Section 476.29. Certificates for providing local telecommunications services.

  1.  After September 30, 1992, a utility must have a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the board before furnishing land-line local telephone service in this state. No lines or equipment shall be constructed, installed, or operated for the purpose of furnishing the service before a certificate has been issued.

  2.  Except as provided in subsection 12, a certificate shall be issued by the board, after notice and opportunity for hearing, if the board determines that the service proposed to be rendered will promote the public convenience and necessity, provided that an applicant other than a local exchange carrier, as defined in section 476.96, shall not be denied a certificate if the board finds that the applicant possesses the technical, financial, and managerial ability to provide the service it proposes to render and the board finds the service is consistent with the public interest. The board shall make a determination within ninety days of the submission by the applicant of evidence of its technical, financial, and managerial ability, unless the board determines that additional time is necessary to consider the application, in which case the board may extend the time for making a determination for an additional sixty days. The board may establish reasonable conditions or restrictions on the certificate at the time of issuance.

  3.  A certificate is transferable, subject to approval of the board pursuant to section 476.20, subsection 1, paragraph “a”.

  4.  Each certificate shall define the service territory in which land-line local telephone service will be provided. The service territory shall be shown on maps and other documentation as the board may require to be filed with the board. The board shall, by rule, specify the style, size, and kind of map or other documentation, and the information to be shown.

  5.  Each local exchange utility has an obligation to serve all eligible customers within the utility’s service territory, unless explicitly excepted from this requirement by the board.

  6.  The certificate approved by the board is the only authority required for the utility to furnish land-line local telephone service. However, to the extent not inconsistent with this section, the power to regulate the conditions required and manner of use of the highways, streets, rights-of-way, and public grounds remains in the appropriate public authority.

  7.  The inclusion of any facilities or service territory of a local exchange utility within the boundaries of a city does not impair or affect the rights of the utility to provide land-line local telephone service in the utility’s service territory.

  8.  An agreement between local exchange utilities to designate service territory boundaries and customers to be served by the utilities, or for exchange of customers between utilities, when approved by the board after notice to affected persons and opportunity for hearing, is valid and enforceable and shall be incorporated into the appropriate certificates. The board shall approve an agreement if the board finds the agreement will result in adequate service to all areas and customers affected and is in the public interest.

  9.  A certificate may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, be revoked by the board for failure of a utility to furnish reasonably adequate telephone service and facilities. The board may also order a revocation affecting less than the entire service territory, or may place appropriate conditions on a utility to ensure reasonably adequate telephone service. Prior to revocation proceedings, the board shall notify the utility of any inadequacies in its service and facilities and allow the utility a reasonable time to eliminate the inadequacies.

  10.  In the event that eighty percent or more of the subscribers in a community served by a local exchange utility sign a petition indicating they are adversely affected by school reorganization or economic dislocation and prefer to have their local telephone service provided by a different local exchange utility and file that petition with the board, the board, after notice and opportunity for hearing, shall determine whether the certificate held by the local exchange utility shall be revoked or conditioned as provided in subsection 9.

  11.  The board shall assure that all territory in the state is served by a local exchange utility. If at any time due to certificate revocation proceedings, discontinuance of service proceedings, or any other reason, it appears that a particular territory may not be served by any local exchange utility, the board may, after notice to interested persons and opportunity for hearing, include all or part of the territory in the certificate of another local exchange utility or utilities. In determining the local exchange utility or utilities to be authorized or required to serve, the board shall consider the willingness and ability of the utilities to serve, the location of existing service facilities, the community of interest of the customers involved, and any other factors deemed relevant to the public interest.

  12.  The board, on or prior to September 30, 1992, shall issue to each local exchange utility in the state, without a contested case proceeding, a nonexclusive certificate to serve the area included within the utility’s service territory boundaries as shown by the service territory boundary maps on record with the board on January 1, 1992. The board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement the issuance of certificates.

  a.  A customer served by a local exchange utility, but outside the service territory of that utility when the utility’s certificate is issued, shall continue to be served by that utility for as long as that customer remains eligible to receive and requests service.

  b.  If more than one utility has on file maps indicating service in the same territory, the board shall request the involved utilities to resolve the overlap. If the overlap is not resolved in a reasonable time, the board, after notice to interested persons and opportunity for hearing, shall determine the boundary, taking into consideration the criteria listed in subsection 11.

  13.  Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, approval by the voters of a city pursuant to section 388.2 of a proposal to establish or acquire a public utility providing communications services is conclusive evidence of the fact that the city has the technical, financial, and managerial ability to provide such service. Following the notice and opportunity for hearing in subsection 2, an applicant shall not be denied a certificate if the board finds the proposed service is consistent with the public interest.

  14.  This section does not prevent the board from adopting rules requiring or allowing local exchange utilities to provide extended area service or adjacent exchange service.

92 Acts, ch 1058, §1 – 3

; 95 Acts, ch 199, §5

; 97 Acts, ch 81, §3, 6

; 2014 Acts, ch 1099, §7, 8

; 2015 Acts, ch 30, §153

For future repeal of this section effective July 1, 2017, see

92 Acts, ch 1058, §3

;

2007 Acts, ch 4, §1, 2

Subsection 3 amended