| (1) Notice of Application. The presiding officer may
require notice to be provided to the public as required by Chapter
22, Subchapter D of this title (relating to Notice). The notice must
include, at a minimum, a description of the service, the proposed
rates and other terms of the service, the types of customers likely
to be affected if the service is approved, the probable effect on
ILEC's revenues if the service is approved, the proposed effective
date for the service, and the following language: "Persons who wish
to comment on this application should notify the commission by (specified
date, ten days before the proposed effective date). Requests for further
information should be mailed to the Public Utility Commission of Texas,
P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326, or you may call the Public
Utility Commission's Consumer Protection Division at (512) 936-7120
or toll free at (888) 782-8477. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals
may contact the commission through Relay Texas at (800) 735-2989."
(2) Contents of application for an ILEC serving one
million or more access lines that is required to comply with subsection
(f)(1), (2), and (4) of this section. An ILEC must request approval
of an unbundled service by filing an application that complies with
the requirements of this section. A copy of the application must be
delivered to the Office of Public Utility Counsel. The application
must contain the following information:
(A) a description of the proposed service and the rates,
terms and conditions, under which the service is proposed to be offered
and a demonstration that the proposed rates, terms and conditions
comply with the requirements in subsections (c), (d), and (e) of this
section, as applicable;
(B) a statement detailing the type of notice, if any,
the ILEC has provided or intends to provide to the public regarding
the application and a brief statement explaining why the ILEC's notice
proposal is reasonable;
(C) a copy of the text of the notice, if any;
(D) a long run incremental cost study supporting the
proposed rates, if the rates are not at parity with the carrier's
interstate rates;
(E) detailed documentation showing that the proposed
service is priced above the long run incremental cost of such service,
including all workpapers and supporting documentation relating to
computations or assumptions contained in the application, if the rates
are not at parity with the carrier's interstate rates;
(F) projection of revenues, demand, and expenses demonstrating
that in the second year after the service is first offered, the proposed
rates will generate sufficient annual revenues to recover the annual
long run incremental costs of providing the service, as well as a
contribution for joint or common costs, if the rates are not at parity
with the carrier's interstate rates;
(G) explanation that the proposed rates and terms of
the service are not unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory,
subsidized directly or indirectly by regulated monopoly services,
or predatory or anticompetitive;
(H) the information required by §§26.121
of this title (relating to Privacy Issues), 26.122 of this title (relating
to Customer Proprietary Network Information, and 26.123 of this title
(relating to Caller Identification Services); and
(I) any other information which the ILEC wants considered
in connection with the commission's review of its application.
(3) Contents of application for an ILEC serving fewer
than one million access lines that is required to comply with subsection
(f)(3) and (4) of this section. An ILEC must file with the commission
an application complying with the requirements of this section. A
copy of the application must the Office of Public Utility Counsel.
The application must contain the following:
(A) contents of the application required by paragraph
(2)(A), (B), (C), (H), and (I) of this subsection;
(B) contents of the application required by paragraph
(2)(D), (E), (F), and (G) of this subsection, if the rates are not
at parity with the carrier's interstate rates or the rates of another
ILEC;
(C) a description of the proposed service and the rates,
terms, and conditions under which the service is proposed to be offered
and an affidavit from the general manager or an officer of the ILEC
approving the proposed service;
(D) a notarized affidavit from a representative of
the ILEC affirming that the rates are just and reasonable and are
not unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory; subsidized
directly or indirectly by regulated monopoly services; or predatory,
or anticompetitive; and
(E) projections of the amount of revenues that will
be generated by the proposed service.
(h) Commission processing of application.
(1) Administrative review. An application considered
under this section is eligible for administrative review unless the
ILEC requests the application be docketed or the presiding officer,
for good cause, determines at any point during the review that the
application should be docketed.
(A) The operation of the proposed rate schedule may
be suspended for 35 days after the effective date of the application.
The effective date must be according to the requirements in subsection
(f) of this section.
(B) The application will be reviewed for sufficiency.
If the presiding officer concludes that material deficiencies exist
in the application, the applicant will be notified within ten working
days of the filing date of the specific deficiency in its application,
and the earliest possible effective date of the application will be
no less than 30 days after the filing of a sufficient application
with substantially complete information as required by the presiding
officer. Thereafter, any deadlines will be 30 days from the day after
the filing of the sufficient application and information or from the
effective date if the presiding officer extends that date.
(C) While the application is under administrative review,
commission staff and the staff of the Office of the Public Utility
Counsel (OPUC) may submit requests for information to the ILEC. Answers
to such requests for information must be filed with the commission
and a copy must be provided to OPUC within ten days after receipt
of the request by the ILEC.
(D) No later than 20 days after the filing date of
the sufficient application, interested persons may provide to the
commission staff written comments or recommendations concerning the
application. Commission staff must and OPC may file with the presiding
officer written comments or recommendations concerning the application.
(E) No later than 35 days after the effective date
of the application, the presiding officer will issue an order approving,
denying, or docketing the ILEC's application.
(2) Approval or denial of application. The application
will be approved by the presiding officer if the proposed tariff meets
the requirements in this section. If, based on the administrative
review, the presiding officer determines, that one or more of the
requirements not waived have not been met, the presiding officer will
docket the application.
(3) Standards for docketing. The application may be
docketed in accordance with §22.33(b) of this title (relating
to Tariff Filings).
(4) Review of the application after docketing. If the
application is docketed, the operation of the proposed rate schedule
will be automatically suspended to a date 120 days after the applicant
has filed its direct testimony and exhibits, or 155 days after the
effective date, whichever is later. Affected persons may move to intervene
in the docket, and the presiding officer may schedule a hearing on
the merits. The application will be processed in accordance with the
commission's rules applicable to docketed cases.
(5) Interim rates. For good cause, interim rates may
be approved after docketing. If the service requires substantial initial
investment by customers before they may receive the service, interim
rates will be approved only if the ILEC shows, in addition to good
cause, that it will notify each customer prior to purchasing the service
that the customer's investment may be at risk due to the interim nature
of the service.
(i) Commission processing of waivers. Any request for
modification or waiver of the requirements of this section must include
a complete statement of the ILEC's arguments and factual support for
that request. The presiding officer will rule on the request expeditiously.
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