C. Background
CALTEL is a non-profit corporation representing the interest of competitive telecommunications service providers and other entities that provide telecommunications related services.
Until 1994, all telecommunications utilities seeking Commission authority to transfer control or assets subject to §§ 851 through 854 were required to file an application. Decision (D.) 94-05-051 simplified the approval process for nondominant interexchange carriers (NDIECs) by allowing these providers of non-monopoly telecommunications' services to submit an advice letter instead of an application as long as the acquiring entity is either an already certificated telecommunications carrier or the parent of a presently certificated carrier, and none of the parties has gross annual California revenues in excess of $500 million, pursuant to §§ 854 (b) and (c).2 NDIECs that use the advice letter procedure are still required to file an application if the Commission believes that the matter warrants a more comprehensive review. The advantage of the advice letter procedure is that it enables NDIECs to reduce the potential duration of the approval process from several months to 40 days.
D.97-06-096 clarified that the advice letter procedure applied to NDIECs seeking Commission authorization for customer base transfers.3 At the same time, NDIECs were required to serve a copy of the advice letter on the Consumer Services Division Director and provide notice to its customers of the proposed transfer. D.98-07-094 further extended the advice letter procedure from NDIECs to Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) providing non-monopoly local exchange telecommunications services.
