Sec. 16-247m. Withdrawal by telephone company of retail telecommunications service. Applications.
Sec. 16-247m. Withdrawal by telephone company of retail telecommunications service. Applications. (a) On and after July 1, 2001, a telephone company may
apply to the Department of Public Utility Control to withdraw from the retail provision
of a telecommunications service, provided such telecommunications service has been
deemed competitive pursuant to section 16-247f prior to the date such application is
submitted. Any such application shall specify (1) the service that the telephone company
no longer wishes to provide, (2) the geographic area or areas in which the telephone
company proposes to no longer provide the service, and (3) the number of customers
of the telephone company that will be affected by the proposed withdrawal and a discussion of ways to mitigate such impact.
(b) In considering any application by a telephone company pursuant to subsection
(a) of this section, the department shall consider (1) the impact the proposed withdrawal
will have on the goals set forth in section 16-247a, (2) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the financial, managerial and technical ability of the telephone
company to provide other retail and wholesale telecommunications services and the
quality of such services, (3) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the rates
paid by retail customers for the service that the telephone company no longer wishes
to provide at retail, (4) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the retail availability of such service, and (5) the impact the proposed withdrawal will have on the
ability of certified telecommunications providers to provide a functionally equivalent
service at retail. The department shall not approve any such application for withdrawal
unless it finds that such withdrawal (A) is consistent with the goals set forth in section
16-247a, and (B) is not contrary to the public interest. The department shall not approve
any such application or authorize the withdrawal of a telephone company from the
provision of a telecommunications service at retail unless the service that the telephone
company no longer wishes to provide has been deemed competitive pursuant to section
16-247f. The department, in approving any such application, shall develop a method to
allow customers receiving such service from the telephone company to choose a new
provider of such service, provided the department shall not order the allocation or assignment of any customer.
(c) Any proceeding conducted pursuant to this section shall be considered a contested case, as defined in section 4-166.
(d) The provisions of this section shall not (1) preclude the withdrawal of a competitive or an emerging competitive tariff pursuant to section 16-247f, (2) preclude a telephone company from withdrawing a noncompetitive service in the normal course of
business, or (3) apply to any certified telecommunications provider or any telephone
company serving fewer than seventy-five thousand customers.
(P.A. 99-222, S. 3, 19.)
History: P.A. 99-222 effective June 29, 1999.