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Administrative Code

Virginia Administrative Code
10/8/2024

Chapter 411. Rules Governing the Certification of Interexchange Carriers

20VAC5-411-10. Filing of application.

An original and 15 copies of an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate as an interexchange carrier shall be filed with the Clerk of the State Corporation Commission and shall contain all the information and exhibits required by this chapter.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-20. Notice of application.

A. Notice of the application shall be given to each existing interexchange carrier; the Division of Consumer Counsel, Office of the Attorney General; and to each local exchange carrier.

B. Each applicant shall publish notice in newspapers having general circulation throughout the Commonwealth in a form to be prescribed by the commission.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-30. Application requirements.

A. Applicants shall attest that they will abide by the provisions of § 56-265.4:4 B of the Code of Virginia.

B. Applicants shall submit information which identifies the applicant including (i) its name, address and telephone number; (ii) its corporate ownership; (iii) the name, address, and telephone number of its corporate parent or parents, if any; (iv) a list of its officers and directors or, if applicant is not a corporation, a list of its principals and their directors; and (v) the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of its legal counsel.

C. Each incorporated applicant for a certificate shall demonstrate that it is authorized to do business in the Commonwealth as a public service company.

D. Applicants shall be required to show their financial, managerial, and technical ability to render interexchange telecommunications services as follows:

1. As a minimum requirement, a showing of financial ability shall be made by attaching the applicant's most recent stockholder's annual report and its most recent Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K or, if the company is not publicly traded, its most recent financial statements.

2. To demonstrate managerial experience, each applicant shall attach a brief description of its history of providing interexchange telecommunications services and shall list the geographic areas in which it has been and is currently being provided. Newly created companies shall list the experience of each principal or officer in order to show its ability to provide service.

3. Technical abilities shall be indicated by a description and map of the applicant's owned or leased facilities within the Commonwealth. An additional map should be filed showing the applicant's points of presence within its proposed service area.

E. Each application for a certificate to provide interexchange telecommunications services shall include the carrier's proposed initial tariffs, rules, regulations, and terms and conditions. If the commission finds those tariffs reasonable, they shall be approved with the granting of the certificate. Any subsequent request to increase rates shall be submitted pursuant to Chapter 10 (§ 56-232 et seq.) of Title 56 of the Code of Virginia, unless the requesting carrier has been granted authority by the commission to set rates and charges pursuant to § 56-481.1 of the Code of Virginia.

F. Any applicant desiring to have rates based upon competitive factors shall petition the commission to be granted such authority pursuant to the provision of § 56-481.1 of the Code of Virginia. This petition may be included in the applicant's petition for a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The commission shall consider the criteria set out in § 56-481.1 of the Code of Virginia in making any determination that interexchange telecommunications services will be provided on a competitive basis.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-40. Abandonment or discontinuation of service.

No interexchange carrier shall abandon or discontinue service, or any part of service established under provisions of § 56-265.4:4 of the Code of Virginia, except with the approval of the commission, and under the terms and conditions as the commission may prescribe.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-50. Reports to State Corporation Commission.

A. Each interexchange carrier annually shall file a current financial report with the commission, shall maintain Virginia books, and shall maintain such books in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and as shall be required by the commission to facilitate its assessment of all taxes and to facilitate the performance of its regulatory responsibilities.

B. Carriers shall file with the commission on a monthly basis a report showing monthly usage of local exchange telephone services and facilities as required by §§ 56-482.1 and 56-482.2 of the Code of Virginia.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-60. Suspension or revocation of certificate.

A. No carrier shall unreasonably discriminate among subscribers requesting service. Any finding of discrimination shall be grounds for suspension or revocation of the certificate of public convenience and necessity granted by the commission.

B. Excessive subscriber complaints against an interexchange carrier, that the commission has found to be meritorious may also be grounds for suspension or revocation of the carrier's certificate of public convenience and necessity.

C. In all proceedings pursuant to this section, the commission shall give notice to the carrier of the allegations against it and provide the carrier with an opportunity to be heard concerning those allegations prior to the suspension or revocation of the carrier's certificate of public convenience and necessity.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-70. State Corporation Commission authority to set rates.

Should the commission ever determine, after notice to the public and any affected interexchange carriers and after an opportunity is afforded for any interested party to be heard, that competition, although previously found by the commission to exist, has ceased to exist among interexchange carriers, it may, pursuant to § 56-241 of the Code of Virginia, require that the rates of such carriers be determined pursuant to Chapter 10 (§ 56-232 et seq.) of Title 56 of the Code of Virginia.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-80. Proposed rate increases.

A. Carriers shall give notice of proposed rate increases to subscribers by (i) billing inserts furnished at least two weeks prior to the increase, (ii) publication for two consecutive weeks as display advertising in newspapers having general circulation in the area served by the carrier with the last publication appearing at least two weeks prior to the increase, or (iii) direct written notification to each affected subscriber at least two weeks prior to the increase.

B. The notice shall state the subscribers' existing rates, the proposed rates and the percentage change between the two.

C. Rate revisions which result in no increase to subscribers may be implemented without notice.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

20VAC5-411-90. Exclusion.

These rules shall not apply to domestic cellular radio telecommunications carriers.

Statutory Authority

§ 12.1-13 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 18, Issue 4, eff. October 17, 2001.

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