Section 730.550  Network Outages and Notification

a)         Notification

1)         Each local exchange carrier shall inform the Commission of any service interruption exceeding 15 minutes duration caused by a complete or partial central office failure or complete or partial isolation of an exchange due to toll circuit failure, including cut cables. The notification shall be made via telephone call to (217)558-6166 and shall consist of the following information:

A)        Affected Area Code/Prefix

B)        Exchange Name

C)        Company Name

D)        Cause of Interruption

E)         Outage Date and Time

F)         Restoral Date and Time

G)        Effect on 9-1-1 Service

H)        Name and Number of Person Reporting the Service Interruption.

2)         Written Report

A follow-up written report shall be filed within 30 days, either via U.S. Postal Service, facsimile or e-mail.

3)         Reporting Timeframes

A)        Minor outages shall be reported within 24 hours or during the next normal business day, when more than 100 access lines experience an outage. Minor outages consist of loss of local or toll service affecting fewer than 50% of the customers and affecting more than 100 access lines in the affected exchange for a period of time not to exceed 12 hours.

B)        Major outages shall be reported immediately via telephone call to (217)558-6166.

C)        Major outages consist of complete loss of local or toll service affecting at least 50% of the customers in the affected exchange or when any outage is expected to exceed 12 hours.

D)        All outages affecting 9-1-1 services shall be reported in accordance with 83 Ill. Adm. Code 725, Standards Applicable to 9-1-1 Emergency Systems. In particular, any cut cables or loss of host-remote links that result in the physical staffing of 9-1-1 call boxes are to be reported as soon as possible.

b)         Whenever it is necessary to interrupt customer service for the purpose of working on the distribution system or central office equipment, the work should be completed with minimal customer impact. The local exchange carrier shall use reasonable efforts to notify in advance public service customers (e.g., 9-1-1 entities, police, fire, hospitals) it reasonably believes may be most seriously affected by the interruption. Any customer credits for interrupted service shall be made pursuant to 83 Ill. Adm. Code 732.

(Source:  Amended at 35 Ill. Reg. 8808, effective June 1, 2011)