Title 3 . Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

Chapter 53 . Telecommunications

Section 290. Miscellaneous provisions

3 AAC 53.290. Miscellaneous provisions

(a) Except as provided in 3 AAC 48.440 and the Alaska Intrastate Interexchange Access Charge Manual, adopted by reference in 3 AAC 48.440, the provisions of

(1) 3 AAC 48.275 do not apply to those services for which the carrier is a nondominant carrier;

(2) 3 AAC 48.230 do not apply to a local exchange carrier; however, the commission may require changes to a local exchange carrier's billing and contract form if that form is confusing or misleading to customers or is contrary to the public interest; and

(3) 3 AAC 48.277 and 3 AAC 48.430

(A) do not apply to a local exchange carrier

(i) after its application for certification to provide local exchange telephone service in competition to an existing local exchange carrier is granted; or

(ii) for services in an area designated by the commission as a competitive local exchange market; and

(B) apply, not withstanding (A) of this paragraph, to a local exchange carrier whose

(i) costs are used as the basis for determining intrastate access charge rate caps; or

(ii) costs or rates are used as the basis for determining state universal service support under 3 AAC 53.300 - 3 AAC 53.399, excluding the lifeline program.

(b) The provisions of 3 AAC 48.275(a) do not apply to the dominant carrier for rate decreases, new services, and repackaging of existing services.

(c) The incumbent local exchange carrier is the carrier of last resort unless the commission by order changes the carrier's responsibilities under this subsection. Upon petition or on its own motion and after an opportunity for a hearing, the commission may reassign carrier of last resort responsibilities, in whole or in part, to one or more facilities-based local exchange carriers.

(d) The provisions of 3 AAC 53.190 govern the reassignment of a subscriber's access line or lines to a different local exchange carrier.

(e) No implicit modification or waiver of any statutory or regulatory requirements is intended by 3 AAC 53.200 - 3 AAC 53.299 for either dominant or nondominant carriers. Absent specific modification or waiver, all statutory and regulatory requirements remain in effect for both dominant and nondominant carriers.

(f) Unless otherwise provided in 3 AAC 53.243, a local exchange carrier shall publish a public notice of all proposed tariff revisions in a local, general circulation newspaper no later than three days after filing it with the commission. The public notice must contain a general description of the filing that is accurate, written in plain English, and sufficient to alert consumers of tariff revisions that may affect either the rules or rates applicable to them. The notice must include sentences containing the following information: the date the utility made or will make its filing with the commission; the date the revisions are expected to become effective; and a statement that both the proposed revisions and the utility's current tariff are available for review at the utility's office for which an address and office hours are provided. The notice must contain sentences similar to the following: "Any person may file comments on this tariff revision with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (address). To assure that the commission has sufficient time to consider the comments before the revisions take effect, (utility name) suggests that you file comments no later than (a specific date, not a weekend or holiday, approximately 7-10 days before the filing takes effect)."

(g) Where all necessary facilities and equipment are in place, a local exchange carrier shall complete the transfer of a customer to another local exchange carrier within seven working days of receiving a valid order for transfer of service.

(h) The provision of 3 AAC 48.270(a) that requires the filing of the estimated number of customers or shippers who will be affected by each separate schedule listed and the estimated annual revenues under both the existing and proposed rates does not apply to a retail service offering of a local exchange carrier unless the carrier proposes to discontinue or increase the rates for a service. However, the commission may require a local exchange carrier filing a tariff under 3 AAC 53.240 to provide that information after the carrier submits its tariff proposal.

(i) On or before March 31 of each year, a local exchange carrier shall file a financial report of the carrier's operations in the state for the previous calendar year. The carrier's out-of-state operations must be excluded from the financial report. The carrier's financial report must include the following detailed information regarding its local exchange operations:

(1) gross revenue;

(2) sale for resale revenue;

(3) access charge revenue;

(4) billing and collection revenue; and

(5) directory assistance revenue.

(j) If the commission, by order, finds that an exchange is no longer served by multiple certificated facilities-based local exchange carriers, the remaining certificated facilities-based local exchange carrier shall be a dominant carrier for all retail services and shall also be the carrier of last resort. The provisions of 3 AAC 48.230, 3 AAC 48.275, 3 AAC 48.277, and 3 AAC 48.430 apply to the remaining certificated facilities-based local exchange carrier. The provisions of 3 AAC 53.240 and 3 AAC 53.243 no longer apply to the remaining certificated facilities-based local exchange carrier. The commission will determine, upon petition or on its own motion, whether the exchange remains a competitive local exchange market.

History: Eff. 6/21/98, Register 146; am 11/11/2001, Register 160; am 4/24/2004, Register 170; am 9/16/2005, Register 175

Authority: AS 42.05.141

AS 42.05.151

AS 42.05.221

AS 42.05.241

AS 42.05.711

AS 42.05.990