Post-disaster consumer Protection Measures

Post-Disaster Consumer Protection Measures For 

Wireline Communications Customers in California

In the event the Governor of California or the President of the United States declares a state of emergency in your area that results in the loss or disruption of landline telephone service1 or in the degradation of the quality of landline telephone service2, landline telephone providers shall provide the following protections to their residential and small business (5 lines or less) customers for a duration of at least 12 months from the date of the state of emergency declaration or as appropriately determined by the California Office of Emergency Services:

1. Waiver of one-time activation fee for establishing remote call forwarding, remote access to call forwarding, call forwarding features, and messaging services;

2. Waiver of the monthly rate for one month for remote call forwarding, remote access to call forwarding, call forwarding, call forwarding features, and messaging services;

3. Waiver of the service charge for installation of service at the temporary or new permanent location of the customer and again when the customer moves back to the premises;

4. Waiver of the fee for one jack and associated wiring at the temporary location regardless of whether the customer has an Inside Wire Plan;

5. Waiver of the fee for up to five free jacks and associated wiring for Inside Wiring Plan customer upon their return to their permanent location; and

6. Waiver of the fee for one jack and associated wiring for non-Plan customers upon their return to their permanent location.

1 “Disruption” is the (1) loss of dial tone; (2) no connection or otherwise non-functioning service; or (3) circumstances in which the caller cannot make or receive a voice call because the disaster has rendered the service nonfunctional and so, the caller is unable to make a 9-1-1 call.

2 “Degradation” occurs in situations where service is not completely out, but callers still encounter poor service quality, including, but not limited to, static, failure to connect, a fast busy signal, and/or dropped calls, including 9-1-1 calls.