Current Registration Process
Presently, NDIECs, including those offering long-distance, high-speed data services, operator services and prepaid debit card services, submit a registration form to apply for a "registration Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity" to provide inter-local access and transport area (LATA) and intra-LATA telecommunications services.3 The streamlined registration process was established by D.97-06-107, pursuant to the authority granted in Pub. Util. Code § 885 and § 1013.
A registration applicant must pay a fee of $75 and may request an exemption from tariffing requirements but must comply with consumer protection rules adopted in D.98-08-031. No performance bond is required but the applicant must affirm that no affiliate, officer, director, partner, or owner has filed for bankruptcy, or is being investigated or has been found either criminally or civilly liable for violations of specified sections of the California Business and Professions (B&P) Code or for any actions which involved misrepresentations to consumers. The applicant must also affirm that it has not been sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or any other state regulatory agency, and must demonstrate that it has minimum financial assets ($25,000 for a switchless reseller, and $100,000 for a facilities-based carrier) to start operations.
Both the Docket Office and the Communications Division must review the registration application for completeness. If all requirements are met and no protest to the application is filed within 30 days after notice of the filing appears in the Commission's Daily Calendar, the Communications Division prepares an Executive Director Order granting the application.
3 See D.97-06-107, 73 CPUC2d 288, 295, Conclusion of Law 1, Ordering Paragraph 1.
