Title 49, PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS

Expenditures authorized by the provisions of §§ 49-31-47 to 49-31-56 , inclusive, shall be paid on warrants drawn by the state auditor on vouchers approved by the secretary of the Department of Human Services. Expenditure for services for individuals who have deafness, deaf blind…

The Department of Human Services may promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , for the administration of the telecommunications and communication services program. The rules may include: (1) Eligibility determination, criteria, and application procedures; (2) The amount and sc…

The commission may on its own motion or upon the motion of any party, assess against a party reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, discovery costs, transcript fees or other expenses of the commission or another party to a proceeding if a party has filed a pleading with t…

If it is determined to be in the public interest, the commission may utilize cost allocation methods other than fully distributed methods as provided for in § 49-31-4 for the assignment of costs among jointly provided noncompetitive services, emerging competitive services, or ful…

Any sale of a telecommunications exchange shall be approved by the commission. Within twenty days following receipt of a telecommunications company's application to sell an exchange, the commission shall publish notice of the proposed sale in a newspaper of general circulation in…

It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage telecommunications companies to more efficiently meet the infrastructure deployment goal described in §§ 49-31-60 and 49-31-61 for a fully integrated SONET backbone of interconnected survivable rings. To that end, telecommunication…

The commission may make a physical valuation of all the property of any telecommunications company, to be taken when such valuation is necessary for the purpose of arriving at any determination in connection with the regulation of its business or the adjustment of its rates. Sour…

It is the intent of the Legislature that South Dakota have a telecommunications infrastructure that meets the advanced communication needs of the state's individual citizens and its communities of interest, including our schools, medical facilities, businesses, and all levels of …

South Dakota's Public Communications Network Infrastructure shall be composed of three networks: a narrowband network, a wideband network, and a broadband network. Source: SL 1997, ch 266 , § 3.

No telecommunications company may begin the construction of a telecommunications facility intended to provide local exchange service, commence operating a telecommunications facility for the purpose of providing local exchange service, or offer or otherwise provide local exchange…

In addition to the regulatory powers and duties provided by chapters 49-1 to 49-13 , inclusive, and this chapter, the commission may conduct any investigations that are necessary to protect the public interest. The commission may order such changes or improvements in telecommunic…

The commission may: (1) Examine and inspect the condition of each telecommunications company in this state and of its equipment, and the manner of its conduct and management with reference to the safety, accommodation and convenience of the public; (2) Require any telecommunicati…

Nothing in § 49-31-7.1 may be construed to relieve any telecommunications company from its present responsibility or liability for damages to any person or property. Source: SDC 1939, § 52.0202; SDCL, § 49-3-9; SL 1987, ch 345 , § 50.

Upon certificate by any member of the commission stating that a telecommunications company or person subject to the provisions of this chapter has refused to obey a subpoena, rule, order or regulation of the commission, any court of this state, pursuant to chapter 21-34 , shall i…

No person may obstruct the commission or any member thereof in the performance of any of its duties or functions or refuse to give any information within its possession or to produce any record or evidence that may be required by the commission or member within the purview of its…

An application for a certificate of authority to provide local exchange service shall set forth with particularity the proposed geographic territory to be served and provide information regarding the types of local exchange services to be provided. Each telecommunications company…

The commission shall issue a certificate of authority for local exchange service to the applying telecommunications company, if, after notice and opportunity for hearing pursuant to chapter 1-26 , the applicant has demonstrated sufficient technical, financial, and managerial capa…

Except when an evidentiary hearing is required by the commission, the commission shall act on an application for a certificate of authority to provide local exchange service within sixty days of receiving a complete application. If an evidentiary hearing is required, the commissi…

Except as provided in 47 U.S.C. § 253(f) as of January 1, 1998, if the applicant proposes to provide any local exchange service in the service area of a rural telephone company, the applicant is required to satisfy the service obligations of an eligible telecommunications carrier…

Any certificate of authority for local exchange service granted by the commission to a telecommunications company prior to July 1, 1998, shall remain in full force and effect unless modified by the commission, and such company need not apply for certification in order to continue…

A certificate of authority for local exchange service issued by the commission may not be sold, assigned, leased, or transferred without commission approval. Any certificate of authority issued by the commission may be suspended or revoked, pursuant to chapter 1-26 , for a willfu…

Within ninety days after July 1, 1998, the commission shall initiate rule - making proceedings pursuant to chapter 1-26 to adopt rules addressing the competitive provisioning of local exchange service which, consistent with 47 U.S.C. § 253(b) as of January 1, 1998, shall be direc…

The commission may promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to establish service quality standards for local exchange services. Source: SL 1998, ch 274 , § 15.

The commission shall designate a common carrier as an eligible telecommunications carrier for a service area designated by the commission consistent with 47 U.S.C. § 214(e) as of January 1, 1998. The commission may permit an eligible telecommunications carrier to relinquish its d…

Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 251(f)(1) as of January 1, 1998, the obligations of an incumbent local exchange carrier, which include the duty to negotiate and provide interconnection, unbundled network elements, resale, notice of changes and collocation, do not apply to a rural telepho…

Consistent with 47 U.S.C. § 251(f)(2) as of January 1, 1998, the commission may grant a suspension or modification of any of the interconnection or other requirements set forth in 47 U.S.C. §§ 251(b) and 251(c), as of January 1, 1998, to any local exchange carrier which serves fe…

The commission may implement and comply with the provisions of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, including the promulgation of rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 . Except to the extent a local exchange carrier is exempt from or has received a suspension or modification purs…

It is recognized that certain resale restrictions may be necessary to prevent unfair competition, preserve universal service and otherwise protect the public interest. The commission may permit reasonable and nondiscriminatory resale restrictions proposed by local exchange carrie…

The commission may not prohibit telecommunications companies from voluntarily forming an association to assist in the administration and filing of schedules or tariffs and to engage in the pooling of access costs and revenues in a manner which is consistent with preserving and ad…

It is in the public interest and essential that local exchange telecommunication companies over all of South Dakota continue to be viable providers of affordable local exchange services. Local exchange telecommunication companies receive substantial revenue necessary to support t…

Any regulation of telecommunications service by the commission pursuant to chapters 49-13 and 49-31 shall be fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory and applicable to all telecommunications carriers providing service in the state. The commission shall establish, by rules promulgated …

Prices for residential and business local exchange service, both recurring and nonrecurring, for a telecommunications company with more than two hundred thousand retail access lines in the state may not be changed unless reduced by the company. If the telecommunications company r…

No telecommunications company may offer any promotion exempt from the provisions of § 49-31-86 more than twice in any calendar year. No telecommunications company may run any such promotions consecutively. No benefit from a promotion may be extended to any customer beyond the pro…

The exemption for promotions provided by § 49-31-86 is not effective until December 31, 2000, in the local exchange area of any facilities - based competitive local exchange carrier certified by the commission that provides broadband network services throughout its local exchange…

Dialing parity, as defined in 47 U.S.C. § 153(15) as of January 1, 1998, for purposes of intraLATA long distance telecommunications services, shall be implemented by any local exchange carrier serving more than two hundred thousand retail access lines by order of the commission o…

Nothing in §§ 49-31-84 to 49-31-87 , exempts any telecommunications company from any state or federal antitrust laws. Source: SL 1998, ch 274 , § 32.

The telecommunications company of any subscriber may not be changed without the telecommunications service subscriber's authorization. The telecommunications service subscriber's authorization shall be evidenced either by a written authorization signed by the subscriber or by the…

If an independent third - party verification company obtains a subscriber's oral confirmation regarding a change of a designated telecommunications company for interexchange or local exchange telecommunications service, the third - party verification shall include: (1) A statemen…

The third - party verification company shall meet each of the following criteria: (1) Be independent of the telecommunications company that seeks to provide the subscriber's new service; (2) Not be managed, controlled, or directed or owned wholly or in part, by the telecommunicat…

A telecommunications company selling more than one type of telecommunications service must obtain separate authorization to change a telecommunications company from the subscriber for each service sold, although the authorizations may be made within the same solicitation. At a mi…

A subscriber is not liable for any charges imposed by a telecommunications company that initiates a telecommunications carrier change without authorization from the subscriber or for the billing of unauthorized products or services. In addition, the telecommunications company tha…

Any person who violates §§ 49-31-89 to 49-31-97 , inclusive, or any rules promulgated pursuant to §§ 49-31-89 to 49-31-97 , inclusive, is subject to a civil penalty to be imposed by the commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing. The commission may impose a civil fine o…

If the commission receives more than two complaints within thirty days regarding violations of § 49-31-89 , the commission may require the telecommunications company responsible for the violations to provide the commission with a complete list of its current subscribers, includin…

If the commission finds the company has committed a violation of §§ 49-31-89 to 49-31-97 , inclusive, after holding a contested case proceeding or if allowed by § 49-31-95 , the commission may assess the actual costs of the contested case proceeding or contacting subscribers to t…

For the purpose of §§ 49-31-89 to 49-31-97 , inclusive, the term, subscriber, means any person who contracts with a telecommunications company for telecommunications services. Source: SL 1999, ch 227 , § 9.

Any decision or order by any agency which requires the provision of telecommunications services, in excess of voice grade local exchange service, shall establish a cost recovery method or mechanism to ensure that the telecommunications company will be able to recover the cost of …