Guam § 12203 - Certificates of Authority for Telecommunications

§ 12203. Certificates of Authority for Telecommunications

Companies.

(a) No person shall provide or resell telecommunications

services in Guam without a certificate of authority issued by the

Commission, except that a certificate of authority shall not be

required for any person to provide commercial mobile service.

The provisions of Section 12208 of this Title shall apply in

circumstances where a telecommunications company is

providing or reselling telecommunications services without a

certificate of authority issued by the Commission.

On the effective date hereof, New GTA and any other

telecommunication company then providing telecommunications

service in Guam shall be deemed to have a certificate of

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authority under this Article with respect to the

telecommunications services then provided by such

telecommunications company or, with respect to New GTA,

such telecommunications services provided immediately prior

thereto by GTA (each a >Grandfathered Certificate=).

The Commission shall promptly issue Grandfathered

Certificates to New GTA and any other such telecommunications

company within sixty (60) days of the effective date hereof.

To obtain a Grandfathered Certificate, each

telecommunications company other than New GTA shall

represent to the Commission that such company and the intra-

Guam telecommunications services it provides are subject to

jurisdiction of the Commission in accordance with this Act and

that the provision of such telecommunications services and the

possession of a Grandfathered Certificate do not entitle such

telecommunications company to any of the rights afforded to

local exchange carriers under the Communications Act of 1934,

as amended.

Any other person that seeks to offer telecommunications

services or any certificated telecommunications company that

seeks to provide new or additional telecommunications services

shall first obtain a certificate or other authority as required by

this Section 12203 and the rules and regulations adopted by the

Commission pursuant hereto.

(b) Applications for a certificate of authority shall be in

such form and contain such information, including information

regarding the financial and technical capability of the applicant,

as the Commission may reasonably require. Each applicant shall

publish notice of the application, in a form prescribed by the

Commission, in a newspaper having general circulation in

Guam.

(c) After notice and opportunity for a hearing, the

Commission shall approve an application for a certificate of

authority if the Commission finds both of the following:

(1) The applicant possesses sufficient technical,

financial, and managerial resources and abilities to provide

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the telecommunications services in Guam for which it seeks

a certificate of authority; and

(2) The granting of a certificate of authority to the

applicant would not be contrary to the public interest.

(d) In appropriate circumstances, the Commission may

require, as a precondition to certification, the procurement of a

performance bond sufficient to cover any advances or deposits

the telecommunications company may collect from its

customers, or order that such advances or deposits be held in

escrow or trust.

(e) The Commission shall approve or deny an application

for a certificate of authority within ninety (90) days of its having

been filed. Failure to approve or deny an application within such

ninety (90) days shall be considered an automatic grant of a

certificate of authority.

(f) The Commission may upon complaint or its own motion,

after notice to the affected telecommunications company and

opportunity for hearing, revoke or suspend a telecommunications

company==s certificate of authority for violation of any law, any

rule, regulation or order of the Commission, or any term or

condition under which the certificate of authority was originally

granted.

(g) A telecommunications company shall not sell, assign, or

transfer a certificate of authority, or any portion thereof, issued

under this Article, or transfer control of a telecommunications

company holding a certificate of authority issued under this

Article, without the prior approval of the Commission and a

determination by the Commission that the proposed sale,

assignment or transfer satisfies the requirements for granting a

certificate of authority under Subsection (c). Prior approval shall

not be required for transfers of control that do not result in a

substantial change in ultimate ownership of a

telecommunications company holding a certificate of authority.

The Commission shall issue a decision on a request to sell,

assign, or transfer a certificate of authority or to transfer control

within ninety (90) days of the request, which period may be

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extended by an additional thirty (30) days for good cause shown

and upon prior notice by the Commission to the applicant(s).

(h) A telecommunications company may not cancel a

certificate of authority or discontinue or abandon a

telecommunications service thereunder unless and until it shall:

(1) Provide at least thirty (30) days advance written

notice to its customers of such cancellation, discontinuance

or abandonment; and

(2) Provide at least thirty (30) days advance written

notice to the Commission verifying compliance with

subsection (1) hereof, which thirty (30)-day period may run

concurrently with the period set forth in subsection (1)

hereof.

The Commission may by rule or orders in specific cases

provide for further notice to affected customers and disposition

of deposits and final bills. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any

carrier of last resort, may not cancel a certificate of authority or

discontinue or abandon telecommunications service thereunder

unless and until it shall demonstrate, and the Commission finds,

that such cancellation, discontinuance or abandonment will not

deprive customers of any necessary or essential

telecommunications service or access thereto.