of election by a local exchange carrier pursuant to § 23-17-406 shall be the maximum that the electing local …

(a) The earnings of an electing company shall not be subject to rate of return or rate-base monitoring or regulation, and the Arkansas Public Service Commission shall not consider rate of return, rate base, or the earnings of an electing company in connection with rate changes ma…

(a) (1) (A) Consistent with the federal act and the provisions of § 23-17-410, the Arkansas Public Service Commission is authorized to grant certificates of convenience and necessity to telecommunications providers authorizing them to provide telecommunications services, includin…

(a) A rural telephone company shall not have any duty to negotiate terms and conditions of or to enter into any agreement for the provision to any other telecommunications provider of interconnection with the rural telephone company's network as provided by 47 U.S.C. §§ 251(c) an…

(a) Regarding the earnings, rates of return, or rate-base calculation of any electing company, any incumbent local exchange carrier that has filed notice in accordance with § 23-17-412, or any competing local exchange carrier, and provided that all such companies and carriers oth…

(a) (1) Telephone companies that file notice with the Arkansas Public Service Commission of an election to be regulated in accordance with the provisions of this section are authorized to determine and account for their respective revenues and expenses, including depreciation exp…

In order to assign the place of primary use for mobile telecommunications services pursuant to the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, Pub. L. No. 106-252, the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration may choose whether to furnish vendors with a database that…

(a) The Arkansas Public Service Commission shall promulgate rules that enable customers in a local exchange service area to petition the commission directly or by a resolution of the customers' quorum court or other local governing body to request that an incumbent local exchange…

(a) Where technically feasible, any telecommunications provider whose customer originates or forwards an intrastate interexchange message to be terminated over the public switched telecommunications network in Arkansas shall transmit the jurisdictionally appropriate telephone num…

(a) (1) (A) Except as provided in § 23-17-404(e)(4)(D)(i)(b), through June 30, 2013, intrastate carrier common line charges billed to ILECs and underlying carriers shall be determined at the rate of one and sixty-five hundredths cents (1.65¢) per intrastate access minute.(B) Exce…

(a) The Arkansas Intrastate Carrier Common Line Pool Advisory Procedural Board is not a government entity under Arkansas law and shall not be considered a government entity for any purpose. (b) The Arkansas Public Service Commission shall adopt all rules relating to the operation…

(a) The Arkansas High Cost Fund administrator shall:(1) On March 19, 2013, begin making assessments to ensure proper funding to program participants; and(2) Ninety (90) days after March 19, 2013, begin making distributions to eligible participants. (1) On March 19, 2013, begin ma…

(a) The General Assembly finds that:(1) The deployment of small wireless facilities and other next-generation wireless and broadband network facilities is a matter of federal and statewide concern and interest;(2) Wireless and broadband products and services are a significant and…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Small Wireless Facility Deployment Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Affiliate” means an entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another party;(2) “Antenna” means communications equipment that transmits or receives an electromagnetic radio frequency signal i…

An authority shall not enter into an exclusive arrangement with a person for use of the right-of-way for the collocation of small wireless facilities or the installation, operation, marketing, modification, maintenance, or replacement of poles for the collocation.

(a) Subject to this subchapter, a wireless provider shall have the right, as a permitted use not subject to zoning review or approval, to collocate, maintain, modify, operate, and replace small wireless facilities and to install, maintain, modify, and replace poles it owns or man…

(a) Each new or modified pole installed in the right-of-way for the purpose of the collocation of small wireless facilities shall not exceed the greater of:(1) Fifty feet (50′) in height above ground level; or(2) Ten percent (10%) taller than the tallest existing pole in place in…

(a) (1) A wireless provider shall repair all damage to the right-of-way directly caused by the activities of the wireless provider in the right-of-way and return the right-of-way to its functional and aesthetic equivalence before the damage under the competitively neutral, reason…

(a) An authority that has adopted an ordinance under § 14-17-209 or § 14-56-416 may adopt and enforce standards that govern the aesthetic appearance of small wireless facilities and associated poles to ensure coordinated, adjusted, and harmonious development, as provided in this …

(a) This section applies to activities of a wireless provider collocating small wireless facilities on authority poles in the authority's right-of-way or in a right-of-way controlled by the Arkansas Department of Transportation located within an authority. (b) (1) A person owning…

(a) (1) This section applies to all permits required for the collocation of small wireless facilities and to the permitting of the installation, modification, and replacement of associated poles by a wireless provider that:(A) Is in an authority's right-of-way; or(B) Is in a righ…

(a) This section shall govern an authority's rates and fees for use of authority poles and the placement of a small wireless facility or associated poles. (b) An authority shall not require a wireless provider to pay any rates, fees, or compensation to the authority or other pers…

(a) (1) Subject to this subchapter and applicable federal law, an authority may continue to exercise zoning, land use, planning, and permitting authority within its territorial boundaries with respect to wireless support structures, including the enforcement of applicable codes.(…

(a) This subchapter does not limit, abrogate, or supersede the jurisdiction of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, or any rule or order of the commission concerning pole attachments under § 23-4-1001 et seq., or any agreement of a public utility pole owner and attacher relate…

(a) (1) An authority may adopt an ordinance that makes available to wireless providers rates, fees, and other terms that comply with this subchapter.(2) Subject to the other provisions of this section, in the absence of an ordinance or agreement that substantially implements this…

(a) A court of competent jurisdiction shall have jurisdiction to determine disputes arising under this subchapter. (b) Pending resolution of a dispute concerning rates for collocation of small wireless facilities on authority poles in the right-of-way, the authority owning or con…