Background
Pub. Util. Code § 1001 requires, in part, that a telephone corporation be granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) before it may provide service in California. Pursuant to the Public Utilities Code, as well as applicable Commission decisions,1 BRT Company, LLC d/b/a Big River Telephone Company, LLC (BRT) filed Application (A.) 10-06-016, in which it requested a CPCN to provide Limited Facilities-based and Resold Competitive Local Exchange and Non-Dominant Interexchange Services in California. In D.10-11-022, the Commission granted BRT its requested CPCN. On February 9, 2011, BRT timely filed its Petition of BRT Company, LLC d/b/a Big River Telephone Company (U-7204-C) For Expedited Modification of D.10-11-022 to Amend Carrier Name (Petition). BRT requests that the Commission change its name in D.10-11-022 from BRT Company, LLC d/b/a Big River Telephone Company, LLC to Big River Telephone Company, LLC. This Petition is uncontested.
In its Petition, BRT states that the company's legal name is Big River Telephone Company, LLC, and that this entity holds all assets and employs all personnel needed to operate as a telecommunications carrier.2 Prior to filing A.10-06-016, BRT attempted to register with the California Secretary of State under its legal name. Due to the existence of a similarly named company doing business in California, however, the Secretary of State required BRT to register to do business as BRT Company, LLC d/b/a Big River Telephone Company, LLC. Therefore, when it applied for a CPCN with the Commission, it applied under this name, instead of its legal name, Big River Telephone Company, LLC.
Subsequent to being granted the CPCN in D.10-11-022, BRT contacted the National Exchange Carrier's Association (NECA)3 to add its California operation to its existing Operating Company Number (OCN), which is registered under its legal name.4 NECA rejected the request, because the CPCN in California was issued in a name different from its legal name. BRT has since been unsuccessful in persuading NECA to allow the addition of its California operations to its existing OCN. Therefore, BRT concluded that it must request modification of the name in which its California CPCN is issued - from BRT Company, LLC d/b/a/ Big River Telephone Company, LLC to Big River Telephone Company, LLC.
Subsequent to encountering the above described difficulty with NECA, BRT contacted the California Secretary of State again, and has since been granted an Amended Certificate of Registration in its legal name, Big River Telephone Company, LLC.
In order to facilitate BRT's ability to utilize its existing OCN in its interaction with NECA, BRT now requests that the Commission change the name in which it was granted a CPCN in D.10-11-022, from BRT Company, LLC d/b/a/ Big River Telephone Company, LLC to Big River Telephone Company, LLC, so that the CPCN it holds in California will have the same name as its legal name used at NECA and in the other states it operates in.
Other than this requested name change, BRT states that there has been no change in the information that it submitted demonstrating its eligibility to receive a CPCN in A.10-06-016.
1 For example, Decisions (D.) 95-07-054, D.95-12-056, D.95-12-057. For a list of all applicable decisions, see http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/Telco/Information+for+providing+service/clcapps.htm.
2 Big River Telephone Company, LLC currently operates in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Texas, and has pending requests to operate in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. https://www.bigrivertelephone.com.
3 NECA is a membership association of United States local telephone companies, which help more than 1,000 telephone company members across rural America deliver high-speed multi-use broadband services. NECA also administers regulatory and financial programs, including rate and tariff development, industry database management, trend analysis, regulatory policy analysis, and provides various services to its members regarding compliance with Federal Communications Commission rules. https://www.neca.org.
4 OCN's are used to identify telecommunications service providers pursuant to Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions Standard 0300251 - Codes for Identification of Service Providers for Information Exchange. The OCN is used to facilitate information exchange for applications such as ordering, provisioning, routing, and billing.
