| (A) Any complaint history, disciplinary record and
compliance record during the 60 months immediately preceding the filing
of the application regarding: the applicant; the applicant's affiliates
that provide utility-like services such as telecommunications, electric,
gas, water, or cable service; the applicant's principals; and any
person that merged with any of the preceding persons;
(i) The complaint history, disciplinary record, and
compliance record must include information from any federal agency
including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; any self-regulatory
organization relating to the sales of securities, financial instruments,
or other financial transactions; state public utility commissions,
state attorney general officers, or other regulatory agencies in states
where the applicant is doing business or has conducted business in
the past including state securities boards or commissions, the Texas
Secretary of State, Texas Comptroller's Office, and Office of the
Texas Attorney General. Relevant information includes the type of
complaint, status of complaint, resolution of complaint, and the number
of customers in each state where complaints occurred.
(ii) The applicant may request to limit the inclusion
of this information if it would be unduly burdensome to provide, so
long as the information provided is adequate for the commission to
assess the complaint history, disciplinary record, and compliance
record of the applicant and the principals and affiliates of the applicant.
(iii) The commission may also consider any complaint
information on file at the commission.
(B) A summary of any history of insolvency, bankruptcy,
dissolution, merger, or acquisition of the applicant or any predecessors
in interest during the 60 months immediately preceding the application;
(C) A statement indicating whether the applicant or
the principals of the applicant are currently under investigation
or have been penalized by an attorney general or any state or federal
regulatory agency for violation of any deceptive trade or consumer
protection laws or regulations; and
(D) Disclosure of whether the applicant or principals
of the applicant have been convicted or found liable for fraud, theft,
larceny, deceit, or violations of any securities laws, customer protection
laws, or deceptive trade laws in any state.
(4) Quality of service and customer protection.
(A) The applicant must affirm that it will meet the
commission's applicable quality-of-service standards as listed on
the quality of service questionnaire contained in the application.
The quality-of-service standards include E9-1-1 compliance and local
number portability capability. Data-only providers are not subject
to the requirements for E9-1-1 and local number portability compliance
as applicable to switched voice services.
(B) The applicant must affirm that it is aware of and
will comply with the applicable customer protection rules and disclosure
requirements as set forth in Chapter 26, Subchapter B, of this title
(relating to Customer Service and Protection).
(5) Limited scope of COAs and SPCOAs. If, after considering
the factors in this subsection, the commission finds it to be in the
public interest to do so, the commission may:
(A) Limit the geographic scope of the COA.
(B) Limit the scope of an SPCOA's service to facilities-based,
resale-only, data-only, geographic scope, or some combination of the
preceding list.
(h) Certificate Name. All local exchange telephone
service, basic local telecommunications service, and switched access
service provided under a COA or SPCOA must be provided in the name
under which certification was granted by the commission. The commission
will grant the COA or SPCOA certificate in only one name.
(1) The applicant must provide the following information
from its registration with the Texas Secretary of State or registration
with another state or county, as applicable:
(A) Form of business being registered (e.g., corporation,
company, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.);
(B) Any assumed names;
(C) Certification or file number; and
(D) Date business was registered.
(2) Business names must not be deceptive, misleading,
inappropriate, confusing or duplicative of existing name currently
in use or previously approved for use by a certificated telecommunications
provider (CTU).
(3) Any name in which the applicant proposes to do
business will be reviewed for compliance with paragraph (2) of this
subsection. If the presiding officer determines that any requested
name does not meet the requirements of paragraph (2) of this subsection,
the presiding officer must notify the applicant that the requested
name may not be used by the applicant. The applicant will be required
to amend its application to provide at least one suitable name to
be certificated.
(i) Amendment of a COA or SPCOA Certificate.
(1) A person or entity granted a COA or SPCOA in accordance
with this section must file an application to amend a COA or an SPCOA
certificate in a commission approved format to:
(A) Change the corporate name or assumed name of the
certificate holder.
(i) Name change amendments may be granted via administrative
approval if the holder is in compliance with applicable commission
rules and no hearing is requested.
(ii) Commission staff will review any name in which
the applicant proposes to do business. If staff determines that any
requested name is deceptive, misleading, vague, inappropriate, or
duplicative, it must notify the applicant that the requested name
is prohibited for use by the applicant. An applicant is required to
provide at least one suitable name or the amendment will be denied
by the presiding officer.
(B) Change the geographic scope of a COA or an SPCOA.
(C) Sell, transfer, assign, or lease a controlling
interest in the COA or SPCOA or sell, transfer or lease a controlling
interest in the entity holding the COA or the SPCOA. An application
for this type of amendment must:
(i) be filed at least 60 days prior to the occurrence
of the transaction;
(ii) be jointly filed by the transferor and transferee;
(iii) comply with the requirements for certification;
and
(iv) comply with applicable commission rules.
(D) Change of type of provider from resale-only, facilities-based
only or data-only on a SPCOA certificate.
(E) Discontinuation of service and relinquishment of
certificate, or discontinuation of an optional service by a deregulated
company holding a certificate of operating authority or an exempt
carrier.
(i) A deregulated company holding a certificate of
operating authority or an exempt carrier must provide the information
in subclauses (I)-(III) of this clause for the discontinuation of
service and relinquishment of its certificate. The requirements for
the discontinuation of optional services do not apply to a deregulated
company holding a certificate of operating authority or to an exempt
carrier.
(I) Certification that the carrier will send customers
whose service is being discontinued a notification letter providing
a minimum of 61 days of notice of termination of service and clearly
stating the date of termination of service;
(II) A statement regarding the disposition of customer
credits and deposits; and
(III) Certification that the carrier will comply with §26.24
of this title (relating to Credit Requirements and Deposits).
(ii) A carrier that does not meet the criteria of clause
(i) of this subparagraph must comply with subsections (m) and (n)
of this section to discontinue service, relinquish a certificate,
or discontinue an optional service.
(2) If the application to amend the COA or SPCOA certificate
is for a corporate restructuring, a change in internal ownership,
or an internal change in controlling interest, the applicant may file
an abbreviated amendment application, unless the ownership or controlling
interest involves an uncertificated company, significant changes in
management personnel, or changes to the underlying financial qualifications
of the certificate holder that were previously approved by the commission.
If commission staff cannot determine continued compliance with the
applicable substantive rules based on the information provided on
the abbreviated amendment application, then a full amendment application
must be filed by the applicant.
(3) When a certificate holder acquires or merges with
another certificate holder, other than a CCN holder, the acquiring
entity must file a notice within 30 calendar days of the closing of
the acquisition or merger in a project established by staff. Staff
will have ten working days to review the notice and determine whether
a full amendment application will be required. If staff has not filed,
within ten working days, a request to docket the proceeding and determination
that a full Cont'd... |
