| (a) Scope and Purpose. The commission may grant a certificate
of convenience and necessity (CCN) to provide local exchange telephone
service, basic local telecommunications service or switched access
service pursuant to Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA), Chapter
54, Subchapter B.
(b) Certificates of Convenience and Necessity for new
service areas and facilities.
(1) The commission may issue a CCN only if it finds
that the CCN is necessary for the service, accommodation, convenience,
or safety of the public and complies with the requirements in PURA §54.054
(relating to Grant or Denial of Certificate).
(2) The commission may grant a CCN as requested, refuse
to grant it, or grant it for the construction of a portion of the
requested system, facility, or extension, or for the partial exercise
of the requested right or privilege.
(c) Non-exclusivity of CCN. A CCN granted under this
section shall not be construed to vest exclusive service or property
rights in the area certificated. The commission may grant additional
certification to another utility or utilities for all or any part
of the area certificated under this section, upon a finding of public
convenience and necessity.
(d) Name on Certification. All local exchange telephone
service, basic local telecommunications service, and switched access
service provided under a CCN shall be provided in the names or assumed
names under which certification is granted by the commission.
(1) The applicant must provide the following information
from its registration with the Office of the Secretary of State or
from its corporate registration in another state or county, as applicable:
(A) Form of business being registered (e.g., corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.);
(B) Any assumed names;
(C) Certification/file number; and
(D) Date business was registered.
(2) The requested certificate names shall not be deceptive,
misleading, vague, inappropriate, confusing or duplicative of an existing
Certificated Telecommunications Utility (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 shall 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 in
order to be certificated.
(e) Amending a CCN. The commission may amend any certificate
issued under this section if it finds that the public convenience
and necessity requires such amendment.
(1) Pursuant to PURA Chapter 54 Subchapter B, CCNs
holders must amend their certificates for:
(A) A change in the name of the holder of the CCN,
including a change of the corporate name or assumed name of the certificate
holder.
(B) A change in the boundary of a service area.
(C) CCNs for Non-Chapter 58 utilities are not transferable
without approval of the commission and continue in force except as
ordered by the commission. The CCN amendment must be filed jointly
by the utilities involved and comply with the requirements set forth
in PURA §14.101 and §51.010 (relating to Report of Certain
Transactions; Commission Consideration and Commission Investigation
of Sale, Merger, or Certain Other Actions).
(2) Minor service area boundary amendment applications
are applications that involve less than 5% of the customers of an
exchange. An application for an amendment for a minor service area
boundary change must be jointly filed by the affected CCN holders
and, at a minimum, contain the following information:
(A) Legal name and all assumed names under which the
applicant conducts its business;
(B) Business office address, primary telephone number,
fax number, website address and primary email address;
(C) Business regulatory contact(s), including business
address, primary phone number and primary email address;
(D) Reason(s) for the proposed amendment;
(E) Clear and concise written description of the geographic
location of the proposed amendment;
(F) Maps (minimum size of 8 1/2" x 11") of the proposed
amendment identifying the existing and proposed boundaries clearly
and conspicuously. At a minimum, the applicant must provide a county
map and expanded view(s) that clearly and conspicuously identifies
the boundary change. Each map must clearly and conspicuously illustrate
the location of the area for which the amendment is being requested,
including but not limited to, geographic landmarks, municipal and
county boundary lines, streets, roads, highways, railroad tracks,
and any other readily identifiable points of reference, unless no
such references exist for the geographic area. The maps of the proposed
amendment must be submitted in hard copy and, upon request by Staff,
in compatible electronic format; and
(G) Notice of the proceeding and notice to customers.
Customers being transferred from one utility to another shall be given
notice in accordance with §26.130(k) of this title (relating
to Selection of Telecommunications Utilities).
(f) Sale, transfer, merger. A notice must be filed
for the sale, transfer, or merger (STM) of at least 50% of the utility,
or sale, acquisition or lease of facilities as an operating unit or
system for a total consideration of more than $10 million.
(1) Chapter 58 electing utilities must file a written
notification with the commission no later than 30 days after the STM
has closed.
(2) Chapter 59 electing utilities must comply with
the requirements set forth in PURA §14.101 and §51.010.
(g) Reporting requirements.
(1) Contact Information. Each CCN holder must maintain
accurate contact information with the commission. At a minimum, the
CCN holder is required to report a current regulatory contact person,
complaint contact person, primary and secondary emergency contact,
operation and policy migration contact, business physical address,
primary business telephone number, toll-free customer service number,
and primary email address. Additional information for tertiary emergency
contact, separate mailing address, and additional company contact
information is optional.
(A) After January 1st and before April 30th of each
year, a CCN holder must electronically submit its current contact
information to the commission, in the manner established by the commission.
(B) Contact information must be updated not later than
the 30th day after the date of any change to the required information
in paragraph (1) of this subsection, in the manner established by
the commission.
(2) Termination/Disconnection Notice. CCN holders must
file a copy of the termination/disconnection notice sent to certified
telecommunications providers (CTP) within five business days following
the issuance of the notice. The service termination/disconnection
notice must be filed in the project established for this purpose.
(3) Bankruptcy Notification. CCN holders that have
filed a petition of bankruptcy must file a notice of bankruptcy in
a project established for this purpose. The notice must be filed not
later than the fifth business day after the filing of a bankruptcy
petition. The notice of bankruptcy must include, at a minimum, the
following information:
(A) The name of the certificated company filing for
bankruptcy, date and state in which the bankruptcy proceeding was
filed, type of bankruptcy (e.g., Chapter
7, 11, 13), the bankruptcy case number; and
(B) The number of affected customers, the type of service
being provided to the affected customers, and name of the provider(s)
of last resort associated with the affected customers.
(4) Required Reports. A certificate holder shall file
all reports required by PURA and other sections in this title, including
but not limited to: §26.51 of this title (relating to Reliability
of Operations of Telecommunications Providers); §26.73 of this
title (relating to Annual Earnings Report); §26.76 of this title
(relating to Gross Receipts Assessment Report); §26.80 of this
title (relating to Annual Report on Historically Underutilized Businesses); §26.81
of this title (relating to Service Quality Reports), §26.85 of
this title (relating to Report of Workforce Diversity and Other Business
Practices); §26.465 of this title (relating to Methodology for
Counting Access Lines and Reporting Requirements for Certified Telecommunications
Providers); and §26.467 of this title (relating to Rates, Allocation,
Compensation, Adjustments and Reporting).
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