| (a) Purpose. This section establishes uniform guidelines for a municipal authorized review of a certificated telecommunications provider's (CTP) access line reports, pursuant to Texas Local Government Code §283.056(c)(3). (b) Application. This section applies to all municipalities and CTPs in the State of Texas except to the extent exempt under §26.468(c) of this title (relating to Procedures for Standardized Access Line Reports and Enforcement Relating to Quarterly Reporting). (c) Municipal Authorized Review Procedural Guidelines (1) Municipalities are encouraged to informally ask questions about access line counts or municipal fee payments with the appropriate CTP in a timely manner. CTPs are encouraged to provide reasonable answers to access line count and municipal fee payment questions of the municipalities in a timely manner. (2) Not later than 90 days after the filing of a CTP's quarterly report of access lines, as required by §26.468 of this title, a municipality shall notify a CTP of its intent to conduct an authorized review of the CTP's business records to ensure compliance with access line reporting requirements. This notification shall be in writing and sent via certified mail to the CTP contact person named on the commission's Municipal Access Line Reporting System (MARS) website and shall include a summary of the municipality's concern(s) and/or reason(s) for the review. Such notice may be modified and amended in a subsequent written notice using the same process. (3) Not later than 21 days from the CTP's receipt of notice under paragraph (2) of this subsection, the CTP shall provide to the requesting municipality a written list of the types of business records that are necessary to conduct an authorized review as requested in the notice, with brief descriptions for identification purposes. (4) The municipality shall determine which business records from the list provided by the CTP will be subject to review and provide written notice to the CTP. The CTP shall provide the requested business records within 30 days from the municipality's written request. The CTP shall provide the business records to the municipality in the following manner: (A) The CTP shall provide access to the requested business records on its premises. (B) The on-premises review shall be conducted at the principal Texas office of the CTP, unless otherwise agreed by the CTP and the municipality. (C) Business records shall remain the property of the CTP and may not be removed or reproduced without the express written permission of the CTP. (D) Business records may be produced in a compatible electronic format or paper copy at the discretion of the CTP. (5) A CTP may redact customer-specific proprietary information as necessary for compliance with federal or state law. Information deemed confidential or proprietary by the CTP must be so noted, and each participating party and its representative(s) shall protect such confidential or proprietary information as provided in Texas Local Government Code §283.005. CTPs may require all persons participating in the authorized review to execute a non-disclosure agreement prior to providing access to documents or other information. (d) Commission Resolution of Disputed Issues (1) Informal dispute resolution. If cooperative efforts between the parties have failed to resolve all issues related to the authorized review, the commission staff may mediate any dispute(s) filed by the CTP or the municipality. (2) Formal complaint to the commission. A formal complaint may be filed with the commission by either a CTP or Municipality to resolve remaining disputed issues not settled by informal dispute resolution pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. The commission shall provide notice of the filing of a formal complaint to all municipalities and all CTPs in accordance with established commission procedural rules. |
