Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 1220 - Tennessee Public Utility Commission
Subtitle 1220-04 - Division of Public Utilities
Chapter 1220-04-02 - Regulations for Telephone Companies
Section 1220-04-02-.40 - OBLIGATIONS OF RESELLERS AND UNDERLYING CARRIERS OF LOCAL SERVICE UPON THE TERMINATION OF SERVICE
Universal Citation: TN Comp Rules and Regs 1220-04-02-.40
Current through September 24, 2024
(1) The purpose of this rule is to protect those customers who are obtaining their local service from resellers from termination of their service without adequate notice. Because of the public safety implications, local service providers shall have additional obligations as listed below.
(2) This rule applies to any local telecommunications reseller that ceases the provision of any telecommunications service in all or any portion of the State of Tennessee. This rule does not apply to:
(a) Cessation of a service when a
reseller replaces the terminated service with comparable service without
interruption as long as such change is in compliance with Rule 1220-4-2-.56;
and
(b) Discontinuance of a service
that has no subscribers.
(3) No underlying carrier shall terminate local service to a reseller until the following requirements are met:
(a) The underlying carrier shall provide no
less than thirty (30) days written notice to the reseller that service will be
terminated on a date certain along with the reason(s) for such action. A copy
of such written notice shall be timely provided to the Authority.
1. Notwithstanding the above, where the
underlying carrier alleges fraud, abuse, or unreasonable interference with the
underlying carrier's network, the underlying carrier is allowed to disconnect
the reseller after a two (2) business day notice to the Authority, unless the
Authority chairman specifically orders otherwise prior to disconnection. If
this emergency provision is invoked, the underlying carrier may be required to
comply with the underlying carrier's service continuity plan per section
(5).
(b) Within ten (10)
days of receipt of the underlying carrier's written disconnection notice to the
reseller, the reseller shall notify its customers advising that their service
will be terminated on a day certain. Such notice shall be no less than fourteen
(14) days prior to the date of disconnection. The notice shall advise end-users
of the following:
1. Advise its customers of
the need to choose another local telecommunications service provider to
continue service after a date certain; and
2. Provide customers any and all relevant
information, if available, that may assist the customers in selecting another
local telecommunications service provider.
(c) If the reseller fails to fulfill its
obligations under section (3)(b), the Authority will notify the reseller's
customers seven (7) days prior to termination of the reseller's local service
and recover costs associated with such a notice from the reseller.
(4) Additional Local Service Obligations for Resellers:
(a) The reseller
must provide the Authority and the underlying carrier any and all relevant
information, including but not limited to its customers' names and telephone
numbers to ensure that end-user customers will not experience service outage.
The reseller must use its best efforts to provide timely and accurate
information to the Authority and the underlying carrier.
(b) The reseller must file with the Authority
a copy of its notice or the text of the voice message to its customers no less
than fourteen (14) days prior to the date of disconnection.
(c) The reseller shall refund to its
customers any credits due as a result of the termination of service within
thirty (30) days of the termination of the service. The reseller shall provide
information to its customers on how such credits will be determined and
distributed.
(5) Additional Local Service Obligations for Underlying Carriers:
(a) Within 60 days of the effective date of
this rule, each telecommunications service provider having an agreement with a
reseller of basic local exchange telecommunications service shall file a tariff
which outlines a service continuity plan consistent with this Chapter and, at a
minimum, contains the following provisions.
1. The underlying carrier shall provide basic
local exchange service, as defined in Tenn. Code Annotated §
65-5-108, to the customers of the
reseller for at least seven (7) days following disconnection of the reseller's
service, or until the customer selects another provider of local service,
whichever is less. If a customer selects a new service provider, the underlying
carrier may pass through to the new provider the charge for such service
provided at the tariffed rate of the underlying carrier. The new provider may
pass through this charge to the end-user customer.
2. After the seven day period described in
paragraph 1 above, the underlying carrier may terminate service to the customer
unless the customer has either transitioned to a new service provider or has
placed an order to transition to the underlying carrier.
(b) Should the reseller fail or refuse to
provide notice to its customers as required in (3) above, the underlying
carrier shall provide reasonable assistance to the Authority in notifying the
customers of the reseller.
(6) Violation of this rule, including failure to provide customer notice in (3), shall be subject to the provisions and penalties of Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-4-120.
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 65-2-102, 65-4-104, 65-4-123 and 65-4-125.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Tennessee may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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