Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 26 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE PROVIDERS › Subchapter J - COSTS, RATES AND TARIFFS › Section 26.230 - Requirements Applicable to Chapter 65 One-Day Informational Notice Filings

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Application. This section applies to
				  incumbent local exchange companies (ILECs), as defined in the Public Utility
				  Regulatory Act (PURA) §51.002(3), with markets deregulated pursuant to
				  PURA Chapter 65 who choose to offer services through one-day informational
				  notice filings pursuant to PURA §§65.151 - 65.153. Except as provided
				  in subsection (i) of this section, a transitioning company, as defined in PURA
				  §65.002(5), which does not choose to offer services through a one-day
				  informational notice filing must either offer services through ten-day
				  informational notice filings pursuant to §§
										RSA
				  26.227-
				  RSA
				  26.229 of this title (relating to Costs,
				  Rates and Tariffs) or through filings pursuant to §§
										RSA
				  26.207-
				  RSA
				  26.211 of this title (relating to Costs,
				  Rates and Tariffs).
(b) Purpose.
				  The purpose of this section is to establish the requirements for a
				  transitioning ILEC that chooses to provide an informational notice to introduce
				  new services, and/or to exercise pricing flexibility for basic and non-basic
				  retail telecommunications services, and to outline the procedures for
				  processing complaints regarding service offerings introduced by such
				  informational notice filings.
(c)
				  Pricing standards.
(1) In a market that
				  remains regulated, the transitioning ILEC shall price its retail services in
				  accordance with the provisions as set forth in §§
											RSA
				  26.224-
				  RSA
				  26.226 of this title (relating to Costs,
				  Rates and Tariffs).
(2) In a
				  deregulated market, the transitioning ILEC shall price its retail services as
				  follows:
(A) for all services, other than
				  residential service, at a price equal to or higher than the service's long run
				  incremental costs (LRIC); and
(B)
				  for basic local telecommunications service, at any price higher than the lesser
				  of the service's LRIC or the tariffed price on the date the market was
				  deregulated.
(3)
				  Notwithstanding any other long-run incremental cost filing requirements in this
				  subchapter, a transitioning company, upon written notice to the commission, is
				  not required to comply with a direct or indirect requirement to price a
				  residential service at, above, or according to the long-run incremental cost of
				  the service or to otherwise use long-run incremental cost in establishing
				  prices for residential services or to file with the commission a long-run
				  incremental cost study for any service.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of
				  this subsection, a transitioning company may not:
(A) establish a retail rate, term, or
				  condition that is anticompetitive or unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, or
				  discriminatory;
(B) establish a
				  retail rate for a basic or non-basic service in a deregulated market that is
				  subsidized either directly or indirectly by a basic or non-basic service
				  provided in an exchange that is not deregulated; or
(C) engage in predatory pricing or attempt to
				  engage in predatory pricing. A rate or price for a basic local
				  telecommunications service is not anticompetitive, predatory, or unreasonably
				  preferential, prejudicial, or discriminatory if the rate or price is equal to
				  or greater than the rate or price in the transitioning company's tariff, or
				  price list, for that service in effect on the date the transitioning company
				  submits notice to the commission under paragraph (3) of this
				  subsection.
(5) In each
				  deregulated market, a transitioning company shall make available to all
				  residential customers throughout that market the same price, terms, and
				  conditions for all basic and non-basic retail telecommunications services,
				  consistent with any pricing flexibility available to the company on or before
				  August 31, 2005.
(6) A rate that
				  meets the pricing requirements of paragraph (2) of this subsection is deemed
				  compliant with paragraph (4)(B) of this subsection.
(7) A transitioning company may offer to an
				  individual residential customer a promotional offer that is not available
				  uniformly throughout the market if the company makes the offer through a medium
				  other than direct mail or mass electronic media and the offer is intended to
				  retain or obtain a customer.