Title 56, Title 56. Public Service Companies

The actual costs and expenses of the Commonwealth in the investigation by the Commonwealth Transportation Board of the application of any company for a permit, and in the supervision of the construction or installation of any of the works of the company, under the provisions of t…

A. No incorporated city or town shall grant to any such telegraph or telephone corporation the right to erect its poles, wires, or cables, or to lay its conduits upon or beneath its parks, streets, avenues, or alleys until such company shall have first obtained, in the manner pre…

Every telegraph or telephone company and every cable operator that has a franchise to use the public rights-of-way in a locality may contract with any person, the owner of lands, or of any interest, franchise, privilege, or easement therein or in respect thereto, over which such …

If the company and such owner cannot agree on the terms of such contract, the company may acquire such right-of-way in the manner provided by the laws of this Commonwealth for the exercise of the right of eminent domain. The title which may be acquired by a telegraph or telephone…

The preceding sections of this chapter and also §§ 56-466, 56-467 and 56-484 shall be subject to repeal, alteration, or modification, and the rights and privileges acquired thereunder shall be subject to revocation or modification by the General Assembly at its pleasure.

All posts, poles, wires, cables and conduits which shall be erected by any authority in the preceding sections of this chapter conferred shall be so located as in no way to obstruct or interfere with public travel or the ordinary use of, or the safety and convenience of persons t…

A. As used in this section: "Cable television system" means any system licensed, franchised or certificated pursuant to Article 1.2 (§ 15.2-2108.19 et seq.) of Chapter 21 of Title 15.2 that transmits television signals, for distribution to subscribers of its services for a fee, b…

When an investor-owned incumbent electric utility proposes to improve electric service reliability pursuant to clause (iv) of subdivision A 6 of § 56-585.1 by installing new underground facilities to replace the utility's existing overhead distribution tap lines, if the utility o…

The portions of the surface of the parks, roads, turnpikes, streets, avenues, or alleys, or of any pavements opened up or disturbed in erecting, repairing, laying or replacing poles, wires, or cables, or in repairing conduits under the provisions of this chapter shall be immediat…

Whoever shall hereafter erect, string, or maintain wires for any telephone or telegraph lines, over or across the works, in this Commonwealth, of any company chartered as a work of internal improvement in any manner so as to endanger the lives or limbs of the employees of such co…

A. As used in this article: "Access lines" are defined to include residence and business telephone lines and other switched (packet or circuit) lines connecting the customer premises to the public switched telephone network for the transmission of outgoing voice-grade telecommuni…

A. After July 1, 1998, certificated providers of telecommunications services shall receive reimbursement for eligible relocation costs incurred at the direction of a locality that imposes by ordinance the Public Rights-of-Way Use Fee or the Department of Transportation for new in…

The Commission shall keep itself fully informed of the condition of all the telephone companies of this Commonwealth as to the manner in which they are operated with reference to the accommodation of the public and shall, from time to time, make and enforce such requirements, rul…

No telephone company shall cause the long distance carrier designation of any telephone customer to be changed following such customer's initial selection thereof when establishing or reestablishing telephone service, without having first received a statement from the long distan…

A. No telecommunications service provider shall engage in anti-competitive acts or practices in connection with its provision of telecommunications services including price discrimination, predatory pricing or tying arrangements, as such terms are commonly applied in antitrust la…

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise: "Billing agent" means any entity that submits charges for products, goods, or services to the billing carrier on behalf of itself or any service provider. "Billing carrier" means any telephone company that issues …

The Commission may designate any commercial mobile radio or cellular telephone service provider as an eligible telecommunications carrier for purposes of providing Lifeline service, in addition to any commercial mobile radio or cellular telephone service providers designated as s…

The reasonableness, justice and validity of any rate, charge, rule, regulation or requirement on file with the Commission for any telephone company shall not be questioned in any suit brought by any person in the courts of this Commonwealth against any such telephone company, whe…

No telephone company shall institute a rate for service contained within the official tariff of the company more than three years from the date such rate is approved by the State Corporation Commission.

No telephone company shall require the deposit of money in any pay station as a prerequisite to reaching the operator from such station.

If under Chapter 10.1 (§ 56-265.1 et seq.) a certificate of public convenience and necessity is issued to a telephone company to provide interexchange service, the Commission may, if it determines that such service will be provided on a competitive basis, approve rates, charges, …

If, under subsection B of § 56-265.4:4, a certificate of public convenience and necessity is issued to a new entrant to provide local exchange telephone service, the Commission shall at the same time adopt a form of regulation for the new entrant's local exchange services and, up…

Upon demand of either party thereto or any person affected thereby all arrangements and agreements whatever between two or more telephone companies doing business in this Commonwealth, affecting or regulating the division of charges, earnings, or the manner of transmission of mes…

Each interexchange telephone company shall provide to the Commission in a timely manner any report or information concerning its usage of local exchange telephone services and facilities required under the effective access charge tariffs or schedules of a local exchange telephone…

Any interexchange company which willfully and knowingly fails to provide on time a report required by § 56-482.1 or willfully and knowingly understates the volume or type of use of service or facilities in such report shall be liable to the local exchange telephone company covere…

Every officer, agent or employee of any telephone company, who shall willfully neglect or refuse to make and furnish any report lawfully required by the Commission for the purposes of this chapter or who shall willfully or unlawfully delay or obstruct the Commission in the discha…

Every telephone or telegraph company, not incorporated by the laws of this Commonwealth, shall, as a condition precedent to the enjoyment of any right or privilege granted by this chapter, first obtain from the Commission a license to do business in this Commonwealth, and pay the…

The following terms, whenever used or referred to in this article, shall have the following meanings, unless a different meaning appears from the context: A. "Commission" shall mean the State Corporation Commission. B. "Exchange" shall mean a geographical area established for the…

A. Upon petition of five percent but in no case less than twenty-five of the subscribers in an established telephone exchange for an extension or reduction of their local service area to include or exclude a contiguous local exchange or exchanges, or upon resolution of the govern…

Nothing in this article shall restrict or alter the power of the Commission to change service areas on its own, on petition of any telephone company, or on petition of any subscriber. The Commission shall promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions …

A. A county, city, town, electric commission or board, industrial development authority, or economic development authority, other than one in a locality that (i) is eligible to provide telecommunications services pursuant to § 15.2-2160 and (ii) has a population in excess of 30,0…

The Commission shall find that it is in the public interest to approve the offering of qualifying communications services as defined in § 56-484.7:1 unless it shall be demonstrated to the Commission and found that, within the geographic area specified in the petition: (i) the qua…

The Commission may revoke its approval of a petition under § 56-484.7:1 no earlier than five years after such approval if it finds (i) that the factors described in § 56-484.7:2 on which the approval was based no longer exist or are no longer being satisfied, or (ii) that the pet…

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Automatic location identification" or "ALI" means a telecommunications network capability that enables the automatic display of information defining the geographical location of the telephone used to place…

A. The E-911 Services Board, formerly the Wireless E-911 Services Board, is hereby continued as the 9-1-1 Services Board. The Board shall exercise the powers and duties conferred in this article. B. The 9-1-1 Services Board shall: 1. Support and assist PSAPs in the provision of 9…

The 9-1-1 Services Board shall have the power and duty to: 1. Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers, including purchase agreements payable from (i) the Wireless E-911 Fund and (ii)…

A. On or before July 1, 2003, every county, city or town in the Commonwealth shall be served by an E-911 system, unless an extension of time has been granted by the Board. B. On or before July 1, 2020, each PSAP in the Commonwealth shall deploy equipment, products, and services n…

A. As used in this section: "Dispatcher" means an individual employed by a public safety answering point, an emergency medical dispatch service provider, or both, who is qualified to answer incoming emergency telephone calls or provide for the appropriate emergency response eithe…

A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Wireless E-911 Fund (the Fund). The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any…

A. As used in this section, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Dealer" means a person who sells prepaid CMRS to an end user. "Department" means the Department of Taxation. "End user" means a person who purchases prepaid CMRS in a retail transaction. "Prepaid CMRS" …

A. Telephone number #77 is hereby designated as an official access number for wireless telephone usage in the Commonwealth for access to designated offices of the Department of State Police and shall be used solely for official business. B. No caller shall block caller identifica…

The governing bodies of two or more counties, cities, or towns, or a combination thereof, may, by concurrent ordinances or resolutions or by agreement, create a regional emergency communications authority. Such authority shall be subject to all rights, privileges, and obligations…

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Authority" means a regional emergency communications authority created pursuant to this article. "Governing body" means, in the case of a county, the board of supervisors and, in the case of a city or town…

Each ordinance, agreement, or resolution creating an authority shall include the following: 1. The name of the authority and address of its principal office; 2. The name of each participating locality, together with the names, addresses, and terms of office of the first members o…

Any locality may become a member of any existing authority, and any locality that is a member of an existing authority may withdraw therefrom, but no locality shall be permitted to withdraw from any authority after any obligation has been incurred by the authority except by unani…

A. Each authority shall be governed by a board consisting of representatives appointed by the governing bodies of participating localities. The ordinances, agreements, or resolutions creating the authority shall specify (i) the number of members of the board, (ii) the manner of a…