SENATE, No. 1681

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED NOVEMBER 7, 1996

By Senators SCOTT, SINAGRA, Haines, Kosco, Kyrillos, Cafiero, Singer, Bennett, Palaia, Cardinale, McNamara, Ciesla, Sacco, Matheussen, Inverso, Connors, Baer, Adler, Rice, Girgenti, Casey, O'Connor and Codey

An Act concerning telephone area codes and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Area Code Integrity Act."

    2. The Board of Public Utilities, hereinafter, "the board," shall require telephone companies that assign telephone area codes not to assign more than one area code to a single municipality in this State.

    3. a. The board shall establish, within 90 days of the effective date of this act, in rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the criteria and procedures to be utilized in making a determination concerning a plan filed with the board by a telephone company to assign telephone area codes in this State.

    b. The criteria to be adopted by the board pursuant to this section shall include, but need not be limited to, specifications that:

    (1) prohibit the splitting of a single municipality into two or more area codes;

    (2) preclude overlayering or superimposing an additional area code on one or more municipalities which have an existing area code;

    (3) promote effective competition among telephone companies seeking to provide telephone services within specific geographic areas, classes of customers or types of services;

    (4) facilitate customer access to, and ease of use of, the services to be provided by telephone companies to residences and businesses; and

    (5) expand the use of the latest available technology to provide telephone services within specific geographic areas, classes of customers or types of services.

    c. The board shall utilize the criteria adopted pursuant to this section in making a determination concerning a new area code plan submitted to it by a telephone company.

    d. Any order issued by the board after September 1, 1996, concerning the approval of a new area code plan submitted to it by a telephone company prior to the effective date of this act, shall be reconsidered by the board after the adoption of the rules and regulations pursuant to this section in order to effectuate the goals and requirements of this section and of section 2 of this act.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill mandates that the Board of Public Utilities require telephone companies assigning new area codes not to assign more than one area code to a single municipality in this State.

    The bill requires the board to adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," to establish the criteria to be used by the board when reviewing area code plans submitted to it by telephone companies. The bill requires the board to utilize the criteria in order to effectuate the purpose of section 2 of the bill to prohibit the assignment of more than one area code to a single municipality.

    The criteria to be used by the board shall include, but need not be limited to, specifications prohibiting splitting a municipality into two or more area codes, precluding overlayering a new area code on a municipality with an existing area code, promoting effective competition among telephone companies, facilitating access to and ease of use of telephone services by customers, and expanding the use of latest available technology to provide telephone services.

    The bill also provides that if the board has issued an order after September 1, 1996 concerning the approval of a new area code plan submitted prior to the effective date of the bill, the board shall reconsider the order, after adopting the rules and regulations under section 3 of the bill, in order to effectuate the goals of section 2 of the bill.

Requires the BPU to prohibit telephone companies from assigning more than one area code to a single municipality.