§ 63.71   Procedures for discontinuance, reduction or impairment of service by
domestic carriers.

   Any domestic carrier that seeks to discontinue, reduce or impair service
   shall be subject to the following procedures:

   (a)  The  carrier  shall  notify all affected customers of the planned
   discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of service and shall notify and
   submit a copy of its application to the public utility commission and to the
   Governor of the State in which the discontinuance, reduction, or impairment
   of service is proposed, and also to the Secretary of Defense, Attn. Special
   Assistant for Telecommunications, Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301. Notice
   shall  be  in  writing to each affected customer unless the Commission
   authorizes in advance, for good cause shown, another form of notice. Notice
   shall include the following:

   (1) Name and address of carrier;

   (2) Date of planned service discontinuance, reduction or impairment;

   (3) Points of geographic areas of service affected;

   (4) Brief description of type of service affected; and

   (5) One of the following statements:

   (i)  If  the carrier is non-dominant with respect to the service being
   discontinued, reduced or impaired, the notice shall state: The FCC will
   normally authorize this proposed discontinuance of service (or reduction or
   impairment) unless it is shown that customers would be unable to receive
   service or a reasonable substitute from another carrier or that the public
   convenience and necessity is otherwise adversely affected. If you wish to
   object, you should file your comments as soon as possible, but no later than
   15  days  after  the Commission releases public notice of the proposed
   discontinuance. You may file your comments electronically through the FCC's
   Electronic Comment Filing System using the docket number established in the
   Commission's public notice for this proceeding, or you may address them to
   the  Federal  Communications  Commission, Wireline Competition Bureau,
   Competition Policy Division, Washington, DC 20554, and include in your
   comments a reference to the § 63.71 Application of (carrier's name). Comments
   should  include specific information about the impact of this proposed
   discontinuance  (or reduction or impairment) upon you or your company,
   including any inability to acquire reasonable substitute service.

   (ii)  If  the  carrier  is  dominant with respect to the service being
   discontinued, reduced or impaired, the notice shall state: The FCC will
   normally authorize this proposed discontinuance of service (or reduction or
   impairment) unless it is shown that customers would be unable to receive
   service or a reasonable substitute from another carrier or that the public
   convenience and necessity is otherwise adversely affected. If you wish to
   object, you should file your comments as soon as possible, but no later than
   30  days  after  the Commission releases public notice of the proposed
   discontinuance. You may file your comments electronically through the FCC's
   Electronic Comment Filing System using the docket number established in the
   Commission's public notice for this proceeding, or you may address them to
   the  Federal  Communications  Commission, Wireline Competition Bureau,
   Competition Policy Division, Washington, DC 20554, and include in your
   comments a reference to the § 63.71 Application of (carrier's name). Comments
   should  include specific information about the impact of this proposed
   discontinuance  (or reduction or impairment) upon you or your company,
   including any inability to acquire reasonable substitute service.

   (b) The carrier shall file with this Commission, on or after the date on
   which notice has been given to all affected customers, an application which
   shall contain the following:

   (1) Caption—“Section 63.71 Application”;

   (2) Information listed in § 63.71(a) (1) through (4) above;

   (3) Brief description of the dates and methods of notice to all affected
   customers;

   (4) Whether the carrier is considered dominant or non-dominant with respect
   to the service to be discontinued, reduced or impaired; and

   (5) Any other information the Commission may require.

   (c)  Discontinuance  applications  and  all related attachments to the
   application filed under this section shall be filed through the “Submit a
   Non-Docketed Filing” module of the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing
   System.

   (d) The application to discontinue, reduce or impair service, if filed by a
   domestic, non-dominant carrier, shall be automatically granted on the 31st
   day after its filing with the Commission without any Commission notification
   to the applicant unless the Commission has notified the applicant that the
   grant will not be automatically effective. The application to discontinue,
   reduce or impair service, if filed by a domestic, dominant carrier, shall be
   automatically granted on the 60th day after its filing with the Commission
   without any Commission notification to the applicant unless the Commission
   has  notified  the  applicant that the grant will not be automatically
   effective. For purposes of this section, an application will be deemed filed
   on the date the Commission releases public notice of the filing.

   (e) Procedures for discontinuance, reduction or impairment of international
   services are in § 63.19.

   [ 64 FR 39939 , July 23, 1999, as amended at  71 FR 65751 , Nov. 9, 2006;  73 FR 56741 , Sept. 30, 2008;  80 FR 1588 , Jan. 13, 2015]

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