6. Assignment of Proceeding

President Michael R. Peevey is the assigned Commissioner and Janice Grau is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.

1. Mass Migration Guidelines for CLEC voluntary exits from the local exchange service market were adopted in D.06-10-021.

2. Phase 2 of this proceeding considers CLEC involuntary exits from providing local exchange service, ILEC involuntary exits, CLEC-to-CLEC/ILEC end-user transfers, and modifications to the Mass Migration Guidelines adopted in D.06-10-021.

3. A workshop was held on January 23, 2009.

4. At the workshop, parties agreed that ILEC voluntary exit guidelines should be deferred until the reverse auction process in R.06-06-028 was concluded. In June 2009, the Commission opened a successor proceeding to R.06-08-028, R.09-06-019, to consider subsequent California High Cost Fund B program reforms, including whether or not a reverse auction process should be implemented.

5. The parties generally agreed that AT&T's Proposed Guidelines for CLEC Involuntary Exits from Local Exchange Service Market should be adopted.

6. Parties proposed definitions for involuntary and voluntary exits.

7. Voluntary exits occur when the CLEC initiates the process under the Mass Migration Guidelines to withdraw from providing local exchange service.

8. Involuntary exits occur when the wholesale provider, either an underlying ILEC or competitive carrier, initiates the process under the proposed guidelines.

9. The parties generally agreed that proposals submitted by AT&T, CALTEL, and Verizon on end-user transfers could be merged to create a consensus proposal.

10. The parties did not reach one consensus proposal on end-user transfers. Verizon filed one consensus position, generally supported by TURN. Cox, tw telecom and Time Warner filed a separate consensus position. CALTEL filed a report on the negotiations.

11. Draft Involuntary Exit Guidelines, circulated to the parties for comment, required the wholesale provider to notify the Director of the Communications Division 30 days in advance of an action that would result in interruption of service to a CLEC's retail end-user.

12. The wholesale provider's termination notice must inform the CLEC of a 15-day advance customer notice obligation.

13. If a CLEC files an application to exit the local exchange market, an involuntary exit might change to a voluntary exit.

14. Compliance with the guidelines will relieve the CLEC or acquiring LEC from compliance with General Order 133-C service quality measures and standards in the applicable reporting period and third-party verification requirements.

15. Failure to follow the guidelines may result in enforcement proceedings against the CLEC.

16. Verizon, AT&T, and CALTEL opposed certain provisions of the Draft Involuntary Exit Guidelines.

17. If those provisions remained in place, they proposed that staff should only use its authority to seek expedited relief to halt wholesale disconnections of specific lines in extraordinary circumstances involving public health or safety.

18. In addition, expedited relief should only be used where end-user service to critical telephone numbers, such as hospitals, nursing homes, fire stations, and police stations, is involved.

19. Verizon, AT&T and CALTEL also proposed that an involuntary exit can only convert to a voluntary exit if there is an acquiring carrier and the acquiring carrier negotiates acceptable payment arrangements with the wholesale provider.

20. It was proposed that wholesale providers notify staff of wholesale disconnection no later than 20 days before the disconnection is to occur.

21. It was proposed that following the wholesale providers regulatory notification, the CLEC should advise staff within five days if payment arrangements have been made and staff should contact the CLEC at any time to ensure that end-user customers are notified sufficiently in advance of when disconnection will occur.

22. DRA and TURN supported a default carrier requirement for CLEC involuntary exits comparable to the default carrier requirement adopted in the Mass Migration Guidelines.

23. The ILECs and CLECs oppose a default carrier requirement.

24. In the best-case scenario for involuntary exits, the process adopted in the Mass Migration Guidelines, which prefers default carrier volunteers and negotiated compensation arrangements and requires appointing a carrier if there are no volunteers and ordering compensation if no arrangement is reached, could not be followed due to the time constraints inherent in involuntary exits.

25. To impose a default carrier requirement in involuntary exits would place a greater financial burden on the wholesale provider to provision service than is required of underlying network providers and carriers of last resort in voluntary exits.

26. Wholesale carriers will require 90 days to modify processes in order to comply with the regulatory notifications and updates required for involuntary exits.

27. TURN opposes the CLEC 15-day end-user customer notice for involuntary exits and recommends that the Mass Migration Guidelines 30-day notice be adopted.

28. By definition, wholesale provider 30-day notification to the Commission of disconnection of service to the CLEC does not permit end-user customer notification comparable to that adopted in the Mass Migration Guidelines.

29. The consensus positions on CLEC-to-CLEC/ILEC end-user migrations and comments filed on those positions support principles focused on the right of end-users to migrate their local service and on adherence to existing industry standards and federal and state rules and regulations.

30. The Draft Principles and Procedures for CLEC-to-CLEC/ILEC End-User Migrations required local service providers to comply with industry guidelines.

31. Local service providers have notice of industry guidelines when they are adopted by the FCC.

32. Verizon proposes a principle for end-user migrations that endorses FCC rules prohibiting carriers from obstructing or delaying the migration process through the imposition of non-porting related restrictions and prohibiting the existing carrier from refusing to migrate the telephone number of an active account for reasons such as unpaid amounts.

33. Verizon also proposes a principle that acknowledges carriers retain the right to enforce obligations and impose permissible requirements under Commission rules and state or federal law.

34. Verizon and the Joint Providers propose dispute resolution procedures for end-user migrations.

35. Joint Providers focus on a good faith effort to resolve the dispute as a first step, and both Verizon and Joint Providers recommend procedures for bringing disputes to the Commission or Commission staff for resolution.

36. Joint Providers propose that carriers respond to customer service inquiries and complaints and work to resolve them to the customer's satisfaction.

37. Joint Providers recommend that end-user migration principles and procedures should apply to ILECs.

38. ILECs must comply with performance measure requirements for the transfer of end-user customers.

39. Verizon recommends that end-user migration procedures include specific intervals for CSRs, FOCs and completion of ports.

40. Verizon recommends adoption of a procedure for three business days for completion of end-user transfers for 1-19 lines.

41. Verizon also supports migration intervals that require a migration be completed with three business days of return of the FOC.

42. Verizon and AT&T note ILECs must meet certain requirements for transferring an end-user customer to a CLEC.

43. AT&T and the CLECs oppose adoption of porting intervals for end-user transfers, and CALTEL proposes the Commission suspend issuance of a decision on this issue pending the outcome of implementing the FCC's reduced porting interval.

44. On May 20, 2010, the FCC issued Report and Order 10-85, which adopts intervals and provisioning process flows for both simple and non-simple ports.

45. The FCC regulates LNP.

46. The parties support the revised Mass Migration Guidelines.

1. It is premature to adopt ILEC voluntary migration guidelines.

2. It is reasonable to decline to adopt a default carrier requirement for CLEC involuntary exit guidelines.

3. It is reasonable to defer to the FCC's regulation of simple and complex porting intervals as part of its regulation of LNP.

4. The Guidelines for CLEC Involuntary Exits from Local Exchange Services Market, attached to this decision as Attachment 1, are a reasonable response to the record and should be adopted. They should be effective 90 days after the issuance of this decision.

5. The Principles and Procedures for CLEC-to-CLEC/ILEC End-User Migrations, attached to this decision as Attachment 2, are a reasonable response to the record and should be adopted.

6. The Mass Migration Guidelines, Revised 2010, attached to this decision as Attachment 3, should be adopted.

7. This order should be effective today to provide guidance to carriers on the adopted guidelines and principles.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that:

1. The Guidelines for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Involuntary Exits from Local Exchange Services Market are hereby adopted. These Guidelines will be effective 90 days after the issuance of this decision. A copy of the Guidelines for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier Involuntary Exits from Local Exchange Services Market is attached to this decision as Attachment 1. The public utility telephone corporations that are Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (as maintained in the Communications Division "Competitive Local Carrier" and "Competitive Local Reseller" data base) are subject to these guidelines.

2. The Principles and Procedures for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier-to-Competitive Local Exchange Carrier/Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier End-User Migrations are hereby adopted. A copy of the Principles and Procedures for Competitive Local Exchange Carrier-to-Competitive Local Exchange Carrier/Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier End-User Migrations is attached to this decision as Attachment 2. The public utility telephone corporations that are Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (as maintained in the Communications Division "Competitive Local Carrier" and "Competitive Local Reseller" data base) are subject to these principles and procedures.

3. The Mass Migration Guidelines, Revised 2010, are hereby adopted and shall replace the Mass Migration Guidelines adopted in Decision 06-10-021. A copy of the Mass Migration Guidelines, Revised 2010, is attached to this decision as Attachment 3. The public utility telephone corporations that are Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (as maintained in the Communications Division "Competitive Local Carrier" and "Competitive Local Reseller" data base) are subject to these guidelines.

4. All public utility telephone corporations are subject to the applicable Default Carrier and Arranged Carrier provisions of the Mass Migration Guidelines, Revised 2010.

5. Rulemaking 03-06-020 is closed.

This order is effective today.

Dated July 29, 2010, at San Francisco, California.

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