§ 227c. Nondominant carriers
(a) The Commission may modify, reduce, or suspend the requirements under this title as
applied to nondominant providers of telecommunications service. The Commission may
act by rule, or, after notice and opportunity for hearing, it may act by order. The
modifications, reductions, or suspensions may apply to one or more classes of nondominant
providers and may apply differently to each class. The Commission may modify, suspend,
or reduce any or all of the regulatory requirements under sections 104, 105, 107-109,
225, 226, subsection 227(a), and sections 229 and 311 of this title.
(b) In determining whether a carrier or class of carriers is nondominant, the Commission
shall consider whether the carriers have sufficient market power to set prices for
the market.
(c) In determining whether to modify, reduce, or suspend regulatory requirements, the
Commission shall consider whether competition in the market combined with the remaining
requirements under this title:
(1) will be sufficient to ensure that the charges, practices, classifications, or rules
related to the service are just and reasonable and are not unjustly or unreasonably
discriminatory; and
(2) will afford the public at least as much protection as the applicable regulatory requirements
being suspended or reduced.
(d) Upon petition of the Department, the Commission shall, and upon its own initiative
the Commission may, investigate whether it should reimpose any regulatory requirements
that it has modified, suspended, or reduced under this section. If the Commission
finds, after notice and an opportunity for hearing, and after considering the factors
identified in subsection (c) of this section, that the public is not sufficiently
protected, the Commission may reimpose any regulatory provisions that the Commission
deems necessary. Pending any final order, the Commission may reimpose any regulatory
requirements on a temporary basis as it determines is just and reasonable. (Added 1999, No. 67 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; amended 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 377, eff. July 1, 2024.)