NOTICES
PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC
UTILITY COMMISSION
Cancelation of Certificates of Public Convenience for Telecommunication Utilities; Failure to Operate or Report Any Intrastate Operating Revenue
[53 Pa.B. 3491]
[Saturday, July 1, 2023]Public Meeting held
June 15, 2023Commissioners Present: Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, Chairperson; Stephen M. DeFrank, Vice Chairperson; Ralph V. Yanora; Kathryn L. Zerfuss; John F. Coleman, Jr.
Cancelation of Certificates of Public Convenience for Telecommunication Utilities; Failure to Operate or Report
Any Intrastate Operating Revenue; M-2022-3037353
Final Order By the Commission:
On March 16, 2023, the Commission entered a Tentative Order in the above captioned proceeding to initiate the process for canceling the Certificates of Public Convenience (CPC) of telecommunications public utilities that failed to file required annual assessment reports. The Tentative Order was mailed to each telecommunications public utility and was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on April 22, 2023. 53 Pa.B. 2276. The telecommunications public utilities were given 20 days from publication to challenge the cancelation of their CPCs or file a conforming Assessment Report.
The Public Utility Code requires that by March 31st of each year, every public utility must file a report detailing its gross intrastate operating revenue for the preceding calendar year. 66 Pa.C.S. § 510(b). This report is essential for the Commission to fund its operations and to properly allocate assessment costs among the regulated utility community. Id. In addition, telecommunications public utilities are required to operate continuously and without unreasonable interruptions of service. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1501. A carrier with no intrastate operating revenues for several years indicates that it is no longer providing jurisdictional public utility service in Pennsylvania and, therefore, a CPC for that entity is no longer ''necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public.'' 66 Pa.C.S. § 1103(a).
The telecommunications public utilities that were served with the March 16th Tentative Order were those telecommunications public utilities that had failed to file an assessment report detailing their intrastate operating revenues, as required by Section 510 of the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § 510. As stated above, the telecommunications public utilities were given 20 days from publication to challenge the cancelation of their CPCs or file a conforming Assessment Report. They were also informed that failure to comply would result in the Commission taking appropriate action to cancel their CPCs.
In response to the March 16th Tentative Order, the telecommunications public utilities listed in Table 1 filed comments with the Commission;1 and the telecommunications public utilities listed in Table 2 did not respond to the Tentative Order in any way.
The telecommunications public utilities listed in Table 1 will retain their respective CPCs but will be referred to the Commission's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement for further investigation as to whether their respective CPCs are still necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public. Since the telecommunications public utilities listed in Table 2 have failed to properly respond to the Tentative Order, they remain in a state of non-compliance with the Commission's regulations.2 The failure of each of these carriers to report any total intrastate operating revenues to the Commission for several years indicates that they are no longer providing jurisdictional public utility service in Pennsylvania and, therefore, CPCs for these entities are no longer ''necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public.'' 66 Pa.C.S. § 1103(a). Each of these telecommunications public utilities have had ample notice and an opportunity to be heard via the Secretarial Letter and the March 16, 2023 Tentative Order. Accordingly, the CPCs of each telecommunications public utility listed in Table 2 will be canceled and all rights and privileges existing under the CPC subject to cancelation, including but not limited to all rights and privileges with eminent domain authority, zoning exemptions, and public right-of-way occupancy, will be revoked and such cancelation is effective immediately with the issuance of this Final Order; Therefore,
It Is Ordered That:
1. This matter is closed for the telecommunications public utilities listed in Table 1 and that these telecommunications public utilities are referred to the Commission's Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement for investigation to determine whether their respective CPCs are still necessary or proper for the service, accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public.
2. This matter is closed for RCLEC, Inc. and ITC Global Networks, LLC (ITC Global Networks) as they both have active abandonment dockets before the Commission at Docket Nos. A-2014-2403433, A-2014-2403434, A-2014-2403435 and A-2014-2403488 and Docket A-2023-3040636, respectively.
3. The Certificate of Public Convenience for each telecommunications public utility listed in Table 2 is canceled for reasons cited herein and all rights and privileges existing under the Certificate of Public Convenience subject to cancelation, including but not limited to all rights and privileges with eminent domain authority, zoning exemptions, and public right-of-way occupancy, are revoked. These telecommunications public utilities shall be stricken from all active utility lists maintained by the Commission's Bureau of Technical Utility Services and the Fiscal & Assessments Section of the Bureau of Administration.
4. The Secretary serve a copy of this Final Order upon the Bureau of Investigation & Enforcement, the Bureau of Technical Utility Services, the Bureau of Administration, Department of Revenue—Bureau of Corporation Taxes, Department of Transportation, and all telecommunications public utilities listed in Tables 1 and 2. The Final Order shall be filed at each carrier's docket number.
5. The Law Bureau shall publish a copy of this Final Order in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
ROSEMARY CHIAVETTA,
SecretaryORDER ADOPTED: June 15, 2023
ORDER ENTERED: June 15, 2023
Table 1—Telecommunications Public Utilities That Filed Comments Objecting to Cancelation
Utility Code Carrier Name Docket No. 3119957 CONSOLIDATED TELECOM, INC. A-2017-2608094 3120378 TIME CLOCK SOLUTIONS, LLC A-2017-2632817, A-2017-2632820 3120524 IRU NETWORKS, LLC A-2017-2638921, A-2017-2638923, A-2017-2638926 3122100 NGA 911, LLC A-2019-3009273, A-2019-3009292 3114607 PEG BANDWIDTH PA, LLC A-2012-2301870
Table 2—Telecommunications Public Utilities: Certificates of Public Convenience
Canceled for Noncompliance
Utility Code Carrier Name Docket No. 310507 AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC. A-310507 3110196 MOMENTUM TELECOM, INC. A-2008-2045159, A-2008-2046169 3110551 TOTAL HOLDINGS, INC. A-2008-2069549 3110581 ONE SOURCE NETWORKS CLEC, LLC A-2008-2073165 310197 NOSVA LIMITED PARTNERSHIP A-310197 3111047 BROADVOX-CLEC, LLC A-2009-2104391, A-2009-2104393 3111706 AIRUS, INC. A-2010-2152263, A-2010-2152282, A-2010-2152284, A-2010-2152286 3111908 WORLDWIDE MARKETING SOLUTIONS, INC. A-2010-2165627 3119113 CORRECT SOLUTIONS, LLC A-2016-2562526 3121484 DELTA TELECOM OF PA, INC. A-2018-3005390 311391 EURO CONNECT, INC. A-311391 3115091 LOCAL ACCESS, LLC A-2012-2322682, A-2012-2322693, A-2012-2322696 3119952 PENNSYLVANIA MSA, LLC A-2017-2607866, A-2017-2607867
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 23-869. Filed for public inspection June 30, 2023, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 RCLEC filed comments that were also titled as a Petition to Rescind the Tentative Order stating that they had previously filed an Application for Abandonment of its CPC at Docket Nos. A-2014-2403433, A-2014-2403434, A-2014-2403435 and A-2014-2403488. The Application for Abandonment has been assigned to the Commission's Bureau of Technical Utility Services for disposition and shall be handled separately from this proceeding. Accordingly, since RCLEC has an active abandonment docket with the Commission, RCLEC's Petition to Rescind the Commission's March 16th Tentative Order is dismissed as moot. Additionally, ITC Global Networks, LLC (ITC Global Networks) filed comments indicating its intent to file an application to abandon. ITC Global Networks also has filed an Application for Abandonment. ITC Global Network's Application for Abandonment is at Docket A-2023-3040636 and has been assigned to the Commission's Bureau of Technical Utility Services for disposition. ITC Global Networks' Application for Abandonment shall be handled separately from this proceeding. Accordingly, since ITC Global Network has an active abandonment docket with the Commission, its Comments to the Commission's March 16th Tentative Order is dismissed as moot.
2 It is noted that the Commission received comments from an individual purporting to be an out-of-state attorney, E. Ashton Johnston, on Pennsylvania MSA, LLC's behalf. However, Mr. Johnston does not appear as an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar and is therefore precluded from representing Pennsylvania MSA, LLC in this proceeding. See 52 Pa. Code § 1.21. As such, MSA, LLC's comments were not considered.
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