Compliance with the Guidelines
The Commission's requirements governing the discontinuance of telecommunications services by competitive carriers such as Applicant are set forth in D.06-10-021. That decision adopted Guidelines that apply when a CLEC files an application to discontinue providing local exchange services to its customers (exiting CLEC).4 The Guidelines give the exiting CLEC's customers the opportunity to migrate to another local exchange carrier without interruption of service.
The Guidelines require the filing of an application for discontinuance of service that includes an exit plan, notification of carriers potentially affected by the discontinuance of service, and customer notification. Customers must be notified 60 days in advance of the final service termination date and a second notice must be given to customers who have not taken action to select a carrier.
The Guidelines also provide a mass migration process, including determining an overall program manager, and submitting customer list information and progress reports to Commission staff. The Guidelines incorporate procedures for transferring NXX codes5 and unlocking telephone numbers in the E-911 database. Finally, the Guidelines establish criteria for Commission approval of a CLEC's termination of service and for appointing a default carrier in situations where the exiting carrier has not found an arranged carrier to serve the customers who have not selected another carrier. We address Applicant's compliance with the Guidelines below.
4 Prior to adoption of D.06-10-021, we handled CLEC exit issues on a case-by-case basis, although we established requirements for utilities to provide customer notification when withdrawing service or transferring customers. (See D.02-01-038.)
5 An "NXX Code" is a block of 10,000 telephone numbers represented by the second set of three digits of a telephone number. An NXX Code is also referred to as a "prefix."
