Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Application.
This section applies to dominant certificated telecommunications utilities
(DCTUs), as that term is defined by §
26.5 of this title (relating to
Definitions).
(1) The services to which this
section applies are those that are a subset of a service for which the utility
is dominant.
(2) A DCTU may
alternatively seek approval for an application for a new or experimental
service in accordance with §
26.208 of this title (relating to
General Tariff Procedures), however the presiding officer may require any
application for a new or experimental service to also comply with the
requirements of this section.
(3)
If an application for a new or experimental service is reviewed under this
section, each rate established for such a service must comply with the
requirements of §
26.208 of this title.
(b) Purpose. The procedures in
this section establish the process by which a DCTU obtains approval to offer
new and experimental services.
(c)
Filings requesting approval of new and experimental services. A DCTU may
request approval of a new or experimental service by following the procedures
outlined in this section. Not later than 35 days prior to the proposed
effective date of the new or experimental service, the DCTU must file with the
commission an application containing the following information:
(1) a statement of intent by the DCTU to use
the procedures established in this section;
(2) a description of the proposed service and
the rates, terms and conditions under which the service is proposed to be
offered;
(3) the proposed effective
date of the service;
(4) a
statement detailing the type of notice, the utility has provided or intends to
provide to the public regarding the application and a brief statement
explaining why the DCTU's notice proposal is reasonable and in compliance with
§
26.208 of this title;
(5) a copy of the notice, if any;
(6) detailed documentation showing that the
proposed service is priced above the long run incremental cost of such service.
The commission will allow an incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) that is not
a Tier 1 LEC as of September 1, 1995, at that company's option, to adopt the
cost studies approved by the commission for a Tier 1 LEC. The application must
also include projections 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. Capital costs related to providing the service must be separately
identified in these projections. The application must also include all
workpapers and supporting documentation relating to computations or assumptions
contained in the application.
(7)
If the application concerns a service which will not initially be offered
system-wide, the application must separately explain for each exchange in which
the service will not be offered why the DCTU's facilities in that exchange do
not have the technical capability to handle the service.
(8) The application must also include:
(A) an implementation plan which must specify
the DCTU's plans for making the service available in such exchanges within a
reasonable time after receipt by the LEC of a bona fide request for the
service.
(B) what requirements must
be met for a request for service to be considered bona fide. This requirement
does not apply to experimental services, but the DCTU must specify the
exchanges in which it proposes to offer the experimental service.
(9) If the application concerns an
experimental service for which a range of rates is proposed, the application
must state the range of rates requested and show in detail how the upper and
lower rates in that range relate to the long run incremental cost of the
service.
(10) Any other information
which the DCTU wants considered in connection with the commission's review of
its application.
(d)
Modifications and waivers of requirements.
(1) In its application a DCTU may request:
(A) the modification or waiver of
requirements set forth in this section concerning system-wide rates;
(B) system-wide provision of
service;
(C) the one-year maximum
period for offering an experimental service; the one-year, cost-related
prove-in period;
(D) or long run
incremental cost support.
(2) Subsequent to the introduction of an
experimental service, a DCTU may also apply for modification of the period
initially approved for offering the service, provided that:
(A) An experimental service will not be
approved for more than two years;
(B) A prove-in period will not be extended
beyond two years and;
(C) As an
alternative to providing incremental cost information, the DCTU must provide
other cost support demonstrating that the proposed rates for the service will
recover its costs plus a contribution within the required period.
(3) A waiver of the incremental
cost standard must only be granted if the presiding officer determines that
such a standard imposes an unreasonable burden on a DCTU which has inadequate
resources to produce the required cost information to meet that standard and if
the presiding officer determines that an appropriate alternative cost standard
is available.
(4) Any request for
modification or waiver of these requirements must include a complete statement
of the DCTU's arguments supporting that request. The presiding officer will
rule on the waiver request within 15 days of the filing of the
request.
(e) Requirements
for proposed new and experimental services. Unless waived or modified by the
presiding officer as provided under subsection (d) of this section, the
following requirements must apply to any new service approved under this
section:
(1) Such new service must be offered
at the same price throughout the DCTU's system.
(2) The service must also be offered in every
exchange served by the DCTU, except exchanges in which the DCTU's facilities do
not have the technical capability to handle the service.
(3) The rates for a new service must be
designed to generate sufficient annual revenues to recover the annual long run
incremental cost of the service, including a contribution for joint or common
costs, in the second year after it is first offered. Requirements related to
system-wide pricing and system-wide provision of service do not apply to a
proposed experimental service.
(4)
An experimental service approved under this section may be flexibly priced
provided that the minimum rate in the range of rates must be above the long run
incremental cost of providing the service. The DCTU may make a change in rates
within an approved range of rates upon such notice to customers and the
commission as the presiding officer may require. In addition, before
discontinuing provision of an experimental service, the DCTU must give such
notice of the discontinuation as the presiding officer may require.
(f) Reporting requirements.
(1) If a new service is approved, the DCTU
must file with the commission
(A) tracking
reports showing the actual revenues;
(B) demand and related expenses for the
service;
(C) its progress on the
implementation plan, if any such plan was approved by the commission;
(D) and such other information as may be
required by the presiding officer or requested by the commission
staff.
(2) Reports filed
under this section must be filed as specified by this paragraph, unless
otherwise excepted by paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(A) The initial report is due nine months
after the service is first offered and must contain information for at least
the first six months the service was offered.
(B) The second such report must be filed 12
months after the service is first offered and must contain information for at
least the first nine months the service was offered.
(C) The third such report must be filed no
later than 15 months after the service is first offered and must contain
information for at least the first 12 months the service was offered.
(3) Such reporting requirements
are waived for experimental services of one year's duration or less, but the
DCTU must retain in its record such information related to revenues, demand and
expenses and must submit such information with any subsequent request to make a
formerly experimental service a permanent new service.
(g) Subsequent review of the service. Except
as prohibited by Chapters 58 or 59 of the Public Utility Regulatory Act, if a
new or experimental service is approved commission staff or any affected person
may file with the commission a petition seeking modification of the rates or
terms under which the service is offered or withdrawal of the
service.
(h) Provisions for SLECs.
Notwithstanding §
26.208 of this title and
subsections (c), (d), and (e) of this section, the provisions of this
subsection apply to a small local exchange company (SLEC) as defined in §
26.5 of this title (relating to
Definitions). If the presiding officer determines that the SLEC is seeking to
adopt as its rates for its new or experimental services the rates for the same
or substantially similar services offered by an ILEC:
(1) the SLEC's proposed rates and terms of
the service will be deemed not to be unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, or
discriminatory, subsidized directly or indirectly by regulated monopoly
services, or predatory or anticompetitive; and
(2) a waiver of the incremental cost standard
will be granted.
