47 U.S.C. § 276 — Provision of payphone service

Page 124 TITLE 47—TELECOMMUNICATIONS § 276 local exchange carrier or one of its affiliates to a remote monitoring center to alert a per- son at such center of the need to inform the customer or another person or police, fire, res- cue, security, or public safety personnel of such threat, but does not include a service that uses a med- ical monitoring device attached to an individual for the automatic surveillance of an ongoing medical condition. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, § 275, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title I, § 151(a), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 105.) § 276. Provision of payphone service (a) Nondiscrimination safeguards After the effective date of the rules prescribed pursuant to subsection (b), any Bell operating company that provides payphone service— (1) shall not subsidize its payphone service directly or indirectly from its telephone ex- change service operations or its exchange ac- cess operations; and (2) shall not prefer or discriminate in favor of its payphone service. (b) Regulations (1) Contents of regulations In order to promote competition among payphone service providers and promote the widespread deployment of payphone services to the benefit of the general public, within 9 months after February 8, 1996, the Commission shall take all actions necessary (including any reconsideration) to prescribe regulations that— (A) establish a compensation plan to en- sure that all payphone service providers are fairly compensated, and all rates and charges are just and reasonable, for com- pleted intrastate and interstate communica- tions using their payphone or other calling device, except that emergency calls and tele- communications relay service calls for hear- ing disabled individuals shall not be subject to such compensation; (B) discontinue the intrastate and inter- state carrier access charge payphone service elements and payments in effect on Feb- ruary 8, 1996, and all intrastate and inter- state payphone subsidies from basic ex- change and exchange access revenues, in favor of a compensation plan as specified in subparagraph (A); (C) prescribe a set of nonstructural safe- guards for Bell operating company payphone service to implement the provisions of para- graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a), which safeguards shall, at a minimum, include the nonstructural safeguards equal to those adopted in the Computer Inquiry-III (CC Docket No. 90–623) proceeding; (D) provide for Bell operating company payphone service providers to have the same right that independent payphone providers have to negotiate with the location provider on the location provider’s selecting and con- tracting with, and, subject to the terms of any agreement with the location provider, to select and contract with, the carriers that carry interLATA calls from their payphones, unless the Commission determines in the rulemaking pursuant to this section that it is not in the public interest; and (E) provide for all payphone service pro- viders to have the right to negotiate with the location provider on the location pro- vider’s selecting and contracting with, and, subject to the terms of any agreement with the location provider, to select and contract with, the carriers that carry intraLATA calls from their payphones. (2) Public interest telephones In the rulemaking conducted pursuant to paragraph (1), the Commission shall determine whether public interest payphones, which are provided in the interest of public health, safe- ty, and welfare, in locations where there would otherwise not be a payphone, should be main- tained, and if so, ensure that such public inter- est payphones are supported fairly and equi- tably. (3) Existing contracts Nothing in this section shall affect any ex- isting contracts between location providers and payphone service providers or interLATA or intraLATA carriers that are in force and ef- fect as of February 8, 1996. (c) State preemption To the extent that any State requirements are inconsistent with the Commission’s regulations, the Commission’s regulations on such matters shall preempt such State requirements. (d) ‘‘Payphone service’’ defined As used in this section, the term ‘‘payphone service’’ means the provision of public or semi- public pay telephones, the provision of inmate telephone service and advanced communications services described in subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), and (E) of section 153(1) of this title in correc- tional institutions, and any ancillary services. (June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, § 276, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title I, § 151(a), Feb. 8, 1996, 10 Stat. 106; amended Pub. L. 117–338, § 2(a), Jan. 5, 2023, 136 Stat. 6156.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2023—Subsec. (b)(1)(A). Pub. L. 117–338, § 2(a)(1), struck out ‘‘per call’’ before ‘‘compensation plan’’ and ‘‘each and every’’ before ‘‘completed intrastate’’, inserted ‘‘, and all rates and charges are just and reasonable,’’ after ‘‘fairly compensated’’ and ‘‘or other calling de- vice’’ after ‘‘their payphone’’, and substituted ‘‘commu- nications using’’ for ‘‘call using’’. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 117–338, § 2(a)(2), inserted ‘‘and ad- vanced communications services described in subpara- graphs (A), (B), (D), and (E) of section 153(1) of this title’’ after ‘‘inmate telephone service’’. SUBCHAPTER III—SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO PART I—GENERAL PROVISIONS § 301. License for radio communication or trans- mission of energy It is the purpose of this chapter, among other things, to maintain the control of the United