13. Assignment of Proceeding

Catherine J.K. Sandoval is the assigned Commissioner and Stephen C. Roscow is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.

1. Notice of the application appeared on the Daily Calendar
on February 23, 2011. No protests have been filed. A hearing is not required.

2. Plumas seeks authority to provide full facilities-based competitive local exchange, access, and interexchange services in the service territories of AT&T and Frontier, specifically, within the counties of Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen and interexchange service throughout the state of California.

3. Plumas has a minimum of $100,000 of cash or cash equivalent that is reasonably liquid and readily available to meet its start-up expenses.

4. Plumas has sufficient additional cash or cash equivalent to cover deposits that may be required by other telecommunications carriers in order to provide the proposed service.

5. Plumas's management possesses sufficient experience, knowledge, and technical expertise to provide local exchange and interexchange services to the public.

6. No one associated with or employed by Plumas as an affiliate, officer, director, partner, or owner of more than 10% of Plumas was previously associated with a telecommunications carrier that filed for bankruptcy, or was sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission or any state regulatory agency for failure to comply with any regulatory statute, rule, or order.

7. No one associated with or employed by Plumas as an affiliate, officer, director, partner, or owner of more than 10% of Plumas was previously associated with any telecommunications carrier that has been found either civilly or criminally liable by a court of appropriate jurisdiction for a violation of § 17000 et seq. of the California Business and Professions Code, or for any actions which involved misrepresentations to consumers, nor is currently under investigation for similar violations.

8. Because its initial services will be competitively priced broadband services, Plumas need not submit a proposed local exchange tariff.

9. Plumas provided a map of the location of its proposed service territory.

10. Plumas provided an estimate of its customer base for the first and fifth year of operation.

11. The Commission is the lead agency under CEQA with respect to the environmental review of the Plumas Sierra Broadband Project and preparation of the Draft and Final Mitigated Negative Declaration.

12. A Draft and Final Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared by the Commission staff pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines.

13. A Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration was published for public comment between May 3, 2011, and June 3, 2011.

14. All comments received have been responded to in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration, a summary of which is attached in Attachment A.

15. With the implementation of the mitigation measures identified in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration, all environmental impacts are reduced to less-than-significant.

16. We conclude that the Final MND is competent, comprehensive, and has been completed in compliance with CEQA and the Public Resources Code.

17. We have reviewed and considered the Final MND prior to approving the Project.

18. We find that the Final MND reflects our independent judgment.

1. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications should be granted a CPCN to provide full facilities-based competitive local exchange access and interexchange service in the service territories of Pacific Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T California and Citizens Telecommunications Company of California, Inc., d/b/a Frontier Communications Company of California Inc., and interexchange service in the state of California, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Ordering Paragraphs.

2. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications, once granted a CPCN, should be subject to the applicable Commission rules, decisions, General Orders, and statutes that pertain to California public utilities.

3. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications will be subject to any rules, regulations, or policies resulting from R.06-10-006.

4. The Final Mitigated Negative Declaration should be adopted by the Commission as adequate for our decision-making purposes pursuant to CEQA.

5. The mitigation measures identified in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Mitigation Monitoring Compliance and Reporting Program should be adopted by the Commission and made conditions of project approval.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that:

1. A certificate of public convenience and necessity is granted to Plumas Sierra Telecommunications to provide full facilities-based competitive local exchange access and interexchange service in the service territories of Pacific Bell Telephone Company d/b/a AT&T California and Citizens Telecommunications Company of California, Inc., d/b/a Frontier Communications Company of California Inc., and interexchange service in the state of California, subject to the terms and conditions set forth below.

2. The Final Mitigated Negative Declaration, a summary of which is attached in Attachment A, is hereby adopted pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines and the Public Resources Code and must be used by Responsible Agencies when issuing discretionary approvals.

3. The mitigation measures developed in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration to avoid or lessen impacts to the environment and specified in the Mitigation Monitoring Compliance and Reporting Program are adopted and imposed as conditions of project approval.

4. The Commission's Executive Director shall supervise and oversee the Plumas Sierra Broadband Project insofar as it relates to monitoring and enforcement of the mitigation measures described in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration.

5. The Executive Director may delegate such supervision and oversight duties to the Commission staff or outside staff.

6. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must be subject to any rules, regulations, or policies resulting from R.06-10-006.

7. The corporate identification number assigned to Plumas Sierra Telecommunications, U7218C, must be included in the caption of all original filings with this Commission, and in the titles of other pleadings filed in existing cases.

8. In addition to all the requirements applicable to competitive local exchange carriers and interexchange carriers included in Attachments B, C, and D to this decision, Plumas Sierra Telecommunications is subject to the Consumer Protection Rules contained in General Order 168, and all applicable Commission rules, decisions, General Orders, and statutes that pertain to California public utilities.

9. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must file, in this docket, a written acceptance of the certificate granted in this proceeding within 30 days of the effective date of this order.

10. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must annually pay the user fee and public purpose surcharges specified in Attachment B. Per the instructions in Exhibit E to Decision 00-10-028, the Combined California Public Utilities Commission Telephone Surcharge Transmittal Form must be submitted even if the amount due is $0. Under Public Utilities Code Section 405, carriers that are in default of reporting and submitting user fees for a period of 30 days or more will be subject to penalties including suspension or revocation of their authority to operate in California. Therefore, carriers must report user fees even if the amount due is $0.

11. Prior to initiating service, Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must provide the Commission's Consumer Affairs Branch with the name and address of its designated contact person(s) for purposes of resolving consumer complaints. This information must be updated if the name or telephone number changes, or at least annually.

12. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must notify the Director of the Communications Division in writing of the date that local exchange service is first rendered to the public, no later than five days after service first begins.

13. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must file an affiliate transaction report with the Director of the Communications Division, in compliance with Decision 93-02-019, on a calendar year basis with the information contained in Attachment D.

14. Plumas Sierra Telecommunications must file an annual report with the General Order 104-A, on a calendar-year basis with the information contained in Attachment C to this decision.

15. Application 11-02-014 is closed.

This order is effective today.

Dated June 23, 2011, at San Francisco, California.

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