Title Minnesota Statutes, Minnesota Statutes

237.066 STATE GOVERNMENT PRICING PLANS. § Subdivision 1.Purpose. A state government or Tribal government telecommunications pricing plan is authorized and found to be in the public interest as it will: (1) provide and ensure availability of high-quality, technologically advanced …

237.067 ESTABLISHMENT EXEMPT FROM REGULATION. § Subdivision 1.Definition. For purposes of this section, "establishment" means an individual hotel, motel, restaurant, lodging house, boarding house, resort, or place of refreshment licensed under chapter 157. § Subd. 2.Exemption; co…

237.069 TRACER; HARASSING TELEPHONE CALL; RULES. The commission shall adopt rules to govern how telephone companies respond to requests for tracers made by persons who allege receiving harassing telephone calls. The rules must address when a request for a tracer may be denied or …

237.07 FILING REQUIREMENTS. § Subdivision 1.Filing of charges. Every telephone company shall keep on file with the department a specific rate, toll, or charge for every kind of noncompetitive service and a price list for every kind of service subject to emerging competition, toge…

237.071 SPECIAL PRICING. Except as prohibited by section 237.60, subdivision 3, prices unique to a particular customer or group of customers may be allowed for noncompetitive services and for services subject to emerging competition when differences in the cost of providing a ser…

237.072 LIMITATION ON RATE CHANGE. (a) After December 15, 1997, the commission, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, shall not allow an incumbent telephone company with more than 1,000,000 access lines in Minnesota to change its retail rates for telecommunications servi…

237.075 RATE CHANGE. § Subdivision 1.Notice. Unless the commission otherwise orders, no telephone company shall change a rate which has been duly established under this chapter, except upon 60 days' notice to the commission. The notice shall include statements of facts, expert op…

237.076 SETTLEMENT; PROCEDURES. § Subdivision 1.Settlement. In proceedings before the commission, interested parties are encouraged to enter into settlements of their disputes. If a settlement is reached before a contested case hearing has been ordered and the commission rejects …

237.078 INFORMAL REVIEW AND RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES. (a) A telecommunications service provider that is unable to resolve a dispute with another telecommunications service provider concerning a matter subject to commission jurisdiction may file a petition for an informal review of …

237.081 INVESTIGATION. § Subdivision 1.Commission investigation. Whenever the commission believes that a service is inadequate or cannot be obtained or that an investigation of any matter relating to any telephone service should for any reason be made, it may on its own motion in…

237.082 TELECOMMUNICATION RATE AND SERVICE GOALS. When setting rates, adopting rules, or issuing orders related to telecommunication matters that affect deployment of the infrastructure, the commission may apply the goals of: (1) achieving economically efficient investment in: (i…

237.09 DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED. § Subdivision 1.Generally. No telephone company, or any agent or officer thereof, shall, directly or indirectly, in any manner, knowingly or willfully, charge, demand, collect, or receive from any person, firm, or corporation, a greater or less c…

237.10 UNIFORM RULES, CLASSIFICATIONS, PRACTICES; FORMS. It shall be the duty of the commission to prescribe uniform rules and classifications pertaining to the conduct of intrastate telephone business and a system of accounting to be used by telephone companies in transacting th…

237.101 ELECTRONIC BILLING. A telephone company may provide a customer's periodic account statement to the customer in electronic format in lieu of paper format if the customer has authorized the electronic format in writing. History: 2002 c 329 s 1

237.11 INSPECTING RECORDS AND PROPERTY; REPORTS REQUIRED. Every telephone company subject to the provisions of this chapter, wherever organized, shall keep an office in this state, and make such reports to the department as it shall from time to time require. All books, records, …

237.115 INFORMATION SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER. In any meeting of the commission during which information that is subject to a protective order is discussed, the commission shall employ the procedures of section 14.60 to close to all persons who are not authorized to obtain the …

237.12 SERVICE CONNECTION BETWEEN TELEPHONE COMPANIES. § Subdivision 1.Interconnection. When public convenience requires the same, every telephone company shall, for a reasonable compensation, permit a physical connection or connections to be made, and telephone service to be fur…

237.121 PROHIBITED PRACTICES. (a) A telephone company or telecommunications carrier may not do any of the following with respect to services regulated by the commission: (1) upon request, fail to disclose in a timely and uniform manner information necessary for the design of equi…

237.131 INTRASTATE CALL ROUTING. A telecommunications service provider shall not participate in intrastate call routing practices that result in failures of calls to be delivered to a local provider within Minnesota. A telecommunications service provider and a registered wholesal…

237.132 REGISTRATION OF WHOLESALE TRANSPORT PROVIDERS. (a) A wholesale transport provider shall, within 30 days of May 20, 2016, or of the wholesale transport provider's initial offering of wholesale transport service in Minnesota, whichever is later, file a registration with the…

237.14 RATE FOR SERVICE TO OFFICER. A telephone company may furnish service free or at reduced rates to its officers, agents, or employees in furtherance of their employment, but it shall charge full schedule rates without discrimination for all other services. History: (5297) 19…

237.15 INVESTIGATION AND HEARING; AUTHORITY DELEGATED. The department shall whenever it deems the same necessary determine the value of all the property of any telephone company devoted to the public use, and in so doing it shall, after notice to the telephone company, hold such …

237.155 CREDIT FOR INCORRECT DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE. A local exchange carrier that provides directory assistance to customers for a fee, either directly or by contracting with a third party, must provide for an immediate credit to a customer that informs the directory assistance pr…

237.16 LOCAL EXCHANGE COMPETITION, RULES. § Subdivision 1.New service, certificate of authority. (a) For the purpose of bringing about fair and reasonable competition for local exchange telephone services, the commission has the exclusive authority, subject to the authority of a …

237.162 PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY; DEFINITIONS. § Subdivision 1.Generally. The terms used in sections 237.162 and 237.163 have the meanings given to them in this section. § Subd. 2.Local government unit. "Local government unit" means a county, home rule charter or statutory city, town,…

237.163 USE AND REGULATION OF PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY. § Subdivision 1.Legislative finding. The legislature finds, and establishes the principle that, it is in the state's interest that the use and regulation of public rights-of-way be carried on in a fair, efficient, competitively n…

237.164 UNIVERSAL SERVICE DISCOUNT FOR SCHOOL OR LIBRARY. The commission shall establish intrastate service discounts for schools and libraries by order to the extent necessary to enable schools and libraries to receive federally supported discounts. History: 1997 c 223 s 8; 2014…

237.17 EXTENSION OF LONG-DISTANCE LINE. Any telephone company may extend its long-distance lines into or through any city of this state for the furnishing of long-distance service only, subject to sections 237.162 and 237.163. History: (5300) 1915 c 152 s 14; 1925 c 184 s 2; 1973…

237.181 CUSTOMER TRANSITION PLANS FOR AREAS WITH VOIP ALTERNATIVES. § Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings given. (b) "Commission" means the Public Utilities Commission. (c) "Voice over Internet Protocol" or "VoIP"…

237.19 MUNICIPAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. (a) Any municipality shall have the right to own and operate a telephone exchange within its own borders, subject to the provisions of this chapter. It may construct such plant, or purchase an existing plant by agreement with the owne…

237.20 CONDEMNATION: NOTICE, COMPENSATION, APPEAL. When a municipality decides in the manner above provided to acquire an existing plant by condemnation, it shall give notice to the commission which shall determine the just compensation which the owner of the plant is entitled to…

237.21 VALUATION OF TELEPHONE PROPERTY. In determining the value of any telephone property for ratemaking purposes, no valuation shall be allowed upon the value of any franchise granted by the state or any municipality where no payment was or is being made to the state or municip…

237.22 DEPRECIATION; AMORTIZATION. (a) For purposes of a proceeding to determine or investigate any wholesale or retail rate, or to set any universal service support level, the commission may fix proper and adequate rates and methods of depreciation and amortization with respect …

237.23 ACQUIRING PROPERTY OF ANOTHER COMPANY. It shall be unlawful for any telephone company, corporation, person, partnership, or association subject to the provisions of this chapter to purchase or acquire the property, capital stock, bonds, securities, or other obligations, or…

237.231 SALE OF LOCAL EXCHANGE SERVICE. § Subdivision 1.Commission approval. A Class A telephone company may not sell a local exchange service territory without receiving the prior consent of the commission. For the purposes of this section, a Class A telephone company is a telep…

237.24 TRANSCRIBED COPY OF RECORD, EXPENSE. A full and complete record shall be kept by the commission of all proceedings had before it upon any formal investigation or hearing and all testimony received or offered shall be taken down by the stenographer appointed by the commissi…

237.25 APPEAL FROM DECISION OF COMMISSION. Any party to a proceeding before the commission or the attorney general may make and perfect an appeal from the order in accordance with chapter 14. If the court finds from an examination of the record that the commission erroneously rej…

237.26 ORDER FINAL AND CONCLUSIVE. If no appeal is taken from any order of the commission, as above provided, then in all litigation thereafter arising between the state and any telephone company or between private parties and any telephone company, the order shall be deemed fina…

237.27 ATTORNEY GENERAL TO COMPEL OBEDIENCE. When any telephone company fails to comply with any law of the state or any order of the commission after it has become final, or any order or judgment of the district court, the court of appeals, or the supreme court in any cases take…

237.28 BURDEN OF PROOF. In any investigation, action or proceeding arising under, or growing out of, an action initiated by the commission upon its own motion, the burden of proof shall be upon the telephone company to establish the reasonableness of the existing rates. History: …

237.295 ASSESSMENT OF REGULATORY EXPENSES. § Subdivision 1.Filing fee for new authority. An application for a new authority must be accompanied by a payment not to exceed $2,000 as determined by the Public Utilities Commission. This fee will be reviewed annually and adjusted acco…

237.30 TELEPHONE INVESTIGATION FUND; APPROPRIATION. A Minnesota Telephone Investigation Fund shall exist for the use of the Department of Commerce and of the attorney general in investigations, valuations, and revaluations under section 237.295. All sums paid by the telephone com…

237.411 REDUCED RATE REGULATION FOR CERTAIN BUSINESS CUSTOMERS. § Subdivision 1.Business customer; defined. For the purpose of this section, "business customer" means a customer subscribing to four or more business lines. § Subd. 2.Competitive area; defined. A "competitive area" …

237.414 EXPANDED CALLING AREAS; TRANSPORT FACILITIES; TERMINATIONS. § Subdivision 1.Expanded calling areas. (a) In addition to any existing authority applicable to telephone companies, a telephone company may expand the area to which it can provide calling to its customers upon f…

237.435 ANNUAL UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUNDING CERTIFICATION. In determining whether to provide the annual certification of any eligible telecommunications carrier for continued receipt of federal universal service funding, the commission shall apply the same standards and criteria to …

237.46 GROSS MISDEMEANOR VIOLATION. Any telephone company or telecommunications carrier and, if it be a corporation, the officers thereof, violating any provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor. History: (5310) 1915 c 152 s 24; 1919 c 183 s 6; 2014 c 222 …